The Legal 500

Bowman and Brooke LLP’s team of ‘outstanding’ product defense specialists handles an extensive range of automotive liability cases covering road automobiles, motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles, and often acts as US national counsel for international manufacturers. The practice is valued for its deep bench of trial lawyers and coast-to-coast presence. Columbia-based Joel Smith and ‘tremendous trial lawyer’ Vincent Galvin often act for Japanese clients. For example, they recently defended Toyota against wrongful death and personal injury claims in its ‘unintended acceleration’ litigation. Phoenix-based Paul Cereghini is highly rated and is acting as lead counsel for Honda in national consumer class action concerning alleged window regulator defects. He also successfully defended Yamaha in litigation concerning its Rhino off-road vehicle. The team has a solid presence in Minneapolis, where David Kelly advised Mazda in a forum-shopping case in which the plaintiff sought a sympathetic jurisdiction. The matter concerned the design and manufacture of one of Mazda’s vehicles, and the firm successfully prevented the plaintiff from challenging the forum in which the case was being heard. Paul Carver retired from private practice in 2012.

The ‘outstanding’ Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell LLP, ‘one of the icons of defense practice across the US’, continues to handle automotive cases at the ‘highest level’. Edward Stewart acted for Ford Motor Company to overturn a plaintiff verdict before the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a case concerning a rollover incident that rendered an individual quadriplegic. The team successfully defended the same client in an appeal against a jury verdict in an electronic throttle defect case. ‘Terrific’ in all respects, this ‘high-caliber’ practice includes a number of ‘fine lawyers’, and is led by the exceptional Malcolm Wheeler.

Widely recognized as a ‘go-to firm for significant trials’, and considered to be among the ‘very best’ for personal injury and product liability advice, Campbell Campbell Edwards & Conroy P.C. has some ‘outstanding’ practitioners. Its ‘excellent trial attorneys’ include Philadelphia-based William Conroy and Tiffany Alexander, as well as Boston-based David Rogers, Trevor Keenan and ‘experienced’ partner James Campbell, who ‘knows what important at trial’ and is highly regarded for ‘efficient, effective representation’. Campbell recently defended Ford Motor Company in a wrongful death case involving asbestos in automotive brakes. The team also played an active role in three class actions concerning the fuel economy of cars. New clients include Tesla.

McGuireWoods LLP regularly acts as lead trial counsel for Ford Motor Company, including defending it against wrongful death claims alleging defects in its automotive products. Samuel Tarry and practice head Tracy Walker have been handling appeals in cases relating to asbestos brakes. For example, the duo recently acted as lead appellate counsel for the client in Lokey v Ford Motor Company, a wrongful death action involving an individual who was alleged to have contracted mesothelioma after exposure to asbestos brake products in Ford vehicles. Perry Miles recently acted in Gartman et al v Ford Motor Company, and successfully obtained a defense verdict for Ford.

Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP is a ‘great firm’ with a ‘very deep bench of talented lawyers’. Robert Adams leads the practice, which is trial counsel for Kia Motors and also acts as product liability counsel to Isuzu Motors America. Tyco recently instructed the team to act as national counsel in its automotive and general liability litigation. The firm is also acting for Toyota in certain product liability litigation and a number of class actions. Elsewhere, the team acted for a mid-sized bus dealer in litigation in California arising from the death of seven tourists following a bus crash.

Snell & Wilmer LLP’s ‘tremendous’ team is co-headed by Vaughn Crawford and the ‘terrific’ Warren Platt, who is ‘a great lawyer’ and remains ‘one of the icons of the defense community’. Its busy trial practice sees senior litigators Robert Gibson and Timothy O’Neill frequently represent automotive clients as national local and discovery counsel in class action and mass tort cases across the US. The team also has a superb reputation for pre-litigation counseling and advice on litigation avoidance.

At Bryan Cave LLP, consumer class action specialist Peter Herzog is recognized as a ‘long-time player’ in the automotive sector. He has an excellent record of defending companies including Mercedes-Benz and Ford Motor Company in consumer class actions across the US, and has also achieved the dismissal of putative class actions for clients including American Honda. Bruce Duffield, who is recommended for class action defense and complex issues of product design, has acted as sole counsel for General Motors in product liability jury trials.

DLA Piper’s automotive practice is led by Loren Brown, William Kiniry and Christopher Young. Kiniry acted for Porsche Cars North America to achieve dismissal of a putative class action concerning allegedly defective engines installed in 1999 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupes. James Brogan led a team that represented Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co in the US Supreme Court, which was a precedent-setting case concerning the exercising of personal jurisdiction following a bus accident in Paris that killed two US citizens from North Carolina. Toyota Motor Sales has instructed the team to act as regional trial counsel in a suite of personal injury cases arising from alleged instances of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles.

King & Spalding LLP is a ‘powerhouse’ in catastrophic injury and wrongful cases for clients in the automotive and transport sectors. Among its shipping and logistics clients are Freightliner and Allied Holdings. It also advises car manufacturers including Kia, General Motors and Toyota, as well as automotive component parts manufacturers including Delphi, Bosche and Fujikura. Philip Holladay recently acted as lead counsel for General Motors Canada, winning summary judgment for the defense in a wrongful death case concerning a crash in 2001. The team is held in high regard for its handling of nationwide discovery and Andrew Bayman continues to act for Toyota as its national discovery counsel in the series of unintended acceleration cases. Atlanta-based Chilton Varner is a highly venerated litigator with a broad base of litigious expertise.

Esteemed class action lawyer Richard Goetz leads the practice at O’Melveny & Myers LLP, which continues to act as national class action counsel for longstanding client, Ford Motor Company. Washington DC-based Brian Anderson recently defended the same client in a class action concerning alleged defects in its six-liter engines. Jonathan Hacker, chair of the firm’s Supreme Court and appellate practice, achieved a significant result for Viad Corp in the US Supreme Court case, Kurns v Railroad Friction Products Corp, which concerned questions of preemption and claims concerning asbestos in locomotives.

Ballard Spahr LLP’s small team combines expertise in both commercial litigation and quasi-criminal proceedings relating to product performance. It recently advised several car manufacturers on attorney general investigations into workplace accidents and continues to advise AM General on both regulatory and contentious issues linked with its vehicles. Roger Thomasch often acts as lead trial counsel for Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co, and has represented it in eight tire liability cases at federal and state level. The arrival of former New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto adds significant trial and appellate expertise. Alongside practice head Neal Walters, Rivera-Soto recently defended Kia Motors in post-trial actions for legal fees and damages after the firm had helped the client to achieve class decertification.

Texas-based boutique Hartline, Dacus, Barger, Dreyer L.L.P acts for its broad spread of automotive manufacturer clients, which it represents in class actions and other multi-party disputes concerning defective products, warrantee claims and franchise litigation. Founding partner Vernon Hartline has substantial courtroom experience in automotive and tire liability cases. In the Corpus Christi office, Richard Crews is the go-to trial lawyer for component part suppliers and car manufacturers. Clients of the team include BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Subaru.

Hogan Lovells LLP’s main focus is on providing class action defense representation for various automotive manufacturers, and the practice is underpinned by the firm’s significant regulatory expertise. The team recently represented a major US car company in multi-district litigation concerning allegedly defective vehicles, which was heard before the US District Court for the Central District of California. Michael Kidney, who is highly recommended for cases concerning the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), recently advised an Asian automotive client regarding a putative nationwide class action, helping it to achieve a favorable settlement. The practice also represented a client in the US District Court Western District of New York, in a putative class action alleging defects in brake rotors and calipers. Hyundai Motor America is also a client, as is Carnival Corporation, which Houston-based Thad Dameris is representing in all US litigation arising from the grounding of the Costa Concordia cruise ship.

Pittsburgh-based John Goetz and Paul Pohl are Jones Day’s key contacts for representation in class action litigation. The team represents automotive manufacturers and component part suppliers across the transport and aviation sectors. Joseph Finley, Traci Lovitt and David Monde led the defense of Yamaha in product liability litigation at the Georgia Court of Appeals concerning its Rhino off-road vehicle. The team has also handed several other Rhino-related cases, and has obtained eight out of nine defense verdicts in those cases that have gone to trial.

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP’s ‘very versatile’ team ‘can respond to a variety of different cases’ but is best known for non-class action automotive litigation. The group has demonstrable expertise in bad faith litigation and has acted for clients including Michelin. Melissa Foster Bird has experience advising rail and trucking companies. Robert Massie and Huntington office managing partner Marc Williams are the names to note.

‘Traditionally strong’ and ‘very deep’, Sidley Austin LLP is well regarded for its ability to handle large-scale multi-district litigation. Eric Mattson and Michael Andolina recently represented Honda in five vehicle class actions. They also defended the same client in a consumer fraud claim concerning the paint used on Honda’s cars and advised it in US and Canadian litigation concerning the company’s lawnmower products.

Thompson Coburn LLP provides ‘excellent’ and ‘inexpensive’ advice to automobile manufacturers and their financing companies, both in warrantee litigation and product liability class actions. St Louis-based Richard Mueller is an experienced trial lawyer who acts as product liability counsel for Kawasaki Motors Corp. Kathy Wisniewski is Chrysler Motors LLC’s national class action counsel and successfully defended it against in cases alleging defective vehicle parts. Other clients include Volkswagen of America and DaimlerChrysler Financial Services Americas LLC.