Sherwin-Williams persuades the Mississippi Supreme Court that plaintiff failed to prove injury from lead paint

Client(s) Sherwin-Williams Company, The

Jones Day successfully defended The Sherwin-Williams Company against a teenager's claim that he ingested Sherwin-Williams' lead paint as a toddler and was permanently injured. The Mississippi Supreme Court reversed a jury verdict for plaintiff in his hometown of Jefferson County. (The Jefferson County jury had awarded plaintiff substantially less than he requested, demonstrating the strength of Sherwin-Williams' evidence at trial.) The Supreme Court's majority held that plaintiff's medical experts had no scientifically reliable basis on which to say that his one-time, moderately elevated blood lead level injured him. Therefore, the trial court erred by permitting plaintiff's expert testimony. The concurring justices found that plaintiff's eyewitness testimony identifying Sherwin-Williams as the manufacturer and seller of the lead paint ingested by plaintiff was incredible. The Supreme Court rendered judgment for Sherwin-Williams.

The Sherwin-Williams Co. v. Trellvion, No. 2009-TS-01866 (Mississippi Supreme Court)