Products Liability

In Flight Engine Failure-Fatal Crash of Cessna 182:
This action was based on the failure of the connecting rod bolt in a Cessna 180 aircraft resulting from a manufacturing defect. Plaintiffs were a deceased pilot’s family. The parties retained numerous experts to reconstruct the failure and assess the pilot’s reaction to the “engine out” condition. The primary experts included a private flight instructor, a nationally known metallurgist, and an Ohio State University professor/expert, who evaluated the piloting issues. The case was filed in the federal District Court in Oregon. The case was resolved by settlement two weeks before the commencement of trial.

Defective Spa Drain/Drowning:
This case arose out of the drowning of a twelve-year-old girl whose ponytail was sucked into the drain of a spa. Plaintiffs, the deceased girl’s parents, sued the manufacturer of a drain cover that did not have anti-entanglement properties. There were a number of peripheral defendants but the ultimate settlement of the case was achieved with the drain cover manufacturer.

Main Seal Failure/Catastrophic Contamination:
Served as the special master and mediator in this case arising out of the failure of a main seal on an effluent pump station in South Lake Tahoe. The failure caused effluent to be discharged onto residential property, contaminating the entire parcel and resulting in possible well contamination. The case involved forensic failure analysis of the pump station and remediation of Plaintiff’s property. Several parties engaged engineering experts to discuss the material failure issue, and the means and methods to correct the problem. The case settled for a monetary sum, with agreements to remediate the property and pump station.