The increasingly complex task of representing the victims or manufacturers of mass produced products has caused lawyers representing plaintiffs and defendants to form various organizations, whose task is to coordinate the joint efforts of counsel in fairly representing their respective clients. These organizations — such as the Defense Research Institute, the American Trial Lawyers Association, [...]

Under the Uniform Contribution Among Tortfeasors Act (“UCATA”), each tortfeasor in a personal injury action is liable for his share of fault. UCATA expressly restricts the liability of each defendant to “the amount of damages allocated to that defendant in direct proportion to that defendant’s percentage of fault.” A.R.S. §12-2506(B) requires that “in assessing percentages [...]

In this era of consumerism and government regulation, we are constantly learning of errors in product manufacture which either require or compel recall. Litigants, who have been the victim of product defect, are now training their sights on the proposition that a manufacturer has a legal/factual duty to recall and correct a product defect if [...]

Depending upon your status in the legal community, or who you listen to, or what you read, you may believe that court decisions or legislative enactments have in the 90′s, and may, for the foreseeable future, foster upon the American Public draconian legislative tort reform, or impose judicial preemptive strikes upon common law rights, or [...]

There is a product liability crisis. But, it does not relate to the “evil myth” espoused by corporate America and stalwarts of the business community such as the Bush Administration. The real crisis lies in the hundreds of thousands of Americans who are maimed, injured and killed each year by the sale and use of [...]

Introduction The 1990′s experienced a torrent of legislative activity, both at the federal and state level aimed at “curing” the ills wrought upon the business community by a tort system in desperate need of “. . . solution[s] to provide predictability in the product liability system.” “Predictability” has been the term used by proponents of [...]

Our Courts have been challenged by evolving scientific studies and results, which litigants choose to present as evidence of the validity of their experts’ respective opinions. The propriety of expert testimony is subject to preliminary review by the trial judge, whose role is to determine whether the expert’s testimony is admissible under Rule 702. Here [...]

How often have you, as an attorney, been confronted with the issue whether or not your client was seat belted at the time of the accident giving rise to his or her injuries? Probably more often then you would like. Very often, a crashworthiness case is dependent upon proof that the injured victim was seat [...]