PDI PRODUCTS LIABILITY COMMITTEE ROUNDTABLE/TOWNHALL MEETING – SULLIVAN V. WERNER CO. DISCUSSION

Plan to participate in the Products Liability Committee Roundtable/Townhall Meeting for an important discussion of the recent Supreme Court Decision in Sullivan v. Werner Co. in which a divided Court has concluded that “a product’s compliance with governmental regulations or industry standards is inadmissible in design defect cases to show a product is not defective under the risk-utility theory.”  This is a very important opinion that all defense attorneys participating in the defense of a products liability case should be aware and what can be done in defending these cases.

As a result of the Sullivan opinion, the PDI Products Liability Committee has been working on alerting the PDI members and members of their firms that are involved in Products cases of the current situation and to provide information to assist in handling these matters in the future.  In order to provide initial information, the PDI Products Liability Committee had prepared a Memorandum that was attached to a previous email and again attached to this email.  Please read the Memorandum and pass it on to any attorneys in your firm that are handling a products liability matter. 

The second activity in alerting the membership and members of their firms is to present a Roundtable/Townhall Meeting to discuss the case, its ramifications, and possible tactics and solutions to level the playing field.  That Roundtable/Townhall Meeting will take place on Tuesday, February 13, 2024 @ 12:00 p.m. via Zoom.  Although the meeting will be hosted by the PDI Products Liability Committee, it will be an open mike session to allow other thoughts and opinions to be discussed.  Please alert members of your firms who have products liability cases, even those who handle such cases on a random basis, of this meeting and mark your calendars, plan to attend. Registration information is below 

REGISTRATION AND PAYMENT METHODS:

__________    Email your request to attend to cwasilefski@padefense.org or lgamby@padefense.org .

__________    Register online https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEkduurrDssHtR8g12bVeookmdRBTc-GAmS