The defense of serious product liability claims has been a significant part of SRBC’s litigation practice for many years. The firm is regularly engaged by product manufacturers and distributors as national, regional and local counsel to defend complex product liability lawsuits alleging design and manufacturing defects and failure to warn. These cases involve a wide range of products, including automobiles, industrial equipment and machinery, power tools, juvenile products, sporting goods, consumer appliances and others.

In addition to serving as trial counsel in product liability suits, our attorneys also provide comprehensive in-house programs designed to assist clients to improve risk management and minimize liability in the areas of product design and warnings.

The firm is active in numerous industry and bar organizations focused on the defense of complex product claims including the Defense Research Institute, the International Association of Defense Counsel, and the Trucking Industry Defense Association. David Barry, chair of our Product Liability Practice Group, is recognized as a leading product liability lawyer in The Best Lawyers in America and in Massachusetts Super Lawyers, where he has been named one of the Top 100 Lawyers overall in Massachusetts and New England. In addition, members of the Product Liability group have written articles and are frequent lecturers at bar association and continuing education seminars on product liability issues and litigation-related topics.

For more information about our experience in this area, and how we can help you achieve your goals, please contact group chair David A. Barry.

Representative Matters:

• Federal-court jury verdict for defendant manufacturer in case involving crushing injury from crimping tool (more)
• Federal-court jury verdict for defendant manufacturer and retailer (after First Circuit reversal of earlier plaintiff's verdict) in case involving alleged defective design of table saw (more)
• Federal-court jury verdict for Volkswagen in "crashworthiness" case arising from rollover accident and resulting quadriplegia (more)
• Defense verdict for auto manufacturer in "crashworthiness" claim that plaintiff driver’s severe brain damage was caused by lack of interior padding in vehicle. In same case, judgment notwithstanding the verdict on claim that infant passenger’s paraplegia was caused by separate defect in vehicle. Result affirmed by Massachusetts Appeals Court
• Defense verdict for manufacturer and retailer of radial-arm saw in case involving 70% permanent loss of vision in plaintiff’s affected eye. Result affirmed by the First Circuit
• Defense verdict for a manufacturer of industrial jointer that plaintiff was operating when he sustained severe injuries to his hand, allegedly due to inadequate warnings accompanying the product
• Summary judgment for manufacturer of office chair based on challenge to plaintiff’s expert’s testimony in suit arising from fall and resulting quadriplegia
• Defense verdict in suit seeking $7.5 million for catastrophic personal injuries sustained by mechanic in explosion of contaminated propane cylinder
• Defense verdict for automobile importer and distributor in claim by owner that the vehicle unexpectedly accelerated in reverse resulting in the death of a pedestrian
• Directed verdict on behalf of manufacturer of bicycle helmet in claim alleging defective retention system resulting in significant head injuries
• Summary judgment for motorcycle helmet manufacturer
• Defense verdict for manufacturer of gas range in residential fire case
• Defense verdict upheld by First Circuit in wrongful death suit brought on behalf of forklift operator killed as a result of crush injuries
• Defense verdict and successful claim for indemnity against third-party defendant in suit arising from injuries to child allegedly caused by defective design of crib
• Summary judgment for retailer of automatic garage door opener
• Defense verdict for pharmaceutical company in suit alleging  liver cancer caused by ingestion of oral contraceptive
• Summary judgment for defendant manufacturer of industrial solvent based on challenge to plaintiff's expert in case involving allegation that exposure to solvent resulted in liver failure

Related News:

June 04, 2013 -
Massachusetts Court Rules on Regulatory Violations and Chapter 93A
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has decided an important case on liability under the state’s consumer-protection statute, Chapter 93A. In Klairmont v. Gainsboro Restaurant, Inc., which involved the death of a college student after he fell down a flight of stairs at a bar, the court ...
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November 13, 2012 -
SRBC Ranks High in "Best Law Firms" Survey
SRBC has received first-tier rankings in nine of its practice areas in the 2013 U.S. News/Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” survey. The firm was recognized as a National Tier 1 firm in Product ...
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October 24, 2012 -
22 SRBC Attorneys Recognized as "Super Lawyers"
Twenty-two SRBC lawyers have been listed among the top attorneys in Massachusetts in the annual Super Lawyers rankings.

September 12, 2012 -
Fifteen SRBC Lawyers Named Best Lawyers in America
Fifteen of SRBC's partners have been selected for inclusion in the 2013 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Best Lawyers calls itself “the definitive guide to legal excellence in the United States.” The publication annually ...
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August 01, 2012 -
First Circuit Win for Volkswagen and Audi
In a major victory for SRBC clients Volkswagen and Audi, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has overturned a lower court's award of $30 million in attorneys' fees to lawyers who represented a class of plaintiffs in litigation involving alleged engine defects in certain VW and Audi ...
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June 11, 2012 -
Summary Judgment Win in Products Liability Asbestos Case
SRBC partner Tony Agudelo obtained summary judgment in a products liability asbestos case that had been brought against SRBC's client, an American distributor of foreign motor vehicles.  The plaintiff had claimed that her husband had contracted mesothelioma and died as a result of his work on certain ...
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May 03, 2012 -
First Choice Armor v Toyobo
SRBC's Michael Appel, along with co-counsel Pitts Carr and David Cohen of Atlanta, have successfully settled a lawsuit they brought  against the maker of Zylon, a fiber used in the manufacture of bullet-proof vests. The suit was filed on behalf of First Choice Armor & Equipment, Inc. ...
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April 02, 2012 -
David Barry Inducted into International Academy of Trial Lawyers
SRBC partner David Barry has been inducted as a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, at the IATL's recent 2012 annual meeting. David is a senior trial lawyer at SRBC, and chair of the firm’s product ...
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October 26, 2011 -
Sixteen SRBC Partners Named 2011 Massachusetts Super Lawyers
Massachusetts Super Lawyers, an annual peer-review and independent-research survey designed to identify the top five percent of lawyers in the state, has named 16 SRBC partners to its 2011 listing. Several of the partners were also distinguished on shortlists of top lawyers ...
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October 25, 2011 -
Four SRBC Lawyers Are "Rising Stars"
Four SRBC lawyers have been recognized as "Rising Stars" by the 2011 edition of the annual Massachusetts Super Lawyers survey. The Rising Stars list seeks to identify the top echelon of lawyers who are age 40 or younger, or who have been practicing 10 years or fewer.

September 09, 2011 -
Thirteen SRBC Lawyers Named to Best Lawyers in America
The 2012 edition of The Best Lawyers in America, described as "the definitive guide to legal excellence in the U.S." and based on a nationwide peer survey of more than 3.9 million lawyers, has named 13 SRBC partners to its annual list. The partners, and the Best Lawyers ...
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April 21, 2011 -
Directed Verdict for SRBC Client After Opponent's Opening Statement
A Dukes County Superior Court judge recently took the highly unusual step of granting a directed verdict in favor of SRBC client Emerson Electric Co. immediately following the opening statement of opposing counsel. The swift victory occurred in a product-liability ...
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January 05, 2011 -
Andrea Studley Knowles Elected Shareholder of SRBC
Andrea Studley Knowles, an associate with SRBC since May 2005, has been elected a Shareholder of the firm, effective January 1, 2011. Andrea will continue to focus her practice on product liability defense, business litigation and employment law. A 1998 graduate of New York University School of Law, Andrea ...
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October 20, 2010 -
SRBC Partners Named "Super Lawyers"
Sixteen of SRBC's partners have been recognized as Massachusetts Super Lawyers in the 2010 edition of the annual peer-review survey that seeks to identify the top five percent of lawyers in the state. Many of the partners were also ranked among the very top lawyers ...
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October 19, 2010 -
Eight SRBC Lawyers Are "Rising Stars"
Eight SRBC attorneys have been named in the "Rising Stars" category of the 2010 edition of the annual peer-review survey Massachusetts Super Lawyers. The category is reserved for up-and-coming lawyers who are age forty or younger, and have been practicing for ten ...
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October 04, 2010 -
U.S. News: SRBC Among Boston's Best Law Firms in Seven Practice Areas
According to survey results newly published by U.S. News and Best Lawyers seeking to identify the "Best Law Firms" in a number of metropolitan areas, SRBC ranks in the "first tier" of Boston law firms in ...
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September 16, 2010 -
Product Liability Alert: Otis Elevator Liable for Defective Chinese Escalator
In a new Law Alert, SRBC's product liability group discusses a recent decision of the Massachusetts Appeals Court adopting a rule that makes the licensor of a trademark used on a product liable for personal injuries resulting from defects in the product--even if the licensor did not itself make or sell the ...
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February 24, 2010 -
Levin on Courtroom Advocacy
On February 24, 2010, SRBC partner Andy Levin will appear as a panelist in a Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) program entitled “Courtroom Advocacy.” Panelists will offer how-to secrets of great courtroom advocates for each phase of a case.

February 09, 2010 -
Second Win for Emerson in Federal-Court Products Case
On February 5, SRBC's David Barry and Serena Madar won a federal-court jury verdict on behalf of Ridge Tool Company, a subsidiary of Emerson Electric Co., in a product-liability case involving a RIDGID crimping tool, a specialized item used by plumbers and other professional pipe workers. The plaintiff ...
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January 18, 2010 -
Victory for Sears, Emerson in Long-Running Products Case
SRBC partners David Barry and William Boesch won a federal-court jury verdict on January 15 in favor of clients Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Emerson Electric Co., in a long-running product-liability case involving a Craftsman table saw. The case, Gillespie v. Sears and Emerson, had previously been tried in ...
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March 06, 2009 -
SRBC's Barry and Levin Win Major Victory for Volkswagen
SRBC partners David Barry and Andrew Levin recently won a jury verdict for Volkswagen in federal court in Vermont, in a case arising from a rollover accident in which the plaintiff, a passenger in a 1999 VW Jetta, was rendered quadriplegic. The plaintiff claimed medical and lost-earnings damages of ...
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