It’s interesting to see how some view product liability litigation, as set out in an August 1, 2016 article at LAW360. Once upon a time, big firms disdained the practice but that’s long gone on the defense side. Meanwhile, some plaintiff firms are now pretty large by both head counts and revenues.
I certainly endorse the following portions of the article:
“While a background in science isn’t necessary for product liability law, attorneys need to have an interest in science and engineering and the willingness to learn, experts agreed.
“I’d say it’s a bad thing if you don’t like to read scientific or technical papers, because in a product liability case, you are going to get very deep into the science and engineering and human factors in every last little field you can imagine,” said Max Kennerly, of counsel at Tor Hoerman Law LLC.
Many law students seem to be averse to math or science, but practicing product liability law requires working with experts to understand how a product is made, its history and its use, according to Doug Robinson of Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP.
If you don’t know a product forward and backward, you’re going to be in trouble once you’re out in front of a jury, Kennerly noted.
Also essential to practicing product liability law is an understanding of statistics, according to Lee Teichner of Holland & Knight LLP.”