Biography • Product Liability Defence

Frank Rothrock is a founding partner of Shook, Hardy & Bacon's Orange County office. He has practiced in national mass tort litigation for over three decades at both the trial and appellate levels. He has represented clients in litigation involving prosthetic heart valves, orthopedic appliances, breast implants, contraceptive devices, pharmaceuticals, heart-lung machines, ophthalmic instruments, dental appliances, and hematologic analysers. He has also been involved in personal injury and property damage litigation involving electric and magnetic fields and toxic tort litigation involving exposure to copper beryllium, asbestos and chlorine. Mr Rothrock has defended class action, consumer fraud and deceptive trade practice litigation concerning alcoholic beverages, pharmaceuticals, dietary supplements, and food products. Mr Rothrock has been recognised in several editions of Who's Who Legal: The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers for his expertise in product liability litigation. He has also been named a California litigation star in the 2010 and 2011 editions of Benchmark Litigation: The Definitive Guide to America's Leading Litigation Firms & Attorneys. Mr Rothrock has also been included in the 2010 edition of Expert Guides: Guide to the World's Leading Product Liability Lawyers.

Over the past 20 years, Mr Rothrock has lectured extensively on issues concerning product liability and civil procedure. He has been counsel for the defendants in several landmark decisions by the California Supreme Court: San Diego Gas & Electric Co v Superior Court, 55 Cal Rptr 2d 724 (1996); Stangvik v Shiley Inc, 1 Cal Rptr 2d 556 (1991), and a recent decision by the Nevada Supreme Court: Sanchez v Wal-Mart Stores, Inc, 221 P3d 1276 (2009).

In June of 2009, Mr Rothrock represented plaintiffs in the trial of a case that involved a fatal helicopter crash in China and obtained a $6.4 million verdict: Hubei Gezhouba Sanlian Industrial Co, et al. v Robinson Helicopter Co, 2009 WL 2190197 (C.D. Cal.) The verdict was upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals: Hubei Gezhouba Sanlian Industrial Co, Ltd v Robinson Helicopter Co, 2011 US App LEXIS 6428 (9th Cir). It was selected by the Daily Journal as one of the top plaintiff verdicts in California in 2009.

Mr Rothrock is the former chair of the Orange County Bar Association College of Trial Advocacy. He is a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel, the Defense Research Institute and the Orange County Bar Association. Over the last 20 years, Mr Rothrock has lectured extensively for the California Continuing Education of the Bar and for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (formerly the Health Industry Manufacturers Association). He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the Order of the Coif.