Vcard
PDFKevin is in the Catastrophic Loss & Tort Defense Practice Group. He regularly monitors high risk exposures for catastrophic losses on behalf of excess carriers, and is frequently "dropped in" to trials with minimal notice. He has performed in this capacity in multiple jurisdictions, including: Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, D.C., Maryland, West Virginia, Texas, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Alabama, Georgia, Hawaii, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Canada. His areas of practice include products liability, drownings, transportation, fire loss, traumatic brain injury and insurance coverage litigation.
Practice Areas
Experience
- Has successfully defended, mediated and tried many product liability cases, including cases involving truck components and equipment, crashworthiness, electrical components, appliances, construction equipment, elevated platforms, booms, lifts, ladders, logging and mining equipment, power tools, electric motors, pool equipment, dog food, insecticides, packaging and aircraft. In this capacity he has acted and/or is acting as Virginia and National coordinating counsel. He was selected by a large international insurer to lead its team for catastrophic losses related to cranes, booms and lifts. He has also defended multimillion dollar multidistrict class action litigation. Several of his cases have been high visibility cases garnering national press coverage, including the defense of a pool pump manufacturer wrongful death case that lead to the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool & Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 8001).
- Has developed a specialty in fire and explosion cases. Has represented products manufacturers and insurance carriers on large fire loss litigation in multiple jurisdictions. He represented the primary target defendants in the largest fire loss in Richmond history since the Civil War, the largest residential fire loss/arson in Maryland history, and one of the largest fires in Washington, D.C. history, the Georgetown Library fire. Each of these fires had national press coverage and losses allegedly exceeding 20-30 million dollars.
- Has defended numerous Traumatic Brain Injury cases to verdict. He has also been dropped into many TBI cases nationally for his expertise with the complicated medical and expert issues presented. In this role he has assumed the defense and advised counsel on defense strategies, and has engineered beneficial settlements, and tried cases.
- Has tried approximately 70 jury trials to verdict, almost all as first chair.
- National coordinating counsel for products defect claims against an over-the-counter medicine provider, involving over 500 cases in multidistrict litigation. Many cases arbitrated and settled with Kevin as first chair. All cases resolved.
- National coordinating counsel for products liability litigation against the provider of pet food ingredients alleged to be poisonous, resulting in seven figure business losses to multiple corporations, and loss of many pets’ lives. All cases resolved.
- National coordinating counsel for manufacturer of logging equipment, skidders and backhoes before business was sold. Defended products litigation against the manufacturer as first chair in over 10 states.
- Litigation and beneficial settlement of explosion/fire case against Fortune 200 manufacturer of industrial equipment, including one death and three severe burn injuries, with boarded special damages of roughly $500 million.
- Defended bus manufacturers in multiple fatality crashworthiness causes, in Georgia and Florida. The Florida case involved six fatalities. All cases mediated and resolved.
- Summary judgment dismissal of all product defect counts in 30 million dollar multiple chemical sensitivity exposure to pesticides, in Northern Virginia, on morning of jury selection.
- Litigation and beneficial settlement of wrongful death product defect case against the manufacturer of a scissor lift.
- Forced dismissal of multimillion dollar products liability lawsuit for the loss of an arm due to burn injuries received when plaintiff was operating a laundry press.
- Dropped into multimillion dollar fire loss to apartment complex, to defend an allegedly defective fire suppression/sprinkler system, to mediate and settle case. Beneficial settlement attained.
- De minimus settlement in product liability case against a tractor manufacturer involving a severe TBI with a multimillion dollar demand.
- Summary judgment dismissal of litigation by 32 plus claimants based on a fire loss that burned down over 30 houses. Total claimed damages exceeded 20 million dollars. Beneficial settlement of 20 million dollar fire loss in Washington, D.C.
- Favorable litigation and settlement of historical library fire in Washington, D.C., first valued as 30 million dollar loss.
- Large charitable organization dropped Kevin into catastrophic losses (quadriplegic and severe TBI) in Maryland and Hawaii, to aggressively defend, drive number down, and settle cases.
- Defense verdict in Maryland defending a trucking company which multiple witnesses testified ran a red light, resulting in multiple facial fractures and TBI.
- Defense verdict in Virginia wrongful death case against alarm services company, when a silent alarm was mistakenly audible, resulting in plaintiff being shot to death as he pressed alarm button.
- Defense verdict in multimillion dollar Virginia premises case resulting in severe traumatic brain injury.
- After a large corporation suffered a multimillion dollar verdict based on a forklift injury, Kevin was dropped in and helped get the verdict thrown out, and retried the case resulting in a low six figure verdict.
- Low jury verdict (substantially under demand) in USVI premises case.
- Summary judgment in USVI defending underwater ladder case, against a high six-figure demand.
- De minimus settlement in USVI wrongful death/shooting after filing of summary judgment.
- Litigated two separate wrongful death lawsuits alleging product defects in continuous miners.
News / Publications
kkeller@wilsav.com
Kevin L.
Keller
Member
Willcox & Savage, P.C.
(757) 628-5677
(757) 628-5566
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