Practice Areas & Industries: Baker & Daniels LLP

Practice/Industry Group Overview

Our product liability practice is national in scope, representing international, national and local manufacturers and distributors throughout the country. We represent a diverse range of industries, from medical device to automotive to industrial equipment companies.

We team with clients to find the most efficient, cost-effective solutions to their problems. Those solutions include preventive counseling, settlement negotiation and dispute resolution. If a dispute cannot be resolved without going to trial, our experience allows us to mount an aggressive and innovative defense of our clients in a court of law.

Dispute Resolution Techniques

We pride ourselves in getting product liability cases resolved short of trial through dispositive motions, favorable settlement negotiations or ADR. We counsel clients on alternative dispute resolution methods, such as mediation or arbitration, as a way to avoid the time and cost of litigation. Baker & Daniels is the Indiana law firm member of the Center for Public Resources Institute for Dispute Resolution, a national organization of corporations and law firms devoted to promoting the use of ADR. Baker & Daniels is also a sustaining member of the American Arbitration Association.

National Counsel Role

Serving as national counsel, our role is to coordinate the defense of product liability cases across the country in a way that brings real efficiencies to the defense. We advise clients on the handling of individual claims and on strategies for the resolution of class actions and multi-district litigation. Our experience with particular products and industries, the continuity of professionals working on a client's cases, and our competitive rates allow us to provide high quality and cost effective services at a national level.

Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices

We have particularly extensive depth in representing medical device and pharmaceutical companies. Our experience has ranged from serving as counsel in single plaintiff personal injury cases to national trial counsel in multi-district and class action litigation. We have attended industry meetings with clients, viewed physicians using the products, provided advice about labeling, and developed a network of national and international experts.

Preventive Counseling

An important part of our role is to help clients prevent product liability issues from arising through careful planning and loss prevention strategies. We provide guidance on developing appropriate warning labels and instructions, drafting warranty language, analyzing contracts, reviewing sales and distribution methods, drafting liability limitation and indemnification provisions, determining whether a recall is appropriate, and reviewing insurance and other risk-management options.

We also assist clients in developing internal loss prevention procedures such as design review, document retention and government compliance. If a product recall is necessary, whether voluntary or government mandated, we provide counsel on the strategies and procedures.

Technology and Document Management

Managing information, sharing resources and providing timely advice is critical in the product liability area. Our firm has invested significant resources in the development of a state-of-the-art electronic case management system that allows our professionals and our clients around-the-clock access to case information through secure, encrypted links. We also have developed media-based presentations for use in trials, mediations and other dispute resolution contexts.

Our computerized litigation support provides consistent dissemination of company information across multiple cases. This includes effective database and tracking systems to deal with the mass documentation often generated in product liability cases. In addition, we advise clients on confidentiality issues and document retention.

Clients:
Bridgestone Corporation , Eli Lilly and Company , Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc. , Ford Motor Company , Guardian Industries Corporation , Lear Corporation , Monaco Coach Corporation , Morgan Trucking, Inc. , Zimmer, Inc.