Product Liability

Assume that you are an executive at the company that produces industrial cleaning products. Given the specific purpose of your product and its application, it is highly caustic and can cause significant injury if not handled appropriately. In spite of clearly visible warnings and instructions on the product, and employee of a customer has mishandled the product and as a result was severely injured and will likely sustain significant scarring for the rest of their life. The individual has retained a contingency attorney who has sued your company for a significant amount of money and as the executive in charge of this product, you are charged with handling the situation. How will you handle the situation? Remember that you are a business executive and therefore it is not expected of you to render a legal opinion or even a legal strategy. However, many of us are likely to encounter a situation similar to this in our career in it is important that we know what needs to be done by the executive in charge of the situation.

Discuss what steps you would take in a situation like this and in which order you would take the steps. Consider issues such as retaining counsel, what type of counsel, and other words counsel's specialty, what documentation to collect, what research and previous incidents to perform, whether or not to change how the product is sold or even to temporarily suspend its sale, whether you need to change your marketing message, and so on. Do not forget to address any ethical concerns you may have.