Product Liability Litigation Arising From Lithium-Ion Batteries: Guidance and Strategies for Proving Claims

Course Details
- smart_display Format
On-Demand
- signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level
Intermediate
- work Practice Area
Class Action and Other Litigation
- event Date
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
- schedule Time
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
- timer Program Length
90 minutes
-
This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
This CLE webinar will offer guidance and strategies for attorneys litigating lithium-ion battery fires.
Faculty

Mr. Paynter is an experienced trial attorney specializing in catastrophic personal injury cases, products liability and other complex litigation. He began his career at one of the nations most prestigious law firms Sullivan & Cromwell before starting in own law firm in 2005. Under his leadership, Paynter Law has obtained over $500 million in verdicts and settlements, including one of the largest verdicts of 2018 in a medical malpractice case. Mr. Paynter believes every client deserves their day in court and fights to make it happen. During the course of his career, he has taken on and won against Fortune 500 companies and other large institutions--including groundbreaking litigation against the NCAA that resulted in a $60 million settlement for student athletes.

Ms. McGlamry graduated cum laude with a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2009. She spent a year working in Washington, D.C. before furthering her studies at the University of Georgia School of Law where she graduated with a J.D. in 2013. While in law school, Ms. McGlamry served as the Executive Notes Editor for the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law. She also served as President of UGA’s Street Law and on the Athens Peer Court Design & Implementation Team, where she helped develop and implement a Teen Court model for the Athens, GA community. In 2013, Ms. McGlamry joined Pope McGlamry and has focused her career on representing plaintiffs in personal injury, wrongful death, products and pharmaceutical liability, class actions and mass torts actions.

Mr. McGlamry is and has been actively representing plaintiffs in personal injury, wrongful death, products and pharmaceutical liability, class actions and mass torts actions that have resulted in verdicts or settlements approaching a billion dollars. He and his partners have long been recognized both in Georgia and nationally as a go-to firm that will take on the most challenging cases and opposition. Mr. McGlamry has focused on mass tort litigation and has served in leadership roles in several national, high profile, injury cases.
Description
Lithium battery fires are a problem for consumers. Individuals whose phones, e-cycles or scooters, computers, vaping devices, or cars exploded may suffer catastrophic personal injury or extensive property damage.
Lithium battery fires start from "thermal runaways," which are incredibly hot and destructive and hard to extinguish. Good forensic investigation and selecting the right expert(s) are key to preserving what evidence may be left after a fire. The parties will need to understand applicable standards at each phase of manufacture and sale.
Defendant manufacturers, distributors or retailers may blame fires on any number of events, such as faulty or after-market charging equipment, overuse, careless treatment, or wear and tear. Defendants may also disclaim liability based on warnings provided with the batteries.
Listen as this experienced panel discusses strategies and best practices when litigating lithium-ion battery fire cases.
Outline
- Introduction:
- Lithium-ion battery failure: thermal runaway
- Fire and origin: fire causation (experts)
- Lithium-ion battery: failure causation (experts)
- Defendants and theories of liability
- Identifying potential defendants
- Jurisdiction
- Design defect, manufacturing defect, failure to warn
- Medical device: preemption
- Insurer, re-insurer, and subrogation issues
Benefits
The panel will review these and other important issues:
- How to establish jurisdiction over a foreign manufacturer?
- What experts are needed to investigate these fires?
- What other experts are needed to prove liability?
- How are lithium-ion batteries regulated and who enforces those regulations?
- What are the most difficult evidentiary challenges in proving this type of a product defect?
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