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 |