Products Liability - EIFS, Lead Paint, Asbestos, FRT plywood, PVC piping, Etc.

Over the past 20 years, attorneys at Lee & McShane have represented design professionals in products liability lawsuits involving design defects, manufacturing defects, a failure to warn and other claims in both State and Federal Courts. Some of the products at the center of these disputes are as follows: Exterior Insulated Finish Systems (EIFS), FRT plywood, PVC piping, lead paint, asbestos and other products.

Many of these disputes have arisen in the context of a construction project. Given our extensive experience in litigating construction disputes, we are able to add an additional dimension to our representation of corporate manufacturing clients and design professionals in these products liability disputes.

Some examples of the cases we have handled our as follows:

• We represented an architect who was one of approximately ten defendants in an action brought by a Condominium Association against the developer, the general contractor as well as many other related parties. In this lawsuit, the Condominium Association asserted claims for various design and construction defects including the specification of certain FRT plywood which proved to be defective and unsuitable for this particular use. After conducting extensive discovery, we were successful in resolving this matter through a reasonable resolution for our architectural client. Subsequently, the developer proceeded to trial where the Condominium Association plaintiff prevailed and won over $6,000,000 in damages.

• Recently, we represented a contractor who was being sued by a group of single family homeowners alleging breach of contract claims among others and substantial damages arising from the use of Exterior Insulation Finishing Systems (EIFS). Through our initial investigation, we were able to quickly discover some critical facts and expert opinions assisting us in making an early evaluation in a potentially difficult case with significant potential damages. Consequently, we proceeded to push for an early reasonable resolution while trying to minimize defense costs. We finally achieved a reasonable resolution for our client on an expeditious basis and avoided a lengthy litigation process with the potential of an adverse outcome and significant damages.
• In recent years, we have also represented an FRTplywood manufacturer who was sued directly by a Condominium Association asserting a claims of breach of contract and breach of warranty relating to alleged manufacturing defects through use of FRT plywood in a Condominium/Townhouse development project. Given the underlying facts ascertained through discovery and an assessment through independent experts, we reached a successful and reasonable resolution of this matter avoiding a potential multimillion dollar adverse outcome at trial.

Over the years, we have had an opportunity to gain enormous experience in dealing with technical issues arising from complex facts requiring a multitude of expert opinions. In products liability cases, this experience has often helped us to evaluate cases quickly and enabled us to achieve an early and reasonable resolution. When a dispute cannot be resolved, however we have the experience and attorneys to aggressively defend complex cases through trial and appeal.