For over 20 years, Scott has defended product manufacturers in high-exposure product-liability and consumer-fraud cases, brought individually or in a class action or MDL setting. He has experience defending a range of products, from household electronics and appliances to FDA-regulated medications and medical devices.
Scott’s defense begins with the trial in mind, coupled with in-depth knowledge of his client's people, documents and products, including the development, testing and marketing story. Scott’s clients benefit from his passion for product design (he holds a design patent with the USPTO) and project management; his command of graphic design principles to make complicated scientific and technical concepts easier to understand; and staying at the forefront of legal developments by serving as an adjunct law professor at the University of Kansas, where each year he teaches a semester course on product liability with an emphasis on complex litigation, trial strategy and jury instructions.
Scott has been involved in the development of national standards for product warnings and is a member of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Z535.7 Subcommittee on Product Safety Information in Electronic Media. Scott also helps clients reduce their litigation risk and navigate post-sale issues, including evaluating CPSC reporting obligations and remedial measures such as additional warnings, repairs/retrofit and product recall, and guiding clients in their crisis-management communications.
Recent Representative Matters
Class Action and Complex Litigation Experience
Wallace v. SharkNinja Operating LLC, No. 18-5221 (N.D. Cal. 2021) Scott served as lead counsel in a putative nationwide class action involving an alleged design defect in one of SharkNinja’s popular blender models. After multiple Rule 12(b)(6) motions narrowing the plaintiff’s claims, and prior to class certification briefing and expert discovery, the individual class representative’s claims were dismissed with prejudice and no class was certified.
Rosenthal v. SharkNinja, No. 16-1048 (D.N.J. 2016) Scott served as lead counsel and defeated a putative statewide class action against SharkNinja involving an alleged design defect under New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act. The court dismissed plaintiff’s amended complaint and plaintiff declined to appeal, ending the litigation in less than a year.
Bray v. Simon & Schuster, No. 14-CV-00258 (W.D. Mo. 2014) Scott served as lead counsel defending a publisher and online retailer against a putative class action alleging unfair sales practices in the sale of foreign-language lessons. Within four months of plaintiff’s initial complaint, the individual class representative’s claims were dismissed with prejudice and no class was certified.
Hussain v. Delta Air Lines, No. 14-333-CV (W.D. Mo. 2014) Scott served as lead counsel defending a putative class action alleging breach of contract for failure to pay denied-boarding compensation. After targeted factual investigation by the defendant, the class representative elected to dismiss her case with prejudice and no class was certified.
Trial Experience
Scott has first-chaired jury trials in state and federal court, including:
Williams v. Jackson County, No. 13-866 (W.D. Mo. 2017) Scott first-chaired a three-day civil jury trial representing an inmate who challenged the mail policy at the Jackson County Detention Center on First Amendment grounds.
Abdiana v. Quixotic Fusion, No. 1416CV03181 (Mo. Cir. Ct. Jackson Cty. 2016) Scott first-chaired a jury trial representing a performing arts company, Quixotic, on a claim against their landlord for constructive eviction after raw sewage repeatedly interfered with Quixotic's use of the space and damaged its property. After a three-day trial, the jury found in favor of Quixotic and awarded damages.
Coleman v. Crawford, No. 13-4205 (W.D. Mo. 2016) Scott first-chaired a three-day civil jury trial representing an inmate who claimed his Eighth Amendment rights were violated when guards failed to protect him during a savage attack.
Dinkins v. Correctional Medical Services, No. 9-4111 (W.D. Mo. 2016) Scott first-chaired a five-day civil jury trial representing a wheelchair-bound inmate claiming violations of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) and Eighth Amendment.
Scott has served on over a dozen trial teams representing Philip Morris USA Inc., in individual and complex smoking-and-health cases, including Bifolck (D. Conn. 2017); Kaplan (Broward County, Fla. 2017); Dubinsky (Brevard County, Fla. 2016); Hall (Orange County, Fla. 2016); Tognoli (Broward County, Fla. 2015); Cooper (Broward County, Fla. 2015); Gray (Ft. Myers, Fla. 2015); Bishop (Orlando, Fla. 2014); Goveia (Orlando, Fla. 2014); In re: Tobacco Litigation (W.Va. 2013, 2011); Sulcer (Pensacola, Fla. 2011); Evans (Boston, Mass. 2010); and Thompson (Kansas City, Mo. 2003).
Publications and Presentations
Scott Kaiser, Alison Newstead and Devin Ross, Getting the Deal Through: Product Recall (eds.), November 2019.
Scott Kaiser and Devin Ross, Getting the Deal Through: Product Recall, United States, November 2019.
Scott Kaiser and Alison Newstead, Is Your Business Ready for a Recall - 5 Steps to Prepare, National Association of Manufacturers, September 25, 2019.
Scott Kaiser and Ruth Anne French-Hodson, Getting the Deal Through: Product Liability (U.S. chapter), 2018.
Scott Kaiser and Annika Martin (Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein), Predominance in Motions to Strike or Dismiss Class Allegations: Navigating Burden of Proof, Standard of Review and Procedural Issues When Pursuing or Opposing Early Motions (August 6, 2014).
Scott Kaiser, Jennifer Blues (Kenyon) and Lindsey Heinz, Strategies for Moving to Strike Class Allegations, Law360, September 4, 2012.
Scott Kaiser and Dana L. Strueby, Missouri, Class Action Compendium, DRI Defense Library Series 2011.
William Sampson and Scott Kaiser, Climate Change Litigation—How Soon Is Now?, Product Liability Defence 2011.
Scott Kaiser, Hoosier State Gets Its First MDA Preemption Decision, Drug and Device Law Blog, January 28, 2011.
Scott Kaiser and Aaron Kirkland, Federal Courts Retain Jurisdiction over Individual Claims after Removal of Mass Action, Mass Torts Litigation, ABA Section of Litigation, Chicago, Fall/Winter 2009, at 26.
Marie Woodbury, Terry Sexton and Scott Kaiser, "Preemption Defense Workshop: Lessons from Good, Levine & Riegel, Shook, Hardy & Bacon's Sixth Annual Update of the Law, Kansas City, Missouri, June 25, 2009.
Walt Cofer and Scott Kaiser, "Update on Punitive Damages After Philip Morris USA v. Williams," Shook, Hardy & Bacon's Fourth Annual Update of the Law, Kansas City, Missouri, June 28, 2007.
Walter L. Cofer, Andrew D. Carpenter and Scott D. Kaiser, Punitive Damages in the United States: Two Years After State Farm v. Campbell, The International Who's Who of Product Liability Defence Lawyers, Fall 2005.
Timothy A. Pratt, Laura Clark Fey, Bill F. Northrip, and Scott D. Kaiser, Making the Most of Your Opportunities: State Farm-Based Litigation and Non-Litigation Strategies to Limit Corporate Liability for Punitive Damages, 55 Fed'n Def. & Corp. Couns. Q. 223 (2005).
Laura Clark Fey, Scott D. Kaiser and William F. Northrip, The Supreme Court Raised Its Voice: Are The Lower Courts Getting The Message? Punitive Damages Trends After State Farm v. Campbell, 56 Baylor L. Rev. 807 (2004).
Media Coverage
In Pari Delicto Is Alive and Well in Kansas, Drug and Device Law Blog, August 10, 2023.