Amicus Program

Become a Brief Writer for PLAC

The committee is expanding its corps of brief writers. We especially want to encourage younger and diverse brief writers to apply to support our efforts. Please feel free to share this with colleagues who have the appropriate credentials and skillset. Please note that in order to be included on PLAC’s “short list” of brief writers, the attorney must be a member of the organization or in the process of applying for membership.

An application to become a brief writer is now on-line. Click here for the application.

Recent Briefs and Case Reports

February 21, 2024

Amicus Curiae Brief Filing: Jodi Tapply, et al. v. Whirlpool Corporation (23-1666)(U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit)

Problems associated with allowing no-injury products liability actions to be transformed into consumer fraud class actions.

This brief was authored by Terri Reiskin and Christopher Shaun Polston, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP  
February 21, 2024

Amicus Curiae Brief Filing In re Nissan North America, Inc. and Speerly v. General Motors LLC (United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit)

The Sixth Circuit almost simultaneously granted leave to appeal in two cases in which the district courts certified classes to litigate consumer fraud claims based on concealment of alleged defects.

This brief was authored by John M. Thomas and Kyle M. Asher (with help from PLAC Case Coordinators Terri Reiskin and Jeff Cohen) 

Other Advocacy Activity

Comment Letters

PLAC MDL Task Force Comment Letter to MDL Subcommittee of the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules

submitted on 02.17.2023

As an organization representing many target defendants in mass tort MDLs, including some of the largest MDLs on the federal docket, the Product Liability Advisory Council is uniquely positioned to serve as a voice for the defense bar to improve defense messaging, align on strategy, and enhance opportunities to affect MDL processes in a meaningful way. PLAC’s Healthcare and Lifesciences Technology Group assembled a task force of outside and in-house counsel with deep experience in MDL litigation to evaluate some of the issues and challenges facing defendants and to develop strategies for effective, consistent approaches to these cases.

PLAC MDL Task Force Comment Letter to MDL Subcommittee of the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules

submitted on 10.05.2022

PLAC is a non-profit professional association of corporate members representing a broad cross-section of American and international product manufacturers. 1 These companies seek to contribute to the improvement and the reform of the law in the United States and elsewhere, with an emphasis on the law governing the liability of product manufacturers and related companies in the supply chain. PLAC's perspective is derived from the experiences of a corporate membership that spans a diverse group of industries in various facets of the manufacturing sector. In addition, several hundred of the leading product liability defense attorneys in the country are sustaining (non-voting) members of PLAC. Since 1983, PLAC has filed more than 1,200 briefs as amicus curiae in both state and federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court, presenting the broad perspective of product manufacturers seeking fairness and balance in the application and development of the law as it affects product risk management. Similarly, over the years, PLAC has offered comments on proposed legislation and rulemaking that could potentially impact the legal liability of the manufacturing sector.