Defense Verdict on Product Liability Claim

Sim Shapiro and Dua Tahir, supported by Renee Fancher, achieved a defense verdict yesterday on a case alleging that our client manufactured a defective adaptive device attached to a vehicle’s steering wheel.  We did not dispute that the device broke apart while the car was being driven (though there were grounds to do so), deciding instead to focus on the common sense argument that plaintiff could not show that the failure was a substantial cause of the resulting crash (or the four surgeries the plaintiff underwent in its wake).  The jury did find the device to have been defective, but accepted our defense that the defect was not a cause of the crash.  There were complex issues presented to the Westchester jury:  its ability to see past the testimony of plaintiff’s expert was a reassuring demonstration of why a capable jury is the best arbiter of a factual dispute and the most meaningful way to obtain exoneration from overreaching claims.  Tremendous credit lies with their attention to details and their fair consideration of the case. Credit also belongs principally to the support of our client and its insurer, who never wavered in their support of our evaluation of the case, and, despite a series of adverse evidentiary rulings, never buckled to the pressure from plaintiff.  It takes resolve to see it through to the right result, and we could not be more proud of Sim and Dua and Renee for obtaining this result for a client that did not deserve to have its reputation unfairly sullied.  It bears mention that this is Sim’s THIRD defense verdict in just over a year.  AMAZING