Bernard Taylor, Sr.

• National trial counsel for a large Chinese drywall manufacturer in a products liability MDL class action involving claims asserted by thousands of homeowners and pending in the Eastern District of Louisiana and other U.S. jurisdictions.
• Lead counsel representing an international solar panel manufacturer against products liability claims in California.
• Lead trial counsel for a division of a large chemical manufacturing company in mass tort lawsuits for alleged exposure to isocyanates in underground coal and platinum mines. This work included handling a lawsuit with more than 1,600 plaintiffs in Alabama, a lawsuit with 99 plaintiffs in West Virginia, and a nationwide putative class action with 30,000 plaintiffs in which coal miners claimed a variety of health diseases caused by alleged isocyanate exposure.
• Lead trial counsel representing a leading building products company in mass tort litigation involving more than 1,300 plaintiffs alleging personal injuries caused by air and surface water emissions from a former wood-treatment site in Alabama.
• Co-lead trial counsel representing a chemical manufacturer in a West Virginia mass tort products liability asbestos trial involving over 2,000 plaintiffs.
• Member of the national defense team representing a large pharmaceutical company in Trasylol litigation that was the subject of a national multidistrict litigation (MDL) as well as individual cases pending in several states. Obtained key dismissals in many of these matters well before trial.
• Lead trial counsel for two health care corporations in a products liability case alleging negligence, failure to warn, and manufacturing defects. Obtained a defense verdict on negligence and failure to warn claims; judgment notwithstanding verdict was granted and affirmed on appeal on the manufacturing defect claim, resulting in a total defense victory for our client.
• Lead counsel representing an international construction equipment manufacturer regarding the use of products in the U.S. that are alleged to be inconsistent with U.S. regulatory provisions.
• Lead trial counsel for one of the largest public health systems in the U.S. in medical malpractice cases and other litigation matters throughout Georgia.

Bernard Taylor is a former chair of Alston & Bird’s Management Committee and the Products Liability Group. He has over 30 years of trial experience, is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and concentrates his practice on complex litigation involving commercial litigation, class actions, mass torts, environmental liability, pharmaceutical products liability, and toxic tort lawsuits filed in various jurisdictions throughout the U.S. He is also a former Detroit police investigator involved in federal and state criminal investigations.

Bernard was named the Best Lawyers® 2017 Products Liability Litigation – Defendants “Lawyer of the Year” in Atlanta. He is listed in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business and Super Lawyers magazine.

Bar Admissions

• Georgia

Education

• Vanderbilt University (J.D., 1982)
• Wayne State University (B.A., 1979)

Memberships