Profile: John Meltzer

Product Liability

Biography: Product Liability

John is head of Lovells' product liability network and a member of the firm's life sciences group. He has given product safety advice to many of the world's leading manufacturers and suppliers of consumer goods and has represented them in major commercial litigation and product liability disputes.

He has extensive experience of single and multi-party product liability claims, involving a range of products including pharmaceuticals, medical devices, vaccines, blood products, tobacco, asbestos, mobile phones and motor vehicles. He has also assisted clients to coordinate the defence of cross-border product liability claims, including claims in the US, Canada, Australia and various countries in Europe.

He regularly advises clients on product safety issues such as risk management systems, media handling, labelling, contractual terms and conditions, product recalls, crisis management and liaison with EU and national authorities. In recent years he has advised several international product suppliers on EU-wide product recalls under the General Product Safety Directive.

John's recent work includes conducting 'product liability audits' for leading international consumer goods manufacturers, advising manufacturers on systems to minimise potential regulatory and litigation risks, advising on claims under the ABPI Clinical Trial Compensation Guidelines, assisting a European pharmaceutical company to respond to a threatened revocation of a marketing authorisation by the EMEA, assisting a UK pharmaceutical company to respond to a MHRA investigation into suspected breaches of pharmacovigilance regulatory requirements, advising a consumer goods company on the introduction of a safety monitoring system for use in over 30 countries throughout the world, acting for a US pharmaceutical company in prosecuting a claim against a UK manufacturer to recover the costs of recalling vaccines and acting for the leading manufacturer of the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine in the defence of an English product liability group action.

John was appointed by the European Commission to lead the team that carried out a major study on the Product Liability Directive and its possible reform and is a member of the working group established by the Commission to monitor and review product liability developments.

John has published widely and is frequently invited to speak at international conferences on product liability and product safety. He is listed as a leading lawyer in the fields of product liability and life sciences in all of the major directories including Chambers and Partners, Legal 500 and The International Who's Who of Product Liability Defence Lawyers and The International Who's Who of Life Sciences Lawyers.

Lovells LLP is an international law firm with the largest specialist product liability practice in Europe. Our reputation for product liability is built on the skills, knowledge and experience of more than 70 specialist lawyers who have worked on product liability issues in over 30 countries around the world. They combine legal expertise, cross-border litigation experience and specialist technical knowledge with an understanding of today's commercial environment. They are backed by Lovells' substantial worldwide resources, including over 350 partners and 1,700 lawyers among 3,200 staff operating in 26 offices in Europe, Asia and the USA.