Practice Areas

Casualty, Products Liability

Member Bio

Jeff Eden is co-chair of the firm's Products Liability Group. In over 20 years of practicing law, he has gained extensive trial experience in a broad range of civil litigation, including products liability, professional liability, and catastrophic injury. In addition to his products liability work, Mr. Eden has significant experience handling general commercial litigation, including UCC matters. He has successfully tried over 75 jury trials to verdict in the state and federal courts of Oregon and Washington. As a result of his extensive trial experience, Mr. Eden has been retained by many corporate and insurance industry clients to counsel them on how to control litigation costs through arbitration, mediation and other alternative dispute resolution methods.

Mr. Eden represents companies such as Deere & Company (John Deere), Fred Meyer, Caterpillar, and McDonalds in product-related matters. He also advises U.S. product manufacturers, distributors, and sellers on product modifications and risk management strategies designed to avoid future litigation.

He has represented component part manufacturers in the industrial and aircraft manufacturing industries, paint and coating manufacturers, and sellers of child-proof packaging. He also routinely works for local and national manufacturers and distributors of pharmaceutical products, surgical equipment, and nutritional supplements. Before joining the firm, he served as national coordinating defense counsel to a leading Western retailer in national drug litigation.

Mr. Eden has also represented numerous professionals--including physicians, pharmacists, chiropractors, dentists, attorneys, and agents--in professional liability and alleged professional negligence matters. He has also assisted his professional clients in disciplinary matters and administrative hearings.

Practice Areas
Commercial Litigation
Personal & Catastrophic Injury Litigation
Product Liability

Selected Industries
Drug, Medical Devices & Biotechnology
Health Care
Manufacturing

Education
Northwestern School of Law, Lewis & Clark College - J.D., magna cum laude, 1985
University of Oregon - B.S., 1982
University of Delaware

Bar Admissions
Admitted to Oregon Bar, 1985
Admitted to U.S. District Court, District of Oregon, 1986
Admitted to Washington Bar, 1990
Admitted to U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington, 1990
Admitted to U.S. Supreme Court, 1992

Professional and Civic Involvement
• Defense Research Institute
• Multnomah County Bar Association
• Oregon Association of Defense Counsel
• Oregon State Bar Association
• Vice Chair of the Commercial Transportation Litigation Committee of the American Bar Associate (ABA) and Tort & Insurance Practice Section (TIPS)
• Washington Defense Trial Lawyers
• Washington State Bar Association

Articles and Presentations
• Author, Oregon chapter in DRI's book, Product Liability Defenses, 2007
• Speaker, "Annual Tort Law Update on Emerging Torts - Lead and Lead Paint Litigation," Washington Defense Trial Lawyers, December 2007


REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
• Defective valve products liability case
Manufacturer of transfer truck valve
Represented the manufacturer of a valve used in a large truck, which caused catastrophic injuries to the operator of the truck, including bilateral amputations. Our work with engineering experts demonstrated the valve was not defective. We successfully obtained a settlement for our client which was less than the cost of the defense.
• Kava Kava case
Leading Western retailer
Our firm represented a leading Western retailer in a case involving allegations that the nutritional supplement, Kava Kava, caused liver damage. Discovery of alternative mechanisms of injury resulted in a nominal settlement for our client.
• National Discovery Counsel in multi-jurisdictional benzene litigation for large industrial manufacturing corporation
Large U.S. industrial manufacturer with business operations in 160 countries
Served as National Discovery Counsel for one of the country's oldest and largest industrial manufacturers of agricultural, construction, and commercial equipment in multi-jurisdictional toxic tort litigation over claims related to alleged benzene exposure.
• Orthopedic implant products liability litigation

Bullivant Houser Bailey has represented numerous orthopedic implant manufacturers in products liability litigation. For example, we defended a manufacturer of an internal fixation device in a case which went to trial and received a defense verdict.
• PPA products liability litigation
National manufacturer of Phenylpropanolamine (PPA)
Represented several leading national manufacturers of Phenylpropanolamine (PPA) in a series of lawsuits which alleged that PPA caused strokes. In one case, an eight year-old alleged the product caused a stroke leading to a loss of vision and permanent brain damage. By quickly retaining leading experts in pharmacology, toxicology, neuroradiology, pediatric neurology, pediatric neuropsychology, and epidemiology, our firm was able to efficiently resolve this matter through early mediation.
• Risk management for discovery coordination
World's leading food service retailer
Our firm provided risk management advice for one of the world's leading food service retailers related to information management in litigation. We counseled our client on strategies to achieve efficiency and systemic improvement in their discovery coordination processes.

Firm Information

Committees