Douglas B. King

Of Counsel

Doug’s practice is almost exclusively civil litigation, typically for the defense. He has tried and defended toxic tort and chemical cases, drug and medical device product liability cases, asbestos cases, employment discrimination cases, insurance coverage cases, environmental suits, municipal liability claims, breach of contract and various commercial claims, and a wide variety of personal injury and wrongful death claims.

The heaviest concentration of Doug’s work in personal injury defense is in products liability. He was appointed to the subcommittee for mass tort litigation of the Indiana Supreme Court Rules Committee, whose mission is to develop procedures and rules to facilitate and expedite the handling of asbestos and other mass tort cases for all of Indiana. He has tried numerous jury and bench trials in state and federal courts throughout Indiana, and in other states across the country including Illinois, Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Florida, resulting in a number of published decisions and landmark cases. He has defended manufacturers and distributors of a wide variety of products, devices, and substances over the last four decades.

Doug has worked with medical and scientific issues, such as diseases and birth defects allegedly resulting from exposure to asbestos, benzene, silica, coal tar pitch, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), trichlorethelyne, vinyl chloride, gludalderhyde, formaldehyde, and various other chemicals.

Credentials

Education

Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law (J.D., summa cum laude)

Butler University (B.A.)

Bar admissions

  • Indiana

Court admissions

  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana

Affiliations and memberships

  • American College of Trial Lawyers, fellow
  • International Association of Defense Counsel, fellow
  • Indiana Medical Device Manufacturers Council, associate member
  • Indianapolis Bar Association
  • Indiana Bar Association
  • Defense Research Institute
  • Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana

Distinctions

  • America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators® for Indiana
  • Indiana Defense Lawyer of the Year by the statewide affiliate of the Defense Research Institute, Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana (2003)
  • Best Lawyers®
    • Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Defendants (2013 – 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024)
    • Product Liability Litigation – Defendants (2013 – 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024)
    • “Lawyer of the Year”  Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Defendants
  • Indiana Super Lawyers® (2004 – 2019, Present)
  • Chambers USA®: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, General Commercial Litigation
  • Peer Review Rated AV by Martindale-Hubbell
  • Senior Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America
  • Cambridge Who’s Who (V.I.P. Member)
  • The Outstanding Lawyers of America
  • Diplomat, Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana (2017)
  • American Registry’s Top Attorneys in Indiana (2018)

Career Highlights
  • Successfully Defended Client in Wrongful Death Case

    We and co-counsel represented our client, a subsidiary of an automobile company, in the wrongful death case brought by a mechanic’s family. The mechanic had worked in one of our client’s dealerships for one to two years in 1965-1966 and worked on our client’s brakes and clutches. The family claimed the mechanic was exposed to asbestos from these products, which caused his pleural malignant mesothelioma, and our client should have warned him that could happen. We argued and provided supporting evidence that our client didn’t know at the time that any health hazards were associated with the mechanic’s work with such friction materials, and that any asbestos emitted from those materials did not cause the mechanic’s mesothelioma. The jury returned a defense verdict that our client was not liable.

News
  • August 21, 2025

    260 Dinsmore Attorneys Listed as 2026 Best Lawyers®, Ones to Watch

  • August 15, 2024

    250+ Dinsmore Attorneys Named 2025 Best Lawyers ®, Ones to Watch

  • June 10, 2024

    Dinsmore Expands its Chambers and Partners Rankings with Top Honors Across Multiple States and Practice Areas

  • August 17, 2023

    200+ Dinsmore Attorneys Named 2024 Best Lawyers®, “Ones to Watch”

  • June 6, 2023

    Dinsmore’s Chambers USA 2023 Rankings Show Continued Growth Across the Firm

  • February 28, 2023

    Indiana Super Lawyers Honors 11 Dinsmore Attorneys

  • August 18, 2022

    2023 Best Lawyers® List Recognizes 190 Dinsmore & Shohl Attorneys

  • February 24, 2022

    12 Dinsmore & Shohl Attorneys Named to Indiana Super Lawyers, Rising Stars Lists

  • August 19, 2021

    Best Lawyers® Recognizes 191 Dinsmore & Shohl Attorneys

  • May 24, 2021

    Dinsmore’s Chambers USA 2021 Rankings Increase as Firm Grows Nationwide