Brian Anderson
1625 Eye Street, NW
Washington, DC, 20006
Phone: +1 (202) 383-5309
Fax: +1-202-383-5414
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Steve Brody
1625 Eye Street, NW
Washington, DC, 20006
Phone: +1 (202) 383-5167
Fax: +1-202-383-5414
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Richard Goetz
400 South Hope Street
Los Angeles, CA, 90071
Phone: +1 (213) 430-6400
Fax: +1-213-430-6407
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Amy Laurendeau
610 Newport Center Drive, 17th Floor
Newport Beach, CA, 92660
Phone: +1 (949) 823-7926
Fax: +1-949-823-6994
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Charles Lifland
400 South Hope Street
Los Angeles, CA, 90071
Phone: +1 (213) 430-6665
Fax: +1-213-430-6407
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Sabrina H. Strong
400 South Hope Street
Los Angeles, CA, 90071
Phone: +1 (213) 430-6113
Fax: +1-213-430-6407
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Scott Voelz
400 South Hope Street
Los Angeles, CA, 90071
Phone: +1 (213) 430-6680
Fax: +1-213-430-6407
PROFESSIONALS
- Related Practices
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American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
Exxon Mobil Corporation
Ford Motor Company
Johnson & Johnson
The Lincoln Electric Company
Merck & Co., Inc.
Southern California Edison Co.
Verizon
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Products Liability and Mass Torts
O’Melveny’s product liability group excels at defending high-profile corporate clients in mass tort proceedings, class actions, and government investigations. Over the span of three decades, we have defended—and defeated—hundreds of consumer class actions in nearly every U.S. state. We have served as lead or co-lead national counsel in dozens of multidistrict litigations, while also defending some of the nation’s preeminent manufacturers against regulatory actions and aggregated litigation brought by federal and state authorities. We are a proven leader in limiting our clients’ exposure in product liability litigation, whether orchestrating overall defense strategy or acting as trial counsel in individual cases.
Key Facts
- O’Melveny lawyers are recognized as catalysts for class-action reform. We work with the Product Liability Advisory Council, a nonprofit association that aims to reform laws in the United States and elsewhere governing the liability of product manufacturers. Our lawyers helped draft the U.S. Class Action Fairness Act of 2005.
- We regularly appear before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation and have experience coordinating class actions from around the country in a single proceeding, thus facilitating the management of massive litigation. We frequently serve as lead or co-lead national coordinating counsel for clients faced with multiple product liability class actions, including Merck and Ford Motor Company.
- We integrate lawyers from our nationally renowned appellate practice who focus on issues related to class actions, other aggregate litigation, and punitive damages.
- We have developed strategies that dramatically reduce our clients’ exposure to punitive damages awards. In Smith v. Ford, we persuaded the Kentucky Supreme Court to reduce a $20 million punitive damages award to $15 million, then persuaded the U.S. Supreme Court to vacate the entire punitive award based on instructional and other errors in the state court system. In the Exxon Valdez litigation, we pioneered the concept of a “mandatory class action” to constrain the scope of punitive damages, a step that substantially reduced ExxonMobil’s liability in that case.
Industry Reach
We represent clients in products liability matters across a wide range of industries, including:
- Automobiles
- Building Products
- Chemicals
- Clothing
- Consumer Products
- Industrial Equipment
- Medical Devices
- Pharmaceuticals
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Ford Motor Company
National Chamber Litigation Center
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