Insights / News
Insights / News
Arundel House,
Arundel Street,
London,
UK
4th September 2024
1pm - 6pm BST
You are invited to join Outer Temple Chambers for a half-day conference on product liability claims in the UK and the US.
Our specialist barristers will be joined by colleagues from around the world to discuss a range of product liability issues and claims, including the differences in defending claims in the UK and the US, the Boeing 737 litigation, and recent vaccine litigation claims, amongst other topics.
To round off the event, we will also host a panel session to discuss the future of product liability claims.
1.00pm – Coffee and registration
1.30pm – Welcome by Chair, Nathan Tavares KC, Outer Temple Chambers, London
1.35pm – “Litigating vehicle accidents in an age of automated vehicles” by Joel Smith of Bowman and Brooke, Columbia
2.05pm – “Holding Boeing to account – the 737 Max Litigation”, Kevin Durkin of Clifford Law, Chicago
2.35pm – “Asbestos and product liability litigation – the challenges of historic claims” by Aliyah Akram and Olinga Tahzib of Outer Temple Chambers, London
3.05pm – Coffee Break
3.30pm – “Collective redress in the UK; the shortcomings”, by Sarah Moore of Leigh Day, Leeds
4.00pm – “Managing Group Claims – the challenges” by Gerard McDermott KC of Outer Temple Chambers, London
4.30pm – “Panel session – How should corporations react to product crisis” with Gerard McDermott KC, Kevin Durkin and Joel Smith
5.00pm – Close by Chair, Nathan Tavares KC of Outer Temple Chambers, London
5.10pm – Networking drinks
Attendance to this unique free event is by registration only. Please book your place online at https://productliability.eventbrite.co.uk or email communications@outertemple.com for more details.
Nathan Tavares KC is a Head of Chambers and specialises in clinical negligence, catastrophic personal injury claims, product liability, and professional negligence. Nathan has many years of experience in product liability claims involving personal injury. His expertise includes medical device litigation through to defective consumer products such as vehicles and machine tools. His instructions have been broadly balanced between claimants and defendants and many claims have involved a foreign element.
Nathan was retained for a number of years by a foreign consumer machine tool manufacturer (GMC Tools) in relation to all of the English product liability claims brought against it, of which there were numerous claims often with B&Q or Homebase co-defending. More recently, he is instructed by an American manufacturer of mesh products in relation to multiple claims in England & Wales arising out of alleged defects in the products. On the claimant side, he has been instructed by numerous claimants in metal-on-metal hip product liability claims predominantly involving De Puy devices, and in a claim arising out of defective implanted cardiac defibrillator (ICD).
Gerard McDermott KC has a busy practice focused on Personal Injury, Medical Malpractice and Employment Law which includes Product Liability and Cross Border disputes.
He represents clients with a vast range of injuries arising from medical negligence, road traffic accidents and faulty products, with the majority of his caseload involving catastrophic injury. He is currently co-lead counsel working on behalf of the Bereaved Survivors and Relatives of Victims of the Grenfell Tower Fire.
Gerard is/has been instructed on a number of very high-profile product liability claims. A vast number of his cases have a cross border element to them, with particular emphasis on US issues, but also Europe and the Middle East.
Aliyah Akram is a barrister at Outer Temple Chambers. She is acknowledged as a leading junior in personal injury and industrial disease litigation and renowned for her expertise and experience in group litigation in all of the core areas in which she practices. Many of her cases have an international aspect and give rise to both jurisdictional issues and conflicts of laws.
Aliyah is well known for her work on group litigation and product liability claims and has been involved in some of the largest group actions ever brought in the UK including in a group claim brought by military personnel against the Ministry of Defence for personal injury whilst in service, instructed by leading industrial disease solicitors in product liability test cases pursued against a major asbestos manufacturer, and instructed in a large group litigation claim brought by South African claimants exposed to asbestos from mining operations.
Olinga is a sought-after personal injury practitioner, ranked by Legal 500 since 2022. Olinga is highly numerate and adept at drafting complex schedules of loss. He serves as an editor of Facts & Figures.
His caseload increasingly consists of catastrophic injury claims and encompasses RTAs, claims under the Highways Act and Occupiers Liability Act, as well as asbestos and noise-induced hearing loss claims. He acted in F v M & Ors for the claimant in a Fatal Accident Act claim in which the deceased developed lung cancer following asbestos exposure in the course of his work with several employers. The claim was settled in 2020 and he has since acted as junior on a number of other asbestos-related cases.
Kevin Durkin is a partner at Clifford Law Offices in Chicago, named one of the 50 Elite Law Firms in the country by The National Law Journal. They are recognized leaders in personal injury and wrongful death case litigation.
Over a career that spans more than 35 years, Kevin has successfully represented clients in many practice areas, including Aviation Accidents, Automobile Litigation, Premises Liability and Medical Malpractice. He has been named a top-tier attorney by U.S. News-Best Lawyers® in the areas of personal injury litigation, aviation law and product liability since 2011. He was named the 2022 Best Lawyers “Lawyer of the Year” in the Chicago area for Product Liability and 2021 Best Lawyers “Lawyer of the Year” in the Chicago area for Aviation Law. He has earned the “Lawyer of the Year” accolade in Chicago for over five years in several areas including, Plaintiffs’ Product Liability Litigation and Plaintiffs’ Personal Injury Litigation.
Joel Smith is a Columbia based Partner at Bowman and Brooke, a leading trial firm with one of the largest product liability practices in the US. The firm has 15 offices around the US.
Joel is a nationally recognized first-chair trial lawyer with more than 40 years of experience dedicated to defending high exposure product liability and mass tort litigation. As lead trial counsel, he has tried to verdict over 20 high-exposure product liability trials across the country. In recent years, he has been a lead counsel in two of the biggest product liability crises to hit the automotive industry, including Toyota’s unintended acceleration litigation and Honda’s handling of the massive recall of Takata air bags.
Previously named a Product Liability MVP by Law360, Joel has represented manufacturers of automobiles, tires, forklifts and other equipment, as well as pharmaceuticals and consumer products. Joel’s experience defending automotive manufacturers in catastrophic injury and wrongful death claims nationwide includes roof crush, air bags, restraints, rollover, crashworthiness, unintended acceleration, and tire defects, among others.
Sarah is a Partner at Leigh Day, one of The Times top 100 law firms in the UK and specialists in claimant work against government and large corporations for over 35 years.
Based in Leeds, Sarah specialises in large multiparty group actions on behalf of claimants based in the UK and overseas across a wide range of issues including environmental and product liability claims. Sarah’s UK cases have included representing groups of Claimants against “Big Pharma” companies including Diageo plc., Johnson & Johnson, Allergan UK Limited, and most recently AstraZeneca UK Limited, in product liability claims brought under the Consumer Protection Act 1987. These cases have typically involved a wide range of defective medicines or medical devices from Thalidomide through to metal-on-metal hips and breast implants.
Her international work includes acting on behalf of claimants in Colombia, the Ivory Coast and Iraq against British registered companies and the UK Government.
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