Kyle is a member of the Products, Catastrophic and Industrial Litigation Group and chair of the firm’s Energy and Environmental Litigation Task Force. He regularly defends clients in class action, catastrophic loss, product liability, and consumer protection litigation.
Overview
Kyle is a member of the Products, Catastrophic and Industrial Litigation Group and chair of the firm’s Energy and Environmental Litigation Task Force. He regularly defends clients in class action, catastrophic loss, product liability, and consumer protection litigation.
Practice Areas
Industry
Experience
Experience
- Represents product manufacturers in product liability, personal injury, and breach of warranty cases with an emphasis on manufacturers in the fields of oil and gas, industrial machinery, recreational vehicles, and automobiles.
- Represents manufacturers of veterinary pharmaceutical products in product liability and breach of warranty cases.
- Represents corporate defendants in class action litigation, including warranty, fraud, consumer protection, and civil rights litigation.
- Represents clients in catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, and commercial damages cases.
Representative Matters
- Class Actions
- Successfully defeated class certification by consumers alleging fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud in relation to sales of prescription pharmaceuticals, Haley v. Merial, Ltd., 292 F.R.D. 339 (N.D. Miss. 2013).
- Currently representing private prison corporation in 42 U.S.C. § 1983 putative class action filed by inmates regarding alleged deprivation of food and medical services; case pending in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.
- Obtained dismissal for an auto manufacturer in a putative class action alleging breach of warranty, negligent misrepresentation, concealment, and violations of the Mississippi consumer protection act; case pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.
- Represented manufacturer of residential building products in consumer class action alleging breach of warranty, product defect, and misrepresentation; successfully resolved claim prior to class certification; United States District Court for the District of South Carolina.
- Veterinary Pharmaceuticals and Biologics
- Obtained dismissal of all claims against veterinary vaccine manufacturer, Franklin Livestock, Inc. v. Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc., 251 F. Supp. 3d 962 (E.D.N.C. 2017), affirmed 2018 WL 2058053 (4th 2018).
- Obtained complete defense judgment in bench trial regarding alleged lack of efficacy claim regarding veterinary pharmaceutical, Ortego v. Merial, LLC, Civ. A. No. 6:10-cv-00510 (W.D. La.).
- Currently representing veterinary vaccine manufacturer in suit involving an equine vaccine; case pending in Missouri State Court.
- Successfully represented veterinary vaccine manufacturer in suit involving swine vaccine, Livingston Enterprises, Inc. v. Lextron, Inc., 2012 WL 2571184 (D. Neb. 2012).
- Energy Litigation
- Represented pipeline construction company in personal injury suit filed by welder, McGee v. Willbros Const., US, LLC, A. No. 5:11-CV-00080-DCB-JM, 2011 WL 5082254 (S.D. Miss. Oct. 26, 2011).
- Represented casing/tubing manufacturer in commercial damages suit filed by owners/operators of natural gas well, Roundtree & Assocs., Inc. v. V&M Star, L.P., Civ. A. No. 3:08-cv-572 (S.D. Miss. 2010);
- Represented owner/operator of disposal well in personal injury suit filed by pump truck manufacturer, Tanner v. Eagle Oil & Gas Co., Case No. 111-0013 (Jasper Co. Cir. Ct. 2013);
- Represented owner/operator of oil well personal injury suit filed by work-over rig operator. Sistrunk v. Tellus Operating Group, LLC, Case No. 2011-018 (Smith Co. Cir. Ct. 2012);
- Represented pipeline construction company in multiple personal injury actions and wrongful death action arising from explosion that occurred during nitrogen pressure test, LeBlanc v. Grand Bluff Construction Co., Inc., Docket No. 92439 (15th Judicial District Court, Vermillion Parish, La. 2013);
- Represented pipeline owner/operator as plaintiff in a commercial damage case following fire at tank farm, Mid-Valley Pipeline Co. v. Summit Seals, Inc., Civ. A. No. 5:12-cv-66 (S.D. Miss. 2013);
- Represented owner/operator of prototype recycling plant located in Quebec, Canada, in multiple personal injury actions, Fox v. 4403100 Canada, Inc., Civ. A. No. 10-3065 (E.D. La. 2010).
- Product Liability
- Currently representing manufacturer of residential air conditioning unit in wrongful death and personal injury suits pending in Mississippi state court;
- Currently representing manufacturer of construction hoist in personal injury matter pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi;
- Represented manufacturer of off-road recreational vehicle in multiple personal injury and wrongful death case pending in Mississippi state and federal courts;
- Represented manufacturer of kitchen appliance in multiple wrongful death and personal injury cases involving apartment fires pending in Mississippi state courts;
- Represented manufacturer of insecticide in multiple cases alleging crop loss;
- Represented manufacturers of plywood/particle board in personal injury suit alleging exposure to formaldehyde pending in Mississippi state courts.
Distinctions
- Best Lawyers in America®
- Product Liability Litigation – Defendants, 2019-2025
- Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants, 2023-2025
- Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants, 2023-2025
- Commercial Litigation, 2024-2025
- Super Lawyers®
- Mid-South Rising Star, Personal Injury – Products: Defense, 2012-2019
- Benchmark Litigation
- 40 & Under Hot List
- Recognized, 2021
- Fellow, American Bar Foundation
Bar Admissions
- Mississippi, 2006
- U.S. District Courts
- Mississippi: Northern, Southern
- U.S. Court of Appeals
- 4th Circuit
- 5th Circuit
Education
- Vanderbilt University Law School, J.D., 2006
- Order of the Coif
- Articles Editor, Vanderbilt University Law Review
- Managing Associate Justice, Vanderbilt Moot Court Board
- University of Southern Mississippi, B.A., Public Relations and Political Science, with honors, 2001
- Clerkship, Chief Judge A. Joe Fish, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas
Associations
- Mississippi Bar Association
- Executive Committee, Section of Litigation, 2017-Present
- American Bar Association
- Section on Environment, Energy and Resources
- International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC)
- Business Litigation Committee
- Vice Chair, Publications, 2019-2020
- Business Litigation Committee
- Institute for Energy Law
- Defense Research Institute (DRI)
- Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association
- Board of Directors, 2015-2016
- Chair, Young Lawyers Division, 2012-2016
- Capital Area Bar Association
Papers, Presentations & Publications
- Author, Encyclopedia of Mississippi Law, Chapter 6, Appellate Practice & Procedure (ed. 2017).
- Presenter, “Litigation Regarding Veterinary Medicine: Where Are We and Where Are We Going,” 2015.
- Presenter, “Taking an Effective Deposition,” Mississippi Defense Lawyer’s Association, Student Chapter Lecture Series, 2015.
- Presenter, “Chalkboard Damages: Billed v. Paid Medical Bills and the Collateral Source Rule,” 2015.
- Author and Presenter, “Effective Use of Experts in Product Liability Cases,” Southeast Products Liability Forum, June 2013.
- Author, “North Carolina Expands Product Modification Defense,” Southeast Product Liability Update, 2013.
- Author, “Compliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards Shields Manufacturer from Liability,” Southeast Product Liability Update," 2013.
- Author, “Product Liability Model Jury Instructions Pass First Hurdle,” Southeast product Liability Update, 2013.
- Author, “Florida Adopts Daubert Standard for Expert Testimony,” Southeast Product Liability Update, 2013.
- Author, “A Bridge to Nowhere: RICO Fraud Consumer Class Actions Against Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Post Bridge v. Phoenix Bond,” Pro Te: Solutio, Vol. 5 No. 2, May 2012.