Profile: Michael W Davis

Product Liability

Biography: Product Liability

Michael W Davis is a partner in Sidley's Chicago office and is head of the firm's product liability and mass tort group. Mr Davis is extensively engaged in the defence of product liability claims involving consumer products, pharmaceuticals, and mass torts. His practice also includes an emphasis on complex multiparty and class action litigation. Mr Davis has handled more than several dozen complex product liability or toxic tort cases in which plaintiffs sought to certify a class, and has tried many different product liability lawsuits. He has served as national coordinating counsel in pharmaceutical and chemical litigation.

Mr Davis taught products liability law at the Chicago-Kent College of Law for many years and is a member of the Defense Research Institute's drug and medical device steering committee. Mr Davis is the programme chair for the DRI Drug and Medical Device Seminar. He has lectured at seminars on various evidentiary matters and has written many articles on pharmaceutical, product liability, and toxic tort litigation. He is the co-author of 'Strict Liability in Tort in Product Liability Cases', which was published in the Illinois Product Liability Practice Handbook, Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education (1990, 1996, 1999, 2001, and 2004 editions). Mr Davis has been selected as a 'Leading Illinois attorney' on product liability matters. He serves as secretary of the firm's executive committee. While attending law school, Mr Davis was a member of the Northwestern University Law Review.