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Products liability

November 2007 | Volume 43, Issue 11

Keeping the ESC case on course
Paul J. Komyatte

Electronic stability control (ESC) has the potential to dramatically reduce injuries and deaths in car crashes. NHTSA has finally issued a rule requiring this technology in all model-year 2012 vehicles, but manufacturers have long known that ESC can save lives and have been slow to install it. Learn how to hold automakers responsible for failing to protect motorists with ESC sooner.

Get the most from engineering experts
Christopher L. Brinkley

Almost every products liability case will require testimony from an engineering expert. To help your expert support your case, encourage him or her to think in big pictures—rather than focusing on single engineering projects—and to communicate clearly to jurors by using visual aids and avoiding jargon.

Mining discovery in other cases
George E. McLaughlin and William J. Hansen

Chances are good that the corporate defendant you’re suing has been sued before. That means prior discovery efforts have already laid the groundwork for you—and many courts will let you use the materials that those efforts unearthed. Don’t miss the gems that could help you get justice for your client.

Probe cyberspace to win your case
Jim Robinson and Carole Levitt

If you’re relying on standard Internet search engines like Google or Yahoo to research your case or your defendant, your efforts will yield limited results. Many blogs and other online resources offer important fodder for your products liability case—and some are specifically designed to make lawyers’ jobs easier.

A fitting remedy for upfitted trucks
Robert Ammons and Bennett Midlo

Most trucks come off the assembly line fully outfitted and ready to roll. Others have to await the attentions of so-called upfitters, who add parts and accessories to make the trucks suitable for specific tasks, like utility work or heavy construction. Some upfitters don’t follow strict safety guidelines when making these modifications. Here’s how to know whether the upfitter was negligent, and how to prove it.

Features

Don’t neglect the nurse’s duty of care
Michael A. Worel and David G. Wirtes Jr.

Nurses are on the front lines of patient care and advocacy. Accordingly, they have a strong duty of care, including the duty to intervene if they suspect that a treatment or procedure is not in the patient’s best interest. Follow these guidelines to find out whether the nurses treating your client upheld that ethical and legal responsibility, and how to hold them accountable if they did not.

Marketing to the Hispanic community
Leslie M. Inzunza

If you’re trying to reach potential clients in the Hispanic (or Latino) community, you could be making some elementary mistakes. The first is thinking that Hispanics constitute a single, monolithic group. The second is that it’s crucial, or even necessary, to speak Spanish. Read on for more insight into misconceptions about these members of your community—and for concrete steps you can take to tap into this large, and legally underserved, market.