Brunini Law

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Personal Injury, Mass Torts, and Product Liability

The Firm has considerable experience in defending clients, insured and self-funded, in a broad variety of personal injury, mass tort, and products liability litigation, ranging from single-plaintiff cases to complex class actions. Representative cases include defending the manufacturers of welding consumables in the national welding fume litigation, manufacturers in asbestos litigation, manufacturers in silica litigation, manufacturers of pharmaceutical products in suits filed by numerous plaintiffs, poultry processors in toxic exposure lawsuits brought by thousands of plaintiffs, product manufacturers sued for injuries resulting from catastrophic explosions, and industrial concerns and chemical manufacturers sued by numerous plaintiffs alleging exposure injuries. Firm members consistently have been ranked by their peers as leading lawyers in these categories of cases. Several current members of the Firm are Fellows of the American College of Trial Lawyers and members of the American Board of Trial Advocates, where one serves on the national board of directors of the organization. Several of the Firm attorneys are listed in Best Lawyers® in America in personal injury and mass tort litigation and two in the category of Bet-the-Company litigation, including recognition as the Best Lawyers® of the Year in Mississippi. In addition, our attorneys have been recognized by Chambers USA and Mid-South Super Lawyers®.  In addition, the Firm was selected as the 2011 Mississippi Leading Litigation Firm of the Year by Corporate INTL Global. The Firm’s liability defense practice includes the following specialties:

Personal Injury – The Firm’s litigators regularly defend personal injury cases  on behalf of self-insured and insured clients. The Firm’s personal injury defense practice ranges from defending single plaintiff claims arising from motor vehicle accidents to claims involving numerous plaintiffs resulting from fires and explosions.

Mass Torts – Many of the Firm’s litigators regularly handle the defense of mass tort litigation. In recent years the Firm has represented clients in lawsuits involving asbestos, silica, tobacco, welding products, breast implants and other medical devices, and allegations of hearing loss. The Firm also has broad experience in defense of multi-plaintiff claims and class actions alleging harm stemming from chemical spills and releases. With its experienced staff of legal assistants and litigation support software, the Firm is well-equipped to handle the voluminous documents that are often a key component in complex mass tort litigation.

Products Liability – A number of the Firm’s attorneys actively engage in product liability defense for a broad array of clients. The Firm represents manufacturers of pharmaceuticals, automobiles, turbines, electrical appliances, welding products, transmission equipment, tobacco products, medical devices, fertilizer, and asbestos and silica products. The Firm is actively engaged in defending products liability claims in all state and federal courts in Mississippi and in other courts throughout the United States, including multi-district courts.

Medical Malpractice and Nursing Home Liability – The Firm has significant experience in the defense of medical malpractice claims. The Firm is regularly engaged to represent the interests of both physicians, and hospitals in courts throughout Mississippi. Additionally, a number of the Firm’s litigators have significant experience in the defense of lawsuits filed by or on behalf of nursing home residents alleging inadequate care.

Premises Liability – The Firm’s trial lawyers have successfully defended hundreds of claims involving allegations against premises owners. These include claims stemming from criminal conduct committed by third parties against business invitees of the Firm’s clients.

Primary Contacts

Practice Attorneys

Representative Matters

  • Represents Imo Industries, Inc. in asbestos litigation in Mississippi and MDL.
  • Represents Rockwell Automation, Inc. in asbestos litigation in Mississippi and MDL.
  • Represents Invensys, PLC in asbestos litigation in Mississippi and MDL.
  • Represents Lincoln Electric Company, Inc., Hobart Brothers Company, Linde LLC f/k/a the BOC Group, Inc. and ESAB Group, Inc. in welding fume litigation through the country.
  • Represents Navistar, Inc. in asbestos litigation in Mississippi and MDL.
  • Successfully defended welding rod manufacturers in the first welding fume exposure lawsuits tried in Arkansas and West Virginia.
  • Represents Ceasars Entertainment, Inc. affiliate, in business and premises liability litigation arising out of its casino operations located on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
  • Represents CenterPoint Energy in connection with personal injury, property, and business interruption claims resulting from a major natural gas explosion that destroyed a medical office and beauty salon complex in Philadelphia, Mississippi in 2007.
  • Represents Peco Foods, Inc. in various personal injury claims, including trucking and premises liability and recently received a defense verdict for Peco in a premises liability wrongful death case.
  • Represented a large national pharmaceutical company and obtained dismissal of hundreds of cases at no settlement to the client.  At their peak, there were 79 cases involving over 1100 plaintiffs.  Over 100 claims were dismissed by the Court or voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiff.
  • Successful defense of national creosote companies in environmental wrongful death trial in federal court.
  • Obtained summary judgment from the Warren County Circuit Court in favor of Honeywell, Inc. in litigation brought by a number of workers who were injured and the estates of the workers who were killed in the explosion at Rouse Polymetric’s rubber recycling facility in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The May 2002 explosion is the largest industrial accident in the history of the state. Honeywell manufactured a number of digital controllers that were located in the area of the plant where the explosion allegedly originated, and it was dismissed only nine months after being joined as a defendant.
  • Obtained a dismissal with prejudice before trial of the claims of an Alabama welder against The BOC Group, Inc, Lincoln Electric Co., Hobart, Inc. and ESAB in a case that was to be the second trial in the national welding fume litigation in the MDL court in Cleveland, Ohio
  • Defended multiple companies in toxic tort environmental litigation involving claims by thousands of plaintiffs alleging exposure to various wood treating chemicals.
  • Succeeded in obtaining a summary judgment in an ERISA case filed in federal court by numerous plaintiffs as a putative class action against a major lending institution.  The case involved allegations of breach of fiduciary duty, misrepresentation and other statutory violations.  After substantial briefing, the court determined that all of the plaintiffs’ claims should be dismissed before trial.
  • Obtained a summary judgment and dismissal of all claims in a suit brought in state court against a major lending institution and one of its loan officers.  The plaintiffs in the case alleged claims of breach of contract, fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation and negligent hiring, supervision and retention.
  • Successfully defended clients in multiple Benzene personal injury cases which also resulted in the dismissal of co-defendants.
  • Represents clients in multiple state and federal asbestos and drilling mud related litigation.
  • Obtained a defense verdict in Hinds County Circuit Court in a medical malpractice lawsuit brought against St. Dominic-Jackson Memorial Hospital.
  • Served as counsel in numerous litigated matters involving welding fumes, chemical exposure and silicone breast implants.
  • Achieved dismissals in separate cases of CEO Defendant in State Court in Mississippi.
  • Achieved over 10 dismissals on behalf of healthcare client in complex litigation in State Court in Mississippi.
  • Achieved dismissal on behalf of oil and gas client in the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Mississippi.
  • Achieved dismissal on behalf of client in product liability case in the Circuit Court of Orleans Parish, Louisiana.
  • Obtained a defense verdict on behalf of a healthcare client in a jury trial in state court in 2006.
  • Achieved dismissal of parent corporation in a general liability case pending in a state court in Mississippi.

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