Co-led from New York by Gregory Loss and Benjamin Rubenstein, Herbert Smith Freehills advises manufacturers of a wide range of consumer products on issues throughout the litigation continuum. The team has also gained acclaim for handling international product liability matters, working well with local counsel to achieve favorable outcomes for clients. This is best exemplified by the work that both Loss and Rubenstein continue to handle for British American Tobacco, with both practitioners providing strategic advice regarding healthcare recoupment lawsuits, as well as other smoking-related matters in a range of countries, including South Korea, Canada and Brazil. Joseph Falcone also excels at handling cross-border product liability litigation, as does senior associate Maxwell Herman, who also has niche expertise in ESG litigation.

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Key clients

British American Tobacco
Samsung SDI Co., Ltd.

Work highlights

Acting as counsel for British American Tobacco (BAT), advising several BAT companies in multiple health care recoupment lawsuits in Canada.
Advising BAT and Souza Cruz, the largest Brazilian tobacco manufacturer, in defense of a healthcare cost recoupment lawsuit filed in 2019 by the Federal Government of Brazil, as well as advising Souza Cruz on numerous individual product liability suits.
Advising BAT Korea in connection with an action brought by the Korean National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) seeking to recoup healthcare costs that NHIS alleges were expended to treat Korean citizens who developed certain smoking-related illnesses.