Industrials & Manufacturing

For more than a century, Alston & Bird has served the legal needs of clients in the industrials and manufacturing sector. We understand that our clients strive for a seamless process in the design, manufacture, distribution and sale of their products. Business disputes, legal conflicts and other unforeseen obstacles can be devastating to productivity and profitability. Alston & Bird’s experience and insights have helped our industrials and manufacturing clients weather these storms so they can stay focused on getting their products to the market with quality and speed.

We serve clients who operate in a vast array of highly competitive industries, including:

• Automotive
• Bricks and stone
• Building supplies
• Floor coverings
• Household Appliances
• Lumber
• Packaging
• Pharmaceuticals
• Plastics
• Textiles

When our clients face conflicts and crises, we are there to navigate and lead as advocates and counselors. We have extensive experience in solving problems arising from:

• Supply contract disputes
• Requirements contracts
• Joint venture agreements and disputes
• Environmental and property claims arising from manufacturing plant operations
• Workplace accidents and disasters
• Consumer product safety claims
• Alleged defects in supplied materials or finished products
• Antitrust challenges and investigations
• Trade secrets

• Lead counsel for a foreign manufacturer in a high-profile Chinese drywall multidistrict litigation involving claims of product defects brought by more than 3,500 plaintiffs in 20 omnibus cases from various districts.
• Lead counsel for an international automotive parts manufacturing company in an ongoing antitrust investigation and in automotive parts multidistrict litigation.
• Primary counsel for a name-brand computer manufacturer in numerous litigation matters across the U.S., including cases arising from the largest technology buyout in U.S. history.
• Primary counsel for a leading textile manufacturer in numerous litigation matters, including securing a verdict worth $93 million in damages and fees against a component supplier for the sale of defective component goods used in our client’s manufacturing process. Awarded damages (affirmed on appeal) included replacement of defective goods, lost profits from the discontinuation of the affected product line, attorneys’ fees and prejudgment interest. 
• Lead counsel for a pharmaceutical company, securing a jury verdict of $106 million in damages for violation of contractual exclusivity provisions and a permanent injunction blocking future violations.
• National environmental counsel for the second-largest appliance manufacturer in the world, representing the company in environmental enforcement, litigation and compliance matters in multiple states.
• National counsel for a name-brand chemical manufacturer and its subsidiaries, handling a variety of toxic tort, asbestos and environmental litigation matters nationwide.
• Lead counsel for an industrial goods manufacturer in a theft of trade secrets case related to an industrial manufacturing process, resulting in a substantial award for our client valued at approximately $100 million.
• Primary counsel for an international name-brand beverage company, defending multiple putative class actions asserting claims under consumer protection statutes as well as defending claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act regarding the client’s product distribution machines.
• National counsel for a global producer and processor of industrial minerals in mass tort litigation involving allegations that talc contains asbestos. Coordinated a nationwide team of counsel and was responsible for all aspects of the case from discovery through trial, achieving significant results through strategic discovery, scientific evidence and trial readiness.