Find Lawyers in California, United States for Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs
Practice Area Overview
Products liability, therefore, often involves complex litigation. The nature of a products liability claim is dependent on the jurisdiction or state where the injured person lives, the type of product, and the variety and cause of the defect. Product defects can surface in different facets of the user experience including defects in design, manufacturing, or even when a manufacturer fails to warn of associated dangers in the product’s use. Moreover, liability in these cases can rest on many different parties ascending the supply chain up to the original manufacturer - from the manufacturer and distributor to the supplier and retailer. After gathering all of this information, a knowledgeable attorney will determine the appropriate type of claim that should be pursued including strict liability, negligence, breach of warranty, or even fraud.
Strict Liability: Rather than focus on the behavior of the manufacturer (as in negligence), strict liability claims focus on the product itself. Under strict liability, the manufacturer is liable for harm caused by the defective product, even if the manufacturer was not negligent in making that product defective.
Negligence: This case type most resembles an ordinary negligence lawsuit. In addition to duty, defect, causation, and injury, the injured party needs to prove that the manufacturer or seller breached its duty to the person harmed.
Breach of Warranty: When the maker of a product warrants its characteristics, if it fails in one of those characteristics and the failure causes an injury, a breach of warranty claim arises. Warranties can be express (written or sometimes verbal) or implied by law.
Select a city from the list below to find the best legal talent for your needs.
Cities
A. Ilyas Akbari is the Founder and President of KENNEDY WILSHIRE PC. In addition to a trial lawyer, he is also a bioengineer. Ilyas was a Senior Shareholder and Senior Partner at two of the most prestigious law firms in the country prior to starting his own firm. He is an experienced aviation litigator, having worked on over 200 aviation cases since 2005. Ilyas has litigated crashes and incidents involving commercial airlines, charter operations, general aviation aircraft, military aircraft, ...
Dan Alberstone co-manages Baron & Budd’s Los Angeles law office. He has more than 30 years of broad experience prosecuting complex litigation matters, including extensive jury trial experience. He specializes in consumer class action litigation in the areas of consumer protection and financial fraud. Mr. Alberstone’s reputation for tenacious representation and zealous advocacy, as well as his proven track record, has led to his selection as lead trial counsel in numerous compl...
Khaldoun Baghdadi has been with the firm for 20 years. In 2016, he was part of the trial team in the Pinnacle hip implant litigation trial which resulted in a total verdict in excess of $1 billion dollars. He has dedicated his career to being a trial lawyer, helping people who need and deserve an advocate. He has served as lead trial counsel in cases throughout the State of California, on matters ranging from wrongful death, defective products, insurance disputes, medical negligence and publi...
Vincent J. Bartolotta, Jr. is a founding partner of Thorsnes Bartolotta McGuire. He specializes in plaintiffs' litigation with an emphasis in business disputes, condemnation, and major injury cases. A tenacious litigator, Bartolotta is recognized annually by Woodward/White as one of the Best Lawyers in America -- a recognition he's received every year since 1987. "There's really no secret about what I do," he says, "I really do care for my clients; each case gets a piece of my soul." Bartolot...
Michael L. Baum is the senior partner of Wisner Baum (formerly Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman). For 29 years he was Baum Hedlund’s managing partner until 2023 when he proudly turned over the reins to R. Brent Wisner. During his time at the helm, he led the firm through thousands of wrongful death and personal injury cases stemming from harmful major pharmaceutical drugs, consumer products, and commercial transportation.He began his career in 1985, primarily handling airline accident...
Thomas J. Brandi represents people in consumer class actions, injury and wrongful death including aviation, dangerous roads, defective drugs, and unsafe products. Tom has 19 verdicts from $1 million to $1 billion, has tried cases to verdict in 15 California Counties, and settled over 150 cases over one million dollars. He has been Court appointed to numerous executive committees in mass tort cases. Tom has been recognized for his trial skills named Trial Lawyer of the Year by CAOC (2004), nom...
Bruce A. Broillet's intelligent and committed approach to the law has earned him national recognition and respect among his peers in the legal community and has led to his induction into the Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles “Hall of Fame.” As a trial lawyer, he has obtained numerous seven and eight figure results. He represents plaintiffs in such areas as business litigation, products liability, professional malpractice, personal injury, and wrongful death. His diverse achievemen...
Under Elizabeth Cabraser’s leadership, Lieff Cabraser has become one of the country’s largest law firms serving clients seeking redress for financial and consumer fraud , anti-competitive practices , harmful drugs and products , and illegal employment practices . For four decades, Elizabeth has made sure that our firm remains dedicated to its clients and its core values. Possessing unparalleled expertise in complex civil litigation, Elizabeth has served as court-appointed lead, co...
Kevin F. Calcagnie is a partner in the Newport Beach office of Robinson Calcagnie‚ Inc.‚ specializing in civil litigation with an emphasis in products liability. He was admitted to the California Bar in 1983‚ and has been admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court and the United States Courts of Appeals for the Ninth and Fifth Circuits. Kevin is listed in The Best Lawyers in America®, a peer-reviewed survey listing outstanding attorneys throughout the Un...
Bio Deborah Chang, one of the founding members of Athea Trial Lawyers, has won record-breaking verdicts and settlements in catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases across the country. As if this wasn’t enough, she’s also a partner at Los Angeles firm Chang | Klein LLP. As a trusted advocate at two powerhouse firms, Deborah has made a name for herself as an attorney capable of fighting complex and high-profile cases. At Athea Trial Lawyers, Deborah has been involved in some of ...
Bio Deborah Chang, one of the founding members of Athea Trial Lawyers, has won record-breaking verdicts and settlements in catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases across the country. As if this wasn’t enough, she’s also a partner at Los Angeles firm Chang | Klein LLP. As a trusted advocate at two powerhouse firms, Deborah has made a name for herself as an attorney capable of fighting complex and high-profile cases. At Athea Trial Lawyers, Deborah has been involved in some of ...
Brian Chase is a California Personal Injury Lawyer with over 2 decades of winning tough cases. Brian specializes in auto defects and dangerous/defective products and has received dozens of accolades for his work. His firm, Bisnar Chase Personal Injury Attorneys has won over $350M in settlements and verdicts and has been named Best Places to Work for seven consecutive years. The firm also specializes in catastrophic car accidents and wrongful death cases.
Doris Cheng has been ranked as one of the top 10 lawyers in Northern California. She is listed among the Best Lawyers of America®, LawDragon 500 Leading Lawyers, SuperLawyers® and San Francisco Best Lawyers. She was chosen as Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers of America for 2017. Specializing in complex injuries caused by third-party negligence, Ms. Cheng has obtained multi-million dollar settlements and verdicts on behalf of disabled plaintiffs. She obtained a $15,000,000 verdict on...
Robert Clayton is a partner at Taylor & Ring. He represents clients in catastrophic personal injury actions in both federal and state courts throughout California. His practice areas include wrongful death; premises liability; dangerous conditions on public and private property (including roadway design issues and structural failures); mass transit accidents involving trains, planes and buses; products liability; motorcycle accidents; vehicular accidents; Uber and Lift cases; scalding/bur...
Jeremy Cloyd is a partner at Altair Law, which focuses on serious injury cases. In 2011, Mr. Cloyd was named a finalist for the Trial Lawyer of the Year award by the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association for his work as co-trial counsel in the case of Travis v. Bison Builders, Inc., which resulted in the largest injury verdict in Marin County history. He was a finalist again in 2015 as co-trial counsel in the case of Le Moullac v. Daylight Foods, Inc. a disputed liability case involving the...
A Champion of Justice Under Chris' leadership, the Dolan Law Firm has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for its clients and become one of California's premier plaintiffs' firms serving clients injured due to the fault of another or were discriminated against or harassed in the workplace. Recognized as one of the top 25 plaintiff's lawyers in California, Chris spearheads many of the most significant and challenging lawsuits filed in California state and federal courts against insurance...
A practicing trial attorney for over thirty years, Dan Dunbar has obtained tens of millions of dollars for his clients in verdicts and settlements in personal injury, product liability and pharmaceutical cases. Over Mr. Dunbar’s career, he has personally represented over 5,000 clients involved in personal injury claims, including 1,100 women injured by the Dalkon Shield intrauterine device. Mr. Dunbar is an “AV” rated lawyer, which is the highest rating established by Martin...
Matt Easton has been a central figure in some of Easton & Easton’s most prominent cases in recent years, including a 2019 mediated settlement for $20,000,000, a 2016 settlement for $3,060,000, a 2013 settlement for $2,750,000, and two 2017 settlements for $1,875,000 and $1,800,000 — all of which were selected as Top Million-Dollar Settlements in California for their respective years, and which contributed to Matt’s lifetime selection to the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates...
John’s tenacity and compassion are unmatched. He develops strong bonds with his clients and their families. John’s boundless energy and his dedication to his clients make for a combination that is difficult to beat. This is reflected in the impressive results he has obtained for his clients over the last 40 years. John’s skills are unsurpassed. Recently, John Feder and June Bashant recovered $20 million for the wrongful death of a young professional who was exposed to a dang...
Aaron Hicks is a civil trial attorney and founder of Hicks Law Firm, based in Orange County, also with offices in San Diego and Tennessee. His current practice includes representing plaintiffs in personal injury cases, resulting in traumatic brain injuries, catastrophic injuries, complex regional pain syndrome and wrongful death.
Bill Karns specializes in litigating major personal injury cases involving car accidents, motorcycle accidents, train accidents, wrongful death, premises accidents, slip and fall accidents, unsafe products, unsafe medical devices, bad drugs, construction site accidents, pedestrian accidents, boat accidents, insurance bad faith, and traumatic brain injury. He has also litigated cases involving breach of contract, fraud, and other business torts.
Conor M. Kelly is a tireless advocate for victims of injustice recognized by Daily Journal as one of 2021’s Top 40 Under 40 Lawyers in California and awarded the 2019 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award by the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association. Conor specializes in complex personal injury and wrongful death cases and has a long track record of success. Conor has extensive experience in cases involving traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury and catastrophic orthopedic injuries. He h...
Mike Kelly is one of the nation’s top personal injury attorneys. For four decades he has protected consumers from corporate greed, medical mistakes, dangerous household products, unsafe medical devices, and motor vehicle accidents of every kind. He has tried, settled, and arbitrated more than 200 cases where the recovery by his client exceeded $1 million. In 2020 he helped negotiate the multibillion-dollar resolution of the 2017 California wildfire lawsuits brought against utility giant...
Paul Kiesel received his Juris Doctorate from the Whittier College School of Law in Los Angeles in 1985. In 2005, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Law from Whittier Law School. His practice is devoted to representing consumers in personal injury, class action, environmental, and toxic tort litigation. Mr. Kiesel has repeatedly been selected as one of the top plaintiff attorneys in the State of California and the country. The Los Angeles Business Journal recognized Mr. Kiesel as one of ...
Justin H. King, a highly respected personal injury attorney in Southern California, has built an illustrious career on a foundation of dedication, strategy, and client advocacy. As the Senior Trial Attorney at the Law Offices of Justin H. King, he specializes in plaintiffs' personal injury cases , bringing a unique blend of legal acumen and compassionate representation to his clients. While he comes from a long line of legal professionals, Justin has distinguished himself through his innovati...
Anthony L. Label is the team leader of the Label Trial Team which focuses on serious injury cases. He represents individuals who have suffered personal injuries that have life-changing, career-changing, life-ending, or career-ending impact. His clients include victims of traumatic brain injury, spinal cord trauma, nerve damage, and severe orthopedic injuries arising from construction site accidents, industrial accidents, dangerous premises, auto accidents, wrongful death, governmental or publ...
Elinor Leary is a partner at the Veen Firm, and leads the Leary Trial Team. Her team handles complex cases that involve life-altering injuries or death. Elinor has expertise with cases that involve construction and worksite injuries, defective products, dangerous property conditions, negligent security, car and truck collisions, and incidents that involve pedestrians and bicyclists. Elinor has tried numerous cases to verdict as well as reached large settlements in numerous other cases, includ...
Kim Levy is a senior trial attorney at the Dolan Law Firm, PC. She represents plaintiffs in catastrophic personal injury, medical malpractice, and wrongful death cases. Ms. Levy was selected as a 2023 Best Lawyer in America by US News. She was also recognized by her peers as a Super Lawyers Rising Star 2016-2021. Ms. Levy is the President of the San Mateo County Trial Lawyers Association where she focuses on community outreach, local charity work, and ensuring access to the legal system. Rece...
Timothy A. Loranger is an attorney and senior partner at the national mass disaster law firm of Wisner Baum (formerly Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman). A consumer attorney, pilot, and avid citizen advocate, Tim oversees our cases involving product liability law, aviation, and commercial ground transportation accidents (including truck accidents, train crashes, and military vehicle accidents), and military accidents resulting in catastrophic personal injury or wrongful death. He served as C...
Spencer Lucas is a trial lawyer at Panish Shea & Boyle and specializes in litigating complex catastrophic personal injury, products liability and wrongful death cases. He has extensive experience in cases involving traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries and prides himself on helping injured people and their families. Mr. Lucas has successfully recovered over $300 million for his clients and has obtained numerous eight-figure verdicts and settlements in cases throughout Californ...
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.