Overview
Industrial clients often foresee potential risks before litigation commences. We counsel clients on proactive ways to minimize potential risk exposure, including through pre-litigation consultation with C-suite executives. This requires a brutally honest assessment of possible worst-case scenarios with full client buy-in on affirmative mitigation strategies, both pre-litigation and continuing once a mass tort is underway.
The mass-tort plaintiffs’ bar specializes in maximizing the pressure on companies to buy freedom from litigation risks. Their goal is to amass the largest possible inventory of plaintiffs in hopes of driving litigation costs and exposure (whether real or perceived) so high that defendants will have little choice but to settle on unfavorable terms. The reality is only a handful of claims among these large inventories have significant potential value. Plaintiffs’ counsel know this, but bet that a company’s and its outside counsel’s fear and aversion will win the day rather than its commitment to protecting its reputation and product lines. Well-versed in this bullying tactic, we understand that often the best way to combat a bully is to stand up and be willing to fight. Intensely focused and fiercely driven, we do just that and have had tremendous success forcing opposing counsel to expend the significant time, effort, and resources necessary to prove up and try their claims. This serves many purposes, including thinning out large inventories (plaintiffs’ counsel would rather drop frivolous cases than incur losses), preventing or severely reducing and delaying the plaintiffs’ bar’s potential payday, and ultimately discouraging the plaintiffs’ bar from pursuing our clients in the future.
