Rodney J Freeman

Rod is an international products lawyer with more than 25 years of experience supporting the world’s top and most innovative companies with their product liability, product compliance and product safety issues. He is routinely ranked as a leader in major legal directories, where he has been described as an ‘outstanding go-to specialist for product liability matters’, ‘one of the top product liability and product regulatory experts worldwide’, and ‘without a shadow of a doubt, the most knowledgeable product liability lawyer in the European space’.

Since joining Cooley in 2017, Rod has built a different kind of products law team – one that focuses on finding creative and practical commercial solutions to worldwide problems. Rod provides unique insights into the global liability and regulatory landscape, and he has an instinct for finding practical solutions for international companies. With a background in high-stakes product compliance litigation, Rod understands the challenges faced by companies in an increasingly risky global environment. He has particular knowledge in understanding the impact of regulation and liability laws on new technologies, including artificial intelligence, connected products and the Internet of Things (IoT), autonomous technologies, and 3D printing, as well as the intersection between product safety regulation and the drive for greater sustainability and environmental protection in the consumer products space.

Rod holds multiple leadership positions in the international product law community, and he frequently works with policymakers to help shape the future of product compliance and litigation. Rod was appointed to the European Commission’s Expert Group on Liability and New Technologies. He also serves on the board of directors for the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization (ICPHSO), where he is chair of its International Program Committee. He sits as an industry representative on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Working Party on Consumer Product Safety, serves as vice chair of the Consumer Policy Committee for Business at OECD (BIAC), and authored the OECD publication ‘Consumer Product Safety in the Internet of Things’.