Articles Posted in Products Liability

I know some of you may be sick of reading about the Texas Vioxx trial, but this piece – a Q & A with Mark Lanier with questions posted by readers – is different and very interesting. Note the resources Lanier poured into this trial.

Well, round two starts on Monday in New Jersey. This case appears stronger on causation that the Texas case, but now Merck has a good idea about what will be coming. Then again, so do the plaintiff’s lawyers. Here is a nice summary of the case.

The NYT has reported that Ford has recalled almost 4,000,000 trucks and SUVs, saying that a problem with the cruise control could cause the vehicle to catch fire. There have been almost 1200 reports of fire to date. Ford had earlier recalled almost 800,000 for a simliar concern. The model…

What does the industry say about how a product should be manufactured? Look to this site as a resource for product safety research. The site also has links to information about problems with medical devices, product recalls, and patent data. Thanks to Bob Kraft for bringing this site to my…

Can a product that is not completely installed be a product? The 3-judge panel of the Pennsylvania Superior Court said “yes.” Sprinkler systems were being contructed in a three huge warehouses for documents storage. Although the sprinkler system was “admittedly incomplete,” the sprinkler system was issuing “material and test certificates”…

Here is a great article about Mark Lanier and his recent victory in the Vioxx trial in Texas.

State Court New Jersey September 12 State Court Houston October (exact date unknown) Federal Court New Orleans Nov. 28, Federal Court New Orleans, Feb. 13, 2006 Federal Court New Orleans, March 13, 2006 Federal Court New Orleans, April 10, 2006 By the way, according to this article in the New…

The 11th Circuit has reversed a jury verdict in favor of Toyota in a seat belt case, holding that the judge should have instructed the jury on the consumer expectation test. The judge only instructed on the risk-utility test. The judge was applying Florida law and the 11th Circuit ruled…

The Illinois Court of Appeals remanded a wrongful death case for trial on behalf of a child who died in a fire started by a lighter that lacked child-resistent features. Name of the lighter: “Aim ‘n Flame.” The court found that the jury could have reasonably concluded that the risks…

This represents my best guess of what the tort reformers would have wrote if Merck had won the Texas Vioxx trial: “Well, the greedy plaintiff’s lawyers did their best but they could not fool the good people of Texas. Mark Lanier, who is supposed to be a star of the…