Product Liability

Wiggin and Dana has defended clients in high-stakes product liability matters for over a half century, and our product liability team continues to stand atop the short list of go-to firms in Connecticut and beyond in this specialty practice area. The clients we represent are diverse—ranging from traditional Fortune 500 corporations to small local manufacturers and startups. And we have deep experience with a wide array of products, including aircraft and component parts, prescription drugs and medical devices, motor vehicles, consumer products, sporting goods, industrial products, and more.  In all cases, our team works thoughtfully and tenaciously toward a successful resolution that suits the client’s specific business needs and goals—whether that means by trial, dispositive motions, mediation/settlement, or M&A and pre-litigation risk assessment and avoidance counseling.

Among other things, our product liability attorneys have developed a national reputation in the field of aviation defense representing leading designers, manufacturers, carriers, owners, operators, and insurers.  We have successfully resolved cases involving fixed wing and rotorcraft accidents as well as a variety of commercial and other disputes throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.  Our aviation clients have included companies such as Textron Aviation, General Electric, Duncan Aviation, Kaman, and Timken Aerospace.  We also have a national reputation and deep experience serving as local, regional, and national counsel defending drug and medical device companies such as Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Meyers Squibb, Medtronic, Merck, and Pfizer in product liability litigation.  As a member of the national defense teams involving well-known pharmaceuticals and medical devices, we have successfully tried cases and been on science and sales/marketing defense groups, defending client depositions in the United States and abroad.  We also have been active in affirmative discovery and depositions of patients, treating and prescribing physicians, and other experts.

In addition to matters in which we have served as lead trial counsel, household name “Big Law” firms like DLA Piper, Greenberg Traurig, Shook, Hardy & Bacon, King & Spalding, and Sidley Austin regularly call upon us for assistance with complex products matters in Connecticut’s federal and state courts. Whether we are working solo or as part of a larger team, our cases invariably involve the very best of the plaintiffs’ bar.

The excellence of our work has been recognized in publications ranging from Benchmark Litigation to Super Lawyers to Who’s Who Aviation (in which we have the only Connecticut lawyer recognized) to the Connecticut Law Tribune, which recently awarded us the Product Liability Litigation Department of the Year award for each of the last two years it was given.  We also continue to be thought leaders in this space, having taught classes, published articles, and presented at bar conferences on cutting-edge legal issues. We are members of and hold leadership positions in leading bar organizations such as the Product Liability Advisory Council, the International Association of Defense Counsel, the American Bar Association, and the Defense Research Institute.

Last—but certainly not least—we have devoted substantial time to charitable endeavors and invaluable pro bono work on behalf of under-represented, low-income individuals. For example, our Chair, Kevin Smith, serves as Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee of the Board of Directors of Connecticut Statewide Legal Services and has represented a variety of clients on a pro bono basis.  Similarly, David Norman-Schiff serves on the Board of Directors of New Haven’s Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen and represents indigent inmates on a pro bono basis in civil rights litigation.  Meanwhile, Jim Craven has organized and directed the Defense Research Institute’s Drug and Medical Device annual public service event for a number of years, and he has also represented numerous indigent clients on a pro bono basis.  For his efforts, Mr. Craven is the recipient of the Defense Research Institute’s Life Community Service Award and the Connecticut Bar Association’s Anthony DeMayo Pro Bono Award.