Kevin R. Dean
Focusing his litigation efforts on catastrophic injury, products liability, and wrongful death cases, Kevin Dean represents victims and families affected by hazardous consumer products, occupational and industrial accidents, fires, premise injuries and other incidents of negligence.
Kevin currently represents people allegedly harmed by defective Takata airbags, Volkswagen's diesel emissions fraud, and GM’s misconduct regarding its defective vehicles in In re General Motors LLC Ignition Switch Litigation. He has litigated numerous vehicle defect cases, including against "the Big Three" automotive manufacturers in cases involving defective brakes, door locks, door latches, seat belts and roll overs. He served as trial co-counsel in Guzman v. Ford (2001), the first case brought to trial regarding a defective outside door latch handle, as well as in the vehicle rollover case Hayward v. Ford (2005). He was also a member of the plaintiffs’ litigation team in the defective seat belt case, Malone v. General Motors Corporation (1998) prior to joining Motley Rice.
Committed to occupational safety, Kevin recently secured a jury verdict against SAR Automation, L.P. for $8.8 million in the wrongful death of a worker who fell at a Boeing facility leaving behind a widow and two small children.*
Kevin also served as lead plaintiffs’ counsel in In re Charleston Firefighter Litigation, a wrongful death and negligence case against Sofa Super Store, contractors and multiple furniture manufacturers on behalf of the families of the nine firefighters lost in the June 2007 warehouse fire in Charleston, S.C.
Since the 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon, Kevin has been helping people and businesses pursuing litigation, as well as those needing help filing and negotiating their claims. He served as a member of the oil spill MDL's GCCF Jurisdiction & Court Oversight Workgroup and works with victims on claims through the programs established by the two settlements reached with BP.
Kevin’s experience also includes the health insurance fraud and post-claims underwriting case Clark v. Security Life Insurance Company, the largest civil RICO case in Georgia history, and Wiggins v. Parsons Nursery, one of the largest environmental and health contamination cases in South Carolina. Kevin also served as a County Commissioner on the Early County Georgia Board of Commissioners and still holds the honor of having been the youngest elected commissioner in county history. Kevin frequently appears in local and national broadcast and print media discussing legal matters of workplace safety, fire prevention and other products liability, as well as specific casework and efforts for changes and improvements in various industries. Recognized as an AV® rated attorney Martindale-Hubbell®, Kevin co-authored “Dangerous Doors and Loose Latches,” published in Trial Magazine (2004) for the American Association for Justice, and authored “The Right to Jury Trial in ERISA Civil Enforcement Actions” published in The American Journal of Trial Advocacy (1989).
2015–2018 South Carolina Super Lawyers list:
Personal injury – gene2012–2013 National "Litigation Star": mass torts/product liability
2012–2014 South Carolina “Litigation Star”:
Mount Pleasant, South Carolina 29464