Industrials & Manufacturing

Overview

Litigation

You have done everything possible to ensure that your business will thrive. Still, disputes, legal conflicts, and other obstacles can come out of nowhere to impede your profitability and damage your brand’s reputation.

Alston & Bird’s deep bench of legal and professional talent has extensive experience in high-stakes litigation. We represent clients throughout the industrial and manufacturing space, including operations in automotive, building supplies, electronics, floor coverings, household appliances, lumber, packaging, pharmaceuticals, OTC drugs and dietary supplements, plastics, product sterilization, and textiles as they confront disputes that can derail years of hard work. Our experience in crisis response and management gives us the ability to defend your company’s interests. Our team has experience in supply or customer contract disputes, joint venture agreements and disputes, environmental and property claims, workplace accidents and disasters, consumer product safety claims, alleged defects in materials or products, antitrust challenges, government and internal investigations, trade secret and intellectual property matters, and more. 

When your company is threatened with a high-profile legal dispute, you need a team with a comprehensive understanding of your legal situation and public relations and crisis management strategies that can see you through. Alston & Bird delivers, protecting your company’s interests in and out of court.

Transactions

Companies in the industrials and manufacturing industry are the foundation of the products ultimately provided by a multitude of other businesses. Our team understands the importance of your organization and knows how to structure and execute your M&A and capital-raising transactions to avoid the pitfalls that can delay or derail your goals. Alston & Bird represents all types of industrials and manufacturing companies in their transaction needs. With experience ranging from counseling clients through billion-dollar acquisitions to structuring corporate spinoffs to limit liability, Alston & Bird has the experience needed to ensure your business meets all your goals.

At Alston & Bird, we value building long-term relationships with our clients. These lasting relationships enable us to anticipate possible problems and proactively plan around them, resulting in efficient and successful transactions for your business.

Our team is consistently recognized for client service and the volume of deal activity we advise on every day.

• Bloomberg – Alston & Bird ranked in the top 20 for “US Equity IPO” based on both deal count and value as manager’s counsel in 2023.
• FactSet – Alston & Bird ranked in the top 10, based on value, for “US Middle Market Announced Deals” and in the top 20 for “US Announced Deals” based on deal value and volume in the first half of 2024.
• LSEG – Alston & Bird ranked in the top 20 as a “Global M&A Legal Advisor, US Target Completed” based on deal value in the first half of 2024.
• The Deal – Based on number of deals with a value of $100 million or more in the first half of 2024, Alston & Bird ranked in the top 20 as an “M&A Legal Adviser.” 
• Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” (2025) – Alston & Bird ranks nationally in Tier 1 in the Corporate Law, Securities/Capital Markets Law, and Securities Regulation categories.

Experience

Litigation

• Representing the world’s largest flooring company in dozens of state and federal lawsuits alleging PFAS water, soil, and landfill contamination.
• 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.
• Primary counsel for a name-brand computer manufacturer in numerous litigation matters across the United States.
• 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. 
• 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.
• Lead counsel for a multinational automobile manufacturer in multiple putative class actions involving an alleged safety defect in panoramic sunroofs.
• Primary counsel for a contract sterilization provider defending against hundreds of toxic tort claims in multiple jurisdictions claiming personal injury from alleged exposure to the company’s regulated airborne emissions. 
• 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.
• 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 involving 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.