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Product liability has climbed the board agenda in recent years – and gained significant media and public attention. Litigation arising from product recalls across a spectrum of sectors, including food, automotive, medical devices and general consumer products, has become common. And future battles are brewing over potential product safety, liability and recalls involving drones, microplastics and e-cigarettes.

UNITED STATES

Wilson Elser

“The most relevant trends in product liability claims in the US in 2019 included lawsuits relating to the opioid crisis, a large volume of matters in multi-district litigation, the emergence of litigation related to the Internet of Things (IoT) and autonomous motor vehicles, the Supreme Court clearing the way for Sandy Hook families to move forward with their lawsuit against the company that manufactured the gun used to kill children and teachers, the Supreme Court finding that makers of asbestos-free products can be held liable if it is foreseeable that asbestos-containing parts would be added to those products even after those products left the manufacturers’ control, and the emergence of vaping-related claims and litigation.”

UNITED KINGDOM

Shook, Hardy & Bacon International LLP

“Product recalls, strengthening consumer voices and increased government engagement in product safety issues have become recent drivers of litigation in the UK. The past 12-18 months have seen an increase in product recalls in the UK across all sectors, including food, automotive, medical devices and general consumer products. There are various reasons for this upward trend. First, manufacturers are becoming more familiar with their regulatory obligations, leading to greater numbers of safety notifications and corrective actions.”

GERMANY

Gleiss Lutz

“For the past 18 months, diesel lawsuits have dominated the legal landscape more than any other issue. Over 100,000 individual lawsuits are pending before almost all the regional and higher regional courts in Germany, in which plaintiffs are asserting purported claims against numerous automobile manufacturers for alleged product compliance violations during the certification process. This development is primarily being driven by plaintiff law firms rolling out the kind of ‘litigation industry’ business model that already exists in other countries.”

RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Hogan Lovells

“Several trends have been widely discussed in the media and in the professional community. The first trend is the increase of ‘consumer extremism’ cases, which sees consumers use and sometimes abuse the law on consumer rights at the expense of sellers and manufacturers. This is because existing Russian consumer protection laws are very consumer-oriented and tough on companies, which face the burden of proof in tort claims, as well as draconian penalties and fines for non-compliant behaviour. The second trend relates to the proliferation of disputes relating to the sharing economy and e-commerce.”

CONTRIBUTORS

Gleiss Lutz

Hogan Lovells

Shook, Hardy & Bacon International LLP

Wilson Elser