Premises & Products Liability
Cotten Schmidt & Abbott provides representation in the area of Premises and Products Liability by providing its clients with trial counsel as well as regional and state management of mass tort matters which include MDL proceedings. Our experience includes matters involving agricultural and chemical products, asbestos, automotive cases, aviation, construction site injuries and death, energy, pharmaceuticals, and claims of toxic, environmental exposures and damage. Our cases have included asbestos, benzene, chemical exposure, environmental exposures, medical monitoring, hearing loss, welding rod, naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM), pharmaceuticals, dioxins, furans, heavy metals, and silica matters. We are trial counsel for several major chemical manufacturing facilitiies in litigation involving exposure to asbestos, silica, benzene, hearing loss, welding rod, and many others types of products in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. We represent a major international manufacturer of agricultural products in property damage litigation throughout Texas. We are trial counsel for a major manufacturer of silica-containing products for personal injury claims. We have represented clients defending environmental tort claims regarding alleged personal injuries and property damage from contamination of air, water and soil.
Cotten Schmidt & Abbott serves as a DuPont Primary Law Firm (“PLF”) in the States of Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Cotten Schmidt & Abbott is proud to have been recognized by DuPont on eight (8) separate occasions as a recipient of its Legal Challenge Award, awards that recognize PLFs and Service Providers for extraordinary contributions and accomplishments that have advanced the objectives of the DuPont Legal Model. In addition, the firm is very proud that Larry Abbott and Larry Cotten have both received the high distinction of the DuPont Leader’s Circle Award, an award given to only one outside counsel per year.
In its work for DuPont, Cotten Schmidt & Abbott has served as regional (multi-state) counsel in the successful defense of the TMJ implant litigation. DuPont won every TMJ case that was decided to a final judgment by the courts. Fifty-six (56) courts in a row ruled in favor of DuPont and every appellate court ruling was also in favor of DuPont. A defense judgment or favorable dismissal was entered for DuPont on all of the claims.
In the Benlate™ litigation, as a part of winning a trial in Parker County, Texas, Cotten Schmidt & Abbott successfully established the acceptance of the Daubert standard in Texas for the admission of expert witness testimony, which was adopted by the Texas Supreme Court in E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. v. Robinson, 923 S.W.2d 549 (Tex. 1995).
In silica litigation, our attorneys obtained dismissals of approximately 30,000 products liability claims in Mississippi. The dismissal of the claims eliminated every silica-related claim against DuPont in the State of Mississippi.
Regarding dioxin litigation, attorneys from our firm defended DuPont against approximately 2,300 claimants alleging exposure to dioxins, furans, and heavy metals. Of the two individual Plaintiffs’ cases that went to trial, we were ultimately successful in obtaining defense jury verdicts in both.
The Firm has lawyers experienced in most areas of civil practice and trial practice in all state and federal courts in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas.
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