Editorial: Product Liability in California

01 August 2007

Reed Smith LLP’s “fine team of product liability lawyers” performed very well in the research, totalling five nominees – more than any other firm. It is particularly well renowned for its pharmaceutical and medical device practice and also defends aviation, industrial and consumer product matters, as well as working on consumer fraud and related cases. The “great rainmaker” Steven Kohn leads the charge in the firm’s “exemplary pharmaceutical and medical device speciality”. Kohn also works within a variety of other sectors. He has represented companies such as 3M in breast implant cases and Meditronic in litigation involving surgical shunt devices. Like Kohn, Michael Brown is resident in the Los Angeles office and focuses on complex cases. Over 25 years, he has worked for Medtronic, Pfizer, Eli Lilly and Energy Brands, among others. He formed part of the coordinating counsel team for Sulzer Medica USA in the Inter-Op Hip Litigation. In the Oakland office, James Wood’s “very well-known” defence of prescription medicine and medical device practitioners is rated highly by rivals. He forms part of a task force dedicated to forming a national policy for vaccine development and liability protection and has co-authored a book on the subject. Past cases include the successful defence of Boyle & Company in personal injury cases and the representation of Eli Lilly and Company. Fellow Oakland practitioner Stephen Blitch’s “first-rate” product liability litigation has involved many and varied entities such as manufacturers, professional firms, courts and universities and real estate developers. He is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates. Colleen Davies is the “multi-talented” head of the firm’s litigation department, focusing particularly on product liability defence. She acted as national counsel in litigation involving recalled heart valve products across multiple districts. 

Gordon & Rees LLP is another high-flyer in the chapter, with four practitioners included in the final cut. This “strong, gifted” group manages cases such as products and premises liability, construction accidents and sports injuries, as well as major transportation and food industry claims and boasts a large drug and medical device practice. Clients include Robert Bosch and ABS. The firm has worked on toxic tort matters such as asbestos trials and a wrongful death claim against a manufacturer. Stuart Gordon is the founding partner of the firm. Hailed as the “doyen of the San Francisco bar”, Gordon’s 23 years of experience have earned him a reputation as a “hugely talented biotech, pharmaceutical and medical device litigator”. Alongside other lawyers in the group, he counts Wyeth among his clients and has acted as its lead negotiator on the West Coast. He has also led the firm’s practice group serving clients in litigation involving such products as Premarin, dietary supplements, Bextra and needles and syringes. “A solid presence on any case”, Jack McCowan was the first leader of the firm’s pharmaceutical, medical device and biotechnology group and he continues to specialise in this area. He is chair of a programme for the Defense Research Institute Drug and Medical Device Committee. Thomas Packer is a “confident, charismatic” practitioner with a practice that has included work in the toxic torts, food, pharmaceutical and silica, and asbestos arena. Packer has served on the board of directors of the Defense Research Institute. Fletcher Alford was warmly recommended for his excellence in complex medical product liability cases: respondents called him “great for challenging work”. Recent matters include his defence of a company in a class action brought on behalf of children claiming to have sustained brain damage from the client’s product. 

Sedgwick Detert Moran & Arnold LLP also fared very favourably – fielding a total of four lawyers in the following pages, who are all held in high esteem. An international trial and litigation firm, it comprises 380 lawyers in 13 offices. The firm has a long tradition in product liability law, dating back to the 1950s, and its trial focus means that practitioners are free to specialise in different areas of product liability. The “first-rate” firm chairman Kevin Dunne is a “brilliant trial lawyer”, and counts Brown & Williamson Tobacco, Collagen and DaimlerChrysler among his past clients. Gregory Read received special acclaim for his “excellence in aviation-related defence work” as well as work in other areas. He defended a cosmetics company in a breach of contract action against it and Elizabeth Taylor, relating to her perfume ‘Passion’. He was also co-lead counsel defending a utility in actions brought by a group alleging injury through exposure to contaminated groundwater; a case that was later the subject of a Hollywood film. Ralph Campillo is considered a “class act” by his peers and is recommended as “the real deal for pharmaceutical cases” – which include the representation of companies in matters concerning orthopaedic devices, silicone implants and DES among others. Impressed peers highlighted his work for Merck. Peers hail Michael Healy as a “superb trial lawyer”. His work defending medical device manufacturers was noted, especially in complex cases. 

Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP has a “fantastic product liability group – especially strong for trial work”, tackling every area of the practice, including medical, commercial, scientific, defence and industrial work. The firm has represented a wealth of major entities such as Ansell Health Products, Merck and Johnson & Johnson. West Coast office head Charles Preuss is a “very serious, experienced practitioner” – one of a slew of positive comments, especially about his experience in the medical and pharmaceuticals field. Products he has defended include Lippes Loop IUDs, cardiac blood pumps, vaccines and phenylpropanolamine, as well working on asbestos and lead cases.

Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP’s emphasis on complex disputes and mass torts in areas such as the automotive, agricultural and pharmaceuticals industries has led to a “sterling reputation” for high-stakes litigation, representing American Cyanamid (paint pigment), Dow Chemical (silicon breast implants) and Union Carbide (asbestos exposure). San Francisco partner Kathleen Patterson “rates very highly” for pharmaceutical medical device litigation, especially in multi-jurisdictional work. Also in the San Francisco office, Kathryn Edwards shares her colleague’s practice focus and provides “spot-on advice” to companies on matters such as product labelling and document management. Aventis, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Hewlett-Packard have all benefited from her expertise. 

International firm Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP started off in Kansas City and is now an established presence nationwide, including in California – two of the firm’s lawyers there make it onto our list. Based in the Orange County office, their practice group deals with a range of matters such as tobacco, automobile and pharmaceuticals defence. Frank Rothrock, former chairman of the Orange County Bar Association College of Trial Advocacy, “can be trusted to explain anything clearly”. He is proficient in pharmaceutical and medical device defence as well as litigation involving asbestos and chlorine exposure, among other matters. He has defended clients such as Brea Redevelopment agency and Pacific Gas & Electric. Michelle Fujimoto is managing partner of the office, and also has an emphasis on pharmaceutical and medical device work, as well as drug design, chemical exposure and research agreement trials. She is a member of the International Association of Defence Counsel and is on the steering committee of the drug and medical device section of the Defense Research Institute.

Kaye Scholer LLP is a full-service law firm with a nationally recognised product liability practice of over 60 practitioners and “a reputation for a clear, concise style, which respects the details while making them accessible”. Los Angeles partner Jan Dodd’s mass tort and product liability practice was admired by respondents, who noted that she “did an excellent job in the PPA litigation”, concerning cold medicine. Mass torts, class actions and MDL constitute the Pamela Yates’s forte; she joins her colleague at the Los Angeles office and on our list. Pharmaceuticals and medical devices constitute Yates’s primary area of concentration. She currently serves as national, regional and local counsel for Pfizer in litigation involving HRT products. 

Sidley Austin LLP’s product liability practice encompasses matters such as mass disasters, toxic tort and pharmaceutical and medical device cases in various jurisdictions, providing advisory and preventative services as well as litigation expertise. The “astonishing” Debra Pole is the firm’s representative in this chapter. Pole generated a massive response – as one interviewee stated, she is “on everyone’s list”. Her defence of Baxter Pharmaceuticals was well known to respondents and she was national coordinating counsel in litigation involving breast implants and diet drugs. She is also trial counsel in asbestos and silica litigation related to masks and respirators. 

Building, chemicals, food, industrial and automobile-related work all go to form part of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP’s wide-ranging product liability practice, defending entities such as State Farm. The “outstanding” Raoul Kennedy, who also appears in our commercial litigation chapter, is an “excellent, very bright trial lawyer”, with attention drawn by interviewees to his work on the appellate side. He defended Ducoeur in litigation involving breast implants. 

Competitors hold Thomas Moore of Moore Labriola LLP, his own litigation firm, in high regard. Co-head of a “fantastic group”, he has worked on many high-profile cases over his 23-year career. 

Keller + Heckman LLP is home to the “great” Daniel Herling, who joined the firm from Duane Morris LLP in 2007. He was part of the Duane Morris product liability team that concluded a mass tort in a dietary supplement litigation involving one of the first US Bankruptcy code chapter 15 actions. 

Carroll Burdick & McDonough LLP is a “well-known Californian firm”, considered “pre-eminent” in product liability by one respondent, handling medical and pharmaceutical, aviation and automotive, as well as recreational equipment, litigation and with a large advisory side to the practice. Justs Karlsons was named “one of the best in the state” by one respondent, who asserted that he was a “very well-regarded automobile attorney”. Karlsons lead trial counsel on serious cases for Mercedes, Volvo and Audi among others. 

Yukevich Calfo & Cavanaugh is a product liability-oriented boutique firm based in California, with a national trial portfolio, representing Ford Motor, Subaru of America, Bell Sports, Johnson & Johnson and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, to name a few. James Yukevich founded the firm and has defences for American International Group, Isuzu, Suzuki, Porsche and Land Rover under his belt. Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi LLP is home to “top-drawer consumer products lawyer” Roman Silberfeld, who is also managing partner of the firm’s Los Angeles office. He is lead counsel in the Gammagard blood products litigation, which involves claims brought against the company for contaminated products that allegedly caused the contraction of Hepatitis C in patients. 

Condon & Forsyth LLP was founded in 1940 and has a presence in Los Angeles and New York. Product liability is one of the firm’s major practice areas, with a 60-year record of acting for entities such as aircraft, food, chemical and satellite manufacturers as well as power plants and military hardware producers. Contributors recommended the firm’s aircraft practice, especially and its “excellent” representative partner Frank Silane received accolades for his defence of major airlines in litigation resulting from commercial air disasters such as the crash of a B-747 in Taiwan. His multidistrict work was also complimented. 

At Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP, Edwin Green forms part of a practice that handles claims involving fuel systems, structural failures, pharmaceuticals, medical, electrical and mechanical issues. Green’s experience includes mass tort litigation resulting from major air disasters. 

Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP’s San Francisco partner Joan Haratani has “a wonderful reputation for pharmaceuticals” – defending companies in litigation involving an artificial hormone given to pregnant women, allergic reactions to natural rubber latex and a highprofile case involving a food product.

King& Spalding LLP achieves representation in this edition thanks to Donald Zimmer's move to the firm from  Drinker Biddle & Dearth LLP, who is deemed a "major presence" in the areas of toxic substances, pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Respondants also noted his proficiency in class actions.

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