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Product Liability

In addition to our expertise in cases involving concerning defective automotive products and defective drugs and medical devices, Watts Guerra is well known for bringing product liability cases involving a wide array of defective products.

In our product liability cases, regardless of the product, we can animate how the product failed and why. We have done an animation of a boating accident, in which a man was killed when the steering cable failed. We use animations to illustrate for juries how the insides of products they know work and how they have failed. We can illustrate product failures causing immediate injury in a house fire and we can illustrate how bad products cause injury over long periods of time.

When a man was hit by an 18-wheeler at a construction worksite, our lawyers and our experts determined that he had been forced in reverse onto the roadway by virtue of defects in his construction equipment. We tried the case, and the jury awarded his widow and family more than $12 million. Attorneys fees were $910,800, total litigation expenses were $20,720, and net client recoveries were $2,109,362.

We brought hundreds of lawsuits against the manufacturers, marketers, and sellers of a grout sealant. During the first bellwether or test trial, Mikal Watts cross-examined the Chief Executive Officers of the two main defendant companies and forced both to admit that their product was defective and unreasonably dangerous.




Watts Guerra led the charge in suing temporary home manufacturers for using untreated wood purchased from China when constructing mobile homes for FEMA for those displaced following Hurricane Katrina. Because low-formaldehyde-emitting wood was not utilized, tens of thousands of people already victimized by Katrina were gassed with a known carcinogen, causing rampant pulmonary and other health problems

The lawyers at Watts Guerra have achieved large recoveries for victims of defective tires, football helmets, dune buggies, planes, space heaters, motorcycle helmets, furnaces, engines, cigarette lighters, firearms, boat propellers, propane tanks, driveshafts, pump jacks, helicopters, boats, trailer hitches, and kitchen stoves, among others.

Case Type Injury Settlement Amount Attorney Fees Expenses Net to Client
Tile Sealant Pulmonary Injury 18,701,129 6,977,257 1,697,622 10,026,249
Chair Causing Fire Death 17,000,000 6,800,000 687,502 9,512,498
Housing Materials Pulmonary Injury 7,368,166 2,310,126 61,250 4,996,790
Tire/Seat Belt Failure Spinal Cord Injury 7,275,000 2,910,000 233,805 4,131,195
Defective Ladder Brain Injury 7,000,000 2,800,000 125,000 4,075,000
Football Helmet Quadriplegia 6,750,000 2,700,000 353,200 3,696,800
Football Helmet Quadriplegia 6,610,000 2,203,333 325,000 4,081,667
Go-Cart Burn Injury 5,490,000 2,196,000 19,206 3,274,794
Defective Heater Burn Injury 5,000,000 2,000,000 126,060 2,873,940
Airplane Crash Death 5,000,000 1,650,000 206,807 3,143,193
Medical Device Hip Replacement 5,000,000 1,901,167 197,629 2,901,204
Motorcycle Helmet Head Injury 4,400,000 1,760,000 175,031 2,464,969
Motorcycle Helmet Head Injury 4,400,000 1,760,000 572,951 2,067,049
Furnace Explosion Death 3,991,560 1,540,643 148,040 2,302,876
Explosion Hand Injury 3,200,000 1,280,000 125,560 1,794,440
Helmet Head Injury 3,150,000 1,236,500 112,820 1,800,680
Defective Firearm Death 3,000,000 1,200,000 67,869 1,732,131
School Mold Respiratory Issues and Allergic Reactions 2,146,000 858,400 256,000 1,031,600
Medical Product Loss of Vision 2,050,000 820,000 111,500 1,118,500
Defective Lighter Burn Injury 2,000,000 800,000 118,500 1,081,500
Propane Tank Explosion Burn Injury 2,000,000 800,000 125,500 1,074,500
Workplace Accident Death 2,000,000 800,000 51,686 1,148,314
Automotive Accident Permanent Physical Injuries 2,000,000 737,802 155,495 1,106,703
Defective Firearm Leg Injury/Amputation 1,980,000 792,000 224,167 963,833
Boat Propellor Severed Limb 1,958,231 979,116 694,959 284,157
Defective Motorcycle Death 1,650,000 635,250 502,336 512,414
Trailer House Fire Death 1,600,000 640,000 145,000 815,000
Premises Negligence Death 1,600,000 640,000 109,197 850,803
Defective Swimming Pool Filter Head and Brain Injury 1,500,000 525,000 56,858 918,142
Plumbing Products Financial Loss 1,406,972 547,042 5,616 854,315
House Fire Death 1,275,000 510,000 125,400 639,600
Boat Accident Death 1,200,000 462,000 16,143 721,857
Helicopter Death 1,100,000 440,000 64,066 595,934
Boat Accident Death 1,040,000 400,000 43,048 596,952
18 Wheeler Accident Death 1,010,000 321,757 42,132 646,111
product defect – stove Burn Injury 1,000,000 400,000 10,295 589,705
Workplace Accident Death 1,000,000 400,000 53,167 546,833
Defective Seatbelt Death 750,000 300,000 50,917 399,083
Defective Seatbelt Death 750,000 300,000 7,042 442,958
Defective Seatbelt Memory Impairment; Spinal Fracture 750,000 337,867 32,133 380,000
Defective Boat Sterring Mechanism Death 700,000 280,000 189,414 230,586
Defective Heater Death 700,000 280,000 102,174 317,826
Settlement Amount Attorney Fees Expenses Net to Client
Total 143,502,059 55,330,093 8,330,468 79,841,497