Services/Details

Personal Injury


Client and Industry Challenges

Faced with personal injury claims, fatalities, citations for violations or toxic torts, companies often turn to experienced personal injury attorneys to defend their interests, minimize negative publicity, and resolve government and internal concerns.

Snell & Wilmer’s personal injury and product liability attorneys have extensive trial experience in both state and federal courts, and rigorously defend their clients against claims of negligence. We work closely with clients to establish protocols and procedures focused on risk management and regulatory compliance to ensure the effective protections for both their employees and operations. We also keep our clients updated on current and proposed laws, regulations and policies in an effort to ensure their ongoing compliance.

Areas of Service

Personal Injury: Members of Snell & Wilmer’s personal injury lawyers have defended and, on several occasions, tried cases for insurers, self-insured corporations and third-party risk managers in a variety of personal injury claims including, but not limited to:

  • Wrongful death
  • Truck or motor vehicle negligence
  • Slip and fall
  • OSHA
  • Construction related injury and death
  • Medical malpractice
  • Property damage
  • Dram shop liquor liability
  • Premises liability

Product Liability: Our product liability lawyers have prepared and tried a large number of product liability cases, from catastrophic injuries involving individual plaintiffs to large product liability class actions. Several of the group's attorneys are fellows of the American College of Trial Lawyers. Our attorneys regularly defend product liability cases involving:

  • Automotive products
  • Computer software applications
  • Computerized manufacturing and processing products
  • Consumer products (such as ladders, household appliances, power tools, etc.)
  • Construction equipment
  • Electrical equipment
  • Firearms
  • Fires and explosions
  • Food safety
  • Heavy-duty trucks, lift trucks and man lifts
  • Industrial products
  • Medical devices and equipment
  • Motorcycles
  • Pharmaceutical products
  • Recreational marine products

Proactive Litigation Avoidance: Although our lawyers have the ability and experience to defend practically any personal injury or product liability matter, we have found that the most effective defense begins with doing everything practical to minimize the probability that litigation will be filed. We therefore work closely with clients to assist in identifying and correcting troublesome internal practices before litigation develops. For example, we have assisted clients in:

  • Reviewing internal design and manufacturing documents to identify areas where there is inadequate or confusing documentation of the design or manufacturing process
  • Compiling and presenting information to regulatory authorities such as National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in instances where regulatory action is a possibility
  • Developing record retention policies and practices that are practical and provide an accurate and complete understanding of the product design and development process if litigation develops
  • Creating computerized databases that make it possible to locate and utilize relevant information quickly and cost-effectively

Litigation Management: Unlike many other general practice firms, we have attorneys who have had previous experience as in-house counsel with direct responsibility for managing both the in-house and the outside national defense programs for the client. This experience has proven to be particularly helpful to companies who do not have an established in-house legal department with broad experience in product liability or personal injury litigation.

Because of the national scope of our practice, we have also identified a network of high-quality, local counsel throughout the United States that understand the concerns of clients who are faced with national product liability litigation and are able to provide a local influence in the courtroom and invaluable insight into the workings of the local court system. As part of our national representation of a number of clients, the attorneys in the practice group have worked closely with clients to develop, implement and coordinate the national defense of "pattern litigation" cases.

Clients We Serve

Our personal injury and product liability attorneys have represented manufacturers and distributors from the consumer goods, automotive, electronics, food, aviation, medical, and life sciences sectors, among many others. Our team has handled unitary, cross-border and multi-party personal injury claims.

Why Clients Select Us

Invested and Involved: Because we recognize that litigation exposure poses serious threats to manufacturers, technology and pharmaceutical companies and insurers, Snell & Wilmer attorneys are actively involved in the state and federal tort reform debate. Snell & Wilmer attorneys frequently evaluate law reform proposals, draft bills, facilitate access to decision-makers and provide legislative testimony, when appropriate, on matters of importance to our clients.