Linda Lane is a senior associate in the Litigation Department. Her practice focuses on product liability litigation with an emphasis on consumer products and aviation. She regularly advises clients regarding product liability issues, including warning and labeling requirements under ANSI, product warranties and recalls, risk assessments and product liability insurance, and product liability claims and defenses in various jurisdictions in anticipation of issues raised in litigation. Ms. Lane has successfully first-chaired a jury trial to verdict and several evidentiary arbitrations. She has argued numerous dispositive motions in state and federal court and has taken and defended over 100 depositions of parties, expert witnesses, and third parties. She also regularly provides advice to intellectual property, business and litigation clients regarding potential product liability exposure related to new or existing product lines. Ms. Lane is a barrister in the Louis M. Welsh Chapter of the American Inns of Court.

Prior to joining Morrison & Foerster, Ms. Lane was an associate in of Gray Cary Ware and Freidenrich LLP. She was a judicial clerk for the Honorable Lewis T. Babcock, Chief Judge of the United States District Court of Colorado, Denver, from 1999-2000. Before her clerkship, Ms. Lane was a litigation associate with Dorsey & Whitney LLP in Denver, Colorado (1998-1999).

Ms. Lane received her B.A. degree from the University of California, Irvine (1994) and her J.D. from the University of Colorado (Order of the Coif, 1998). During law school she was the Case Note/Comment Editor for the University of Colorado Law Review and a recipient of the Wolf Scholarship.

Representative Product Litigation Experience

• Classic Residence by Hyatt. Defending a class action litigation brought against a continuing care retirement community that provides long term care service and products. Ms. Lane has taken and defended dozens of depositions in this matter, coordinated all aspects of discovery, and drafted and argued numerous dispositive and pre-trial motions. Ms. Lane was critical in negotiating a positive settlement of this matter which is now being finalized.
• Little v. Piper Aircraft. Representing Piper in a wrongful death case arising out of the crash of a Seneca V on November 6, 2005 in Tomball, Texas. The crash resulted in 2 deaths. Despite the National Transportation Safety Board’s conclusion that the crash was the result of pilot error, the decedents’ family members sued alleging engine failure. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The case is scheduled for trial in March 2009.
• Chinook Helicopter Crash off Greece. Representing Honeywell International Inc. in a lawsuit arising out of the crash of a Boeing Chinook helicopter that crashed off the coast of Greece into the Aegean Sea on November 9, 2004. The accident claimed the lives of the 17 passengers and crew on board the helicopter. Lawsuits are filed in the Greek courts in Chalkidiki, where the accident occurred, as well as in Chicago and Philadelphia. Currently defending claims against client alleging defects in the helicopter’s engines FADEC and AFCS.
• Bullet-Resistant Vest Litigation. Defended the provider of Zylon fabric used in bullet-resistant vests. Ms. Lane worked closely with expert witnesses, conducted discovery and depositions, and drafted pre-trial motions.
• Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters. Represented the owner and operator of the helicopter, Papillon Grand Canyon Airways. This case arose out of the crash of a sightseeing helicopter returning to Las Vegas from the Grand Canyon. Six of the seven people aboard were killed and the seventh was horribly injured. The case resolved in a favorable settlement for Papillon.
• Alaska Airlines Flight 261. Represented Alaska Airlines in this MDL matter involving wrongful death and survival claims by heirs and estates of the 88 passengers and crew who perished in the crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 on January 31, 2000 near Point Mugu, California. The case resolved in a favorable settlement for Alaska Airlines.
• Southwest Airlines Flight 1455. Represented Southwest Airlines in its most serious incident in the history at the time. All but two of the numerous cases were settled, most after a summary judgment decision by the court denying punitive damages. Two cases went to trial, and in both cases the judgments were less than the amounts offered in settlement.

Representative Product Counseling Experience

• Lithium Ion Car Battery Manufacturer. Advised client regarding applicable warnings, instructions and risk assessment for lithium ion batteries for “green” cars.
• Battery Manufacturer. Advised component parts manufacturer on liability associated with recall efforts for product.
• Medical Device Manufacturer. Advised client regarding medical device component part and potential liability.
• Toy Manufacturer. Advised client regarding proper testing, standards, safety standards, warning labels and age requirements for toy products in U.S. and Europe.
• China-based Manufacturer. Advised overseas client on product liability risks associated with aviation fleet management agreement.
• Lucasfilm Ltd. Advised client on revised licensing agreement for product liability concerns.
• Baby Stroller Manufacturer. Advised client regarding limitation of warranties in distributor contract for its baby strollers, as well as the provision of warranties to the company’s international customers.
• Medical Device Manufacturer. Advised client regarding inclusion of warning language in video regarding medical product.
• Upscale Home Goods Store. Advised client regarding use of warehouse setting for selling returned goods.
• Component Flooring Manufacturer. Advised client regarding a risk assessment of their product, associated product warnings, product liability insurance, and the provision of product warranties and disclaimers of warranties.

Representative Publications

• “The Discoverability of Sensitive Security Information in Aviation Litigation,” Journal of Air Law and Commerce, Vol. 71, No. 3 (2006).
• Co-author with Don Rushing and Erin Bosman, “Anchors Away: Attacking the Suggestion of a Dollar Amount as Compensation for Non-Economic Damages in Closing,” IADC Defense Journal, Vol. 70, No. 3, July 2003.

Representative Speaking Engagements

• Ms. Lane will be speaking on a panel alongside executives from ResMed, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, and Barney & Barney for CONNECT’s Product Liability Law Frameworks. The event is currently schedule for March 5, 2009.
• Panelist, “GARA: More than a decade later: Savior or subterfuge?” Presented at the American Bar Association’s Annual TIPS Aviation and Space Law Committee conference, Washington, DC (October 17, 2008).
• Presenter, “Product Liability Claims and Defenses,” presented to Global Aerospace (January 31, 2006).
• Presenter, “The Discoverability of Sensitive Security Information in Aviation Litigation,” presented at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Seventeenth Annual Aviation Law & Insurance Symposium (January 20, 2006).