Gary M. Glass

Practices

• Product Liability Litigation
• Business Litigation

Professional Experience

Gary is a partner in the firm's Product Liability Litigation and Business Litigation practice groups. He is also Chair of the firm's Product Liability Risk Management Consulting Group and former Chair of the firm's Lawyer Personnel Committee.

Gary focuses his product liability practice on defending product liability cases and catastrophic losses for manufacturers of automobiles, commercial food preparation equipment, appliances, asbestos-containing products, mining equipment, heavy industrial machinery, chemicals, coatings, fuel containment systems, and other commercial and consumer products.

On the risk management side, Gary routinely advises clients on preventive strategies to eliminate or reduce product liability risks. He directs compliance with product safety and CPSC regulations, accident investigations, product recalls, and post-sale warning and retrofit campaigns. He conducts product design and manufacturing audits and prepares product warnings, warranties, advertisements, marketing materials, and other product literature. Gary also counsels employers on workplace safety issues and implements OSHA compliance and training programs. He also defends employers in administrative hearings before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Gary's business litigation practice focuses on a wide variety of sophisticated commercial disputes. Gary has litigated complex insurance coverage claims for manufacturers and property owners and has defended many commercial, health, life, and disability insurers in breach of contract, bad faith, and fraud cases. He also has litigated numerous business disputes involving breaches of contract, asset purchase agreements, warranties, software implementation and consulting services, fiduciary duty claims, and misappropriation of trade secrets.

Gary is admitted in Ohio and Kentucky, the United States District Courts for the Southern and Northern Districts of Ohio, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Fifth, Sixth, Tenth Circuits. Gary has represented clients in over twenty states.

Education

• University of Notre Dame, J.D., 1989
• Colgate University, B.A., 1986, cum laude

• Product Liability Litigation
• Defended domestic automobile manufacturer against wrongful death, personal injury, and fire damage cases relating to restraint systems, roof structure, brakes, transmissions, wiring, and vehicle handling and stability.
• Served as national counsel to manufacturer of commercial food preparation equipment, such as mixers, meat grinders, slicers, fryers, and dishwashers.
• Served as national counsel to manufacturer of asbestos products in personal injury and property damage cases.
• Defended manufacturer of underground storage tanks and piping systems in pollution and property damage cases.
• Defended manufacturer of conveyor systems and material handling equipment in amputation and burn cases.
• Represented underground casing manufacturer and construction and sewage pipe manufacturers in property damage and warranty cases.
• Defended coating and resin manufacturers in personal injury, chemical exposure, and warranty cases.
• Defended manufacturers of other consumer and commercial products in cases involving pool equipment, kitchen appliances, fire protection systems, presses, cranes, gas pumps, loaders, transformers, dehumidifiers, compressors, rack and storage systems, and antimicrobials.
  
  
• Risk Management Consulting
• Spearheaded compliance with product safety regulations, CPSC investigations and recalls, product design changes, retrofits, and post-sale warning campaigns.
• Conducted product design and manufacturing audits.
• Designed product warnings, instruction manuals, marketing, advertising, and other product literature.
• Conducted training programs for engineers, sales, service, and plant personnel on product safety, safe and prudent business practices, and battle of the forms issues.
• Coordinated crisis response plans, accident investigations, and timely corrective action.
• Created product warranty, insurance and risk transfer solutions, and other contractual protections.
• Responded to product safety and performance issues with suppliers and customers.
• These services have been provided to over 50 companies in a wide variety of industries.
  
  
• OSHA and Workplace Safety
• Defended numerous employers in premises liability, intentional tort, and personal injury cases involving employees, contractors, and business invitees.
• Created and implemented OSHA compliance programs, safety audits, and training programs for employers.
• Responded to OSHA investigations, citations, and complaints and instructed employers on related best practices.
• Defended several OSHA citations and employers at Review Commission administrative hearings.  Common issues involve machine guarding, safe equipment operation, lockout/tagout, personal protective equipment, process safety management, lead and chemical exposure, and trenching operations.
  
  
• Insurance Coverage Litigation
• Obtained multi-million dollar recovery on summary judgment for major utility in claims involving business interruption and extra expense damages.
• Obtained $5 million summary judgment recovery for foundry in warehouse fire and property damage subrogation case.
• Obtained plaintiff's verdict providing asbestos manufacturer with $3 million in coverage for personal injury claims.
• Successful defense of commercial, health, life and disability insurers in dozens of class action and other cases involving denials of coverage, fraud, and bad faith claims.
• Obtained reversal on appeal finding that insurer had no duty to defend and indemnify multi-million dollar property damage claim.
  
  
• Catastrophic Loss Litigation
• Defended personal injury, wrongful death, and property damages cases involving building fires and gas, chemical and dust explosions.  Cases and products defended include gas and utility lines, ovens, fryers, dehumidifiers, valves, electrical wiring, fire protection systems, and unsafe manufacturing operations.
• Obtained summary judgment on contractual grounds in multi-million dollar fire case at a public storage facility.
• Obtained summary judgment in wrongful death cases involving racking system collapse and welding and gas explosions.
• Obtained summary judgment in case involving transformer explosion.
  
  
• Business Litigation
• Successful defense of class actions involving alleged Consumer Sales Practices Act and Truth in Lending violations.
• Obtained summary judgment in cases involving insurance and financial broker terminations.
• Multiple arbitration victories in disputes involving asset and purchase and earn-out agreements, and software implementation matters.
• Obtained summary judgment in $4 million breach of contract action relating to the purchase of credit card receivables.
• Successful resolution of fraud claim against dealer for breach of floor plan financing agreement.
• Successful injunction against competing basket manufacturer in trade infringement case.
• Successful prosecution and injunction against former employee for misappropriation of trade secrets relating to diagnostic products.

• “www.saferproducts.gov: What You Need To Know About The CPSC’s Online Product Safety Incident Database”; Cincinnati Bar Association Corporate Law Update, November, 2011
• "Taming the Product Liability Beast-Revisited", Industry Week Best Plants Conference, April 2010
• "Best Practices in Mass, Complex and Toxic Tort Litigation", Thompson Hine LLP, November 2009
• "Taming the Product Liability Beast: Ten Things You Can Do to Protect Yourself", FABTECH International & AWS Trade Show, October 2008
• "Liability/Risk Management Breakfast Roundtable", Cincinnati Business Courier, October 2007
• "Third Party Insurance Coverage", Lorman Education Services, 2004
• "Purchasing Law Seminar-Product Liability", National Business Institute, 2004
• "Product Liability Primer", Plastic Container Shipping Institute, March 2003
• "Scott-Pontzer Update: Pandora's Box Still Continues to Release its Contents", Thompson Hine LLP, May 2002
• Numerous client presentations on risk management issues relating to product liability, insurance coverage, OSHA, and plant safety