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Tag Archives: products liability
The Reptile’s In Our Midst – Defending against the “Triune Brain” trial strategy
As you’ve surely heard by now, the plaintiffs’ bar has come up with a can’t-miss-science-based trial strategy. Its creators boast that it has produced over $6.25 billion in jury verdicts and settlements in personal injury suits since 2009, including nearly $19.2 million in the past week alone. And they’ve given their strategy a name; it’s called: The “Reptile Theory.” While there are many who dispute its claimed scientific basis (here, here, here), defendants who’ve squared-off with the Reptile don’t doubt its effectiveness. Continue reading
Filed under Best Practices, Court Decisions, Risk Management
Warranty in Practice – Can a company use warranty to help drive sales?
Can a company use warranty to help drive sales? It sure can. Just ask Hyundai Motors. It saw its market share jump from 1.1% to 4% after it extended its powertrain warranty in 1999. You might also want to put the question to Volkswagen, which saw its sales drop 30% in the three years after it shortened its powertrain warranty in 2002. Continue reading
Filed under Best Practices, Customer Experience, PR & Branding, Warranty
The Door is Open for Class Action Lawsuits against Manufacturers
Recent federal court decisions relaxing the standards for class action certification must have plaintiff class action lawyers around the country celebrating. It now seems that a mere handful of customer complaints can support a class action lawsuit on any consumer product. What should manufacturers do to address this development and resulting increase in liability exposure? Should they spend more money up front to resolve warranty claims, before they end up in suit? Or, should they fight it out in court and hope to curtail the recent trend? Either way, we suspect manufacturers’ costs are going up. Continue reading
Filed under Court Decisions
Federal Warranty Claim Involving a Commercial Truck Forced to Exit
A warranty plaintiff can’t make a commercial truck (or its auxiliary air conditioner) a “consumer product” simply by calling it one, but he can state an implied warranty claim by alleging that it didn’t work right. Continue reading
Filed under Court Decisions, Statutes & Regulations, Warranty
Matthew Kelly
The Editors
Paul Wojcicki