Foley Hoag LLP

Protecting our clients interests

National Practice

At Foley Hoag, we have a long history of successfully defending companies against product liability and other complex tort claims, including unfair and deceptive practice, genetic misdiagnosis, breach of privacy, toxic tort and premises liability claims. We have served as national and regional counsel as well as counsel in individual lawsuits, and many of the claims we defend are class actions, aggregated government claims or other mass torts.

Our practice is national in scope, and we have defended claims in the majority of states. The industry base of our practice is equally broad, covering pharmaceuticals and medical devices, industrial products and consumer products, as described further below.

Highly-Qualified Lawyers and Technical Support Staff

Our lawyers are graduates of top law schools, many of whom were also selected to serve judicial clerkships. A number of our lawyers have been recognized for superior achievement through such publications as Best Lawyers in America and Chambers USA: The Client’s Guide.

Based on our many years of experience, we have deep industry knowledge, including in the pharmaceutical and medical device fields. We are active in national defense bar groups such as the Product Liability Advisory Council and Defense Research Institute.

In addition to our lawyers, we have an in-house staff of physicians, scientists and engineers to provide sophisticated technical support. We also have extensive contacts with leading outside experts, both at our excellent local academic institutions and across the country.

Creative Strategies Produce Excellent Results and Excellent Value

We do not take a “cookie-cutter” approach to your case. We devise case-specific strategies to achieve your goals, whether they relate to result, cost or otherwise. As described elsewhere in these pages, we achieve excellent results.

In today’s business world, we know that you need to deliver excellent value to your customers. To help you in that quest, we deliver excellent value to you, both through traditional and alternative fee arrangements.

Supporting Civil Justice Reform

We do not stop at seeking justice for you in the individual case. Rather, we seek to create a legal system in which fair and sensible liability rules are applied through a fair and sensible litigation process. To that end, we are active in the civil justice reform efforts of organizations such as the Product Liability Advisory Council, Defense Research Institute and Lawyers for Civil Justice.

Claim Prevention and Regulatory Compliance

We also provide claim prevention and regulatory compliance services. We can help with safety audits to review your products’ design, manufacturing, warnings and other literature. We can also advise about your obligations under federal statutes such as the Consumer Product Safety Act and under state law.

Representative Clients

A representative sample of our product liability and complex tort clients includes the following:

American Red Cross
AMTROL, Inc.
BASF Corporation
Becton Dickinson and Company
Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation
Corning Incorporated
C. R. Bard, Inc.
Elf Atochem North America, Inc.
Eli Lilly and Company
General Dynamics Corporation
Genzyme Corporation
Hoffmann-La Roche Inc.
HPM Corporation
Ingersoll-Rand Company
Lear-Siegler Diversified
Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
The Nissan Fire & Marine Insurance Co., Ltd.
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation
Pfizer, Inc.
Pizza Hut, Inc.
Sanofi Winthrop, Inc.
Schering-Plough Corporation
Sherwin-Williams Company
Smith & Wesson Corp.
Southworth Products Corporation
Warner-Lambert Company

Representative Experience

Foley Hoag has a proven record of success in the trial, appeal and other resolution of difficult product liability and complex tort cases in federal and state courts throughout the country. Many of our cases involve complex legal or factual questions, such as whether the plaintiff has reliable scientific proof of the cause of his injury or whether a federal regulatory scheme preempts the plaintiff's claims. The following is a brief overview of some of the matters that we have successfully handled or are currently defending:

Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices

Regional counsel to major pharmaceutical company in federal and state class actions and individual lawsuits claiming cancer, infertility and other injuries from anti-miscarriage drug; defeated class certifications and market share liability, successful results in individual cases
Defended modest-sized orthopedic device company in federal court national consumer class action claiming hip implants had excessive failure rate but had not actually failed; won dismissal
Defended major pharmaceutical company against state court national class action claiming informational mailings to pharmacy chain customers violated consumer fraud statutes and patient privacy; defeated national class, de-certified statewide class and won summary judgment on all claims
Defended major medical device company in dozens of state and federal court suits claiming disabling allergic reactions and asthma from latex gloves; won dismissal in all cases
Defended two major pharmaceutical companies in state and federal individual and class actions claiming childhood vaccines caused autism and other mental impairment; won dismissal or stay of all claims
Hired by major pharmaceutical company hit with $20 million compensatory and punitive damages judgment for birth defects from anti-seizure drug; obtained favorable settlement after appellate briefs
Defended two major national laboratories in lawsuits alleging erroneous prenatal genetic testing led to birth of children with serious diseases; won favorable settlements

Industrial Products

National counsel to major valve manufacturer in approximately 400 asbestos suits involving over 20,000 claimants in at least 18 states; most claims involve fatal respiratory cancers; won dismissal in all cases to date
National counsel to materials handling equipment manufacturer in approximately 200 claims, including suits in approximately 10 states, involving injury and death; won numerous dismissals and successful settlements
Defended HVAC manufacturer in state court suit claim death from asbestos-related cancer; won favorable admissions from plaintiff’s expert and dismissal on eve of trial
Defended major chemical company in federal court suit claiming permanent asthma and lung damage from component of automotive paint; won summary judgment based on statute of limitations and fraud on the court
Defended medical device manufacturer in state court suit claiming lung cancer from emissions of gas used to sterilize products; won summary judgment
Defended paper products manufacturer in state court suit claiming “degloving” injuries to worker’s hand caught in equipment previously owned by company; negotiated nominal settlement

Consumer Products

Defended major cigarette company in approximately 85 class actions and individual lawsuits claiming illness and death from lung cancer and other conditions; won dismissal of all claims
Defended plumbing manufacturer in state court consumer and contractor class action alleging design defects caused water damage to consumers’ property; obtained favorable settlement
Defended major cigarette company in state attorney general suit to recover smoking-related Medicaid expenses of tens of thousands of individuals; won summary judgment against $4.5 billion multiple damages claim, after which parties negotiated settlement
Defended consumer product manufacturer in federal court suit claiming firefighter suffered severe burns from wearing client’s glove; won successful result at trial

Claim Prevention, Regulatory Compliance and Tort Reform

In addition to our trial and appellate defense work, Foley Hoag has a significant practice preventing product liability claims. On behalf of our clients, we conduct product safety audits, during which we review the design and manufacture of, and warnings and instructions for, our client's products. We also review prior claims or incidents involving our client’s products and relevant industry or government standards. We then suggest appropriate steps to reduce the client's potential liability.

As part of our claim prevention practice, we also advise clients about reporting obligations, product recalls and related issues under federal statutes, such as the Consumer Product Safety Act and the laws of the various states.

Foley Hoag is also active in seeking reforms that will make tort law fairer for our business clients. With the assistance of our Government Strategies Practice Group, we monitor state and federal legislative developments in the field. Our lawyers also serve on legislative task forces, file friend-of-the-court briefs and comment on existing and proposed rules of court for such organizations as the Product Liability Advisory Council and the Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council.

LINKS

Agencies:

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Home Page
http://www.mass.gov/

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
http://cpsc.gov/

U.S. Food and Drug Administration
http://www.fda.gov/

U.S. Federal Trade Commission for the Consumer
http://www.ftc.gov/

U.S. Dept. of Labor Occupational Safety & Health Admin.
http://www.osha.gov/

Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/homepage.html

Courts:

Supreme Court of the United States
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/

U.S. Courts 1st Circuit
http://www.uscourts.gov/allinks.html#1st

U.S. District Court - District of Massachusetts
http://www.mad.uscourts.gov/default2.html