Contributory Negligence: Recovery is Possible

This week, join us as we revisit our episode on Motions for Summary Judgment as a refresher!

Original Air Date: November 5,2019.

Can you really have a trial without a trial?  With a Motion for Summary Judgment, you can.  But are these motions really the dead-end that law students are often taught they are?  Summary Judgment is a real mechanism that is available under the right circumstances.  Listen to Rebecca and Steve discuss when a Motion for Summary Judgment is appropriate, and what you need to do to be successful in it.

Products liability cases typically live in civil court, but that all changed in 2023 when the Department of Justice brought its first ever criminal enforcement action under the Consumer Product Safety Act against Gree USA and its CEO and Chief Administrative Officer.  The company’s guilty plea was years in the making after Gree USA willfully and repeatedly failed to report serious safety concerns to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), leading to the Commission’s first ever corporate criminal enforcement action.

On this week’s episode, Rebecca and Steve will guide you through the tumultuous, decade long saga that shows how corporate avoidance of a major product defect can result not just in subrogation and personal injury actions, but in multi-million dollar fines and reparations.

This week, join us as we revisit our episode on Motions for Default Judgment as a refresher!

Original Air Date: October 22,2019

Motions for Default Judgment seem simple enough – if the Defendant doesn’t answer, you get a judgment.  But as with so many things, the devil is in the details.  Listen as Steve and Rebecca get into these details, from what proof can be required to the time limits involved, to when and why a hearing may be needed.

The post Motions for Default Judgment appeared first on Rathbone Group, LLC.

With the ever-evolving world of technology, devices of all kinds are becoming cheaper and easier to access than ever. To the auto industry, dashcams have become easily accessible and more attainable than ever.  But does the video always tell the whole story?  And can you even obtain the video for your case?

On this week’s episode, Rebecca is joined by special guest, Daran P. Kiefer, Partner at Kreiner & Peters Co. L.P.A to discuss what a difference the dashcam footage can make in investigating losses, and just how strong a hold the information can have on an investigation. 

This week, join us as we revisit our episode on Service of Process: International Defendants as a refresher!

Original Air Date: September 24, 2019

In this, the third exciting installment of our suite on Service of Process, Steve and Rebecca discuss the proper processes for effectuating service on Defendants located outside of the country where suit is being filed.  Listen in as the explain how the Hague Convention streamlines the process, what options you have besides the methods specified in that document, and what to do if the country where the Defendant resides is not a signatory to it.

For an up-to-date list of signatory states to the Hague Convention, including which methods of service they accept, visit the World Organisation for Cross-border Co-operation in Civil and Commercial Matters (HCCH).

You can find the State Department’s recommendations on international service, including contact information for foreign plaintiffs serving process on US entities, at their website, here.

Check our episodes on In-State and Out-of-State Service for more information on this important part of the litigation process.

The post Service of Process: International Defendants (Hague Convention) appeared first on Rathbone Group, LLC.

Snow. It can be such a beautiful and peaceful thing. That is, however, until you’re traveling on a highway and a sheet of ice and snow flies off of a passing vehicle and into your car.  If these ice missiles caused any damage, who is responsible?

On this week’s episode, Rebecca and Steve give us the cold, hard facts about snow flying off of vehicles and what happens if this causes property damage. Is there a duty to clean snow and ice off of your roof before beginning your trip? Do truck drivers have an increased responsibility? Tune in for the icy truth!

This week, join us as we revisit our episode on Service of Process: Out-of-State  a refresher!

Original Air Date: September 10, 2019

In this, our second installment on service of process, Rebecca and Steve discuss the difference between subject matter and personal jurisdiction, and how a court can have personal jurisdiction over a defendant that lives out of state.  In the second half of the episode, learn how some of the special rules that apply to certain subrogation matters can actually make service of process on out of state defendants easier than serving defendants in the same state as the lawsuit.

Check our episodes on In-State and International Service for more information on this important part of the litigation process

When purchasing a product, you expect it to work, especially when you are purchasing from a retailer as massive as Amazon. If a product you purchased online causes injuries, you have the right to hold the parties involved in the chain of distribution liable. This includes Amazon even if it was only “fulfilled by Amazon.”

In this episode, Rebecca Wright and Steve Alsip discuss the continued evolution of the liability of online retailers.  We also encourage you to listen to our 2019 episode, Liability and the Online Marketplace, which was refreshed as our previous episode, in which Steve and Rebecca discuss the history of these arguments.  We encourage you to listen to that first episode to familiarize yourself with the arguments and how these decisions are changing over time.  We have no doubt that they will continue to change.

This week, join us as we revisit our episode on Liability and the Online Marketplace: Taking on the World’s Most Valuable Retail Company as a refresher!

Original Air Date: October 8, 2019

Can an online marketplace be liable for damages caused by a third-party vendor’s product?  The answer is, maybe.  Join Rebecca and Steve as they discuss the recent court decisions that are calling into question Amazon’s immunity from liability for damages caused by products they sell on their site, and what these cases mean for the future of products liability cases in the world of online retailers.

You can read the courts’ opinions here:

Fox v. Amazon.com Inc., 2019 WL 2896326 (6th Cir. No. 18-5661, 2019)

Oberdorf v. Amazon.com Inc., 2019 WL 2849153 (3rd Cir. No. 18-1041, 2019) (Note that on August 23, 2019, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals granted a petition for rehearing.  The Court vacated this July 3, 2019 Opinion, and will rehear the matter at a later date.  We will release an update once the Third Circuit enters a new opinion.)

This is the second installment in our suite on Known Defects and Mass Torts.  Last month, we discussed the Ford Pinto cases from the 1970’s.  Today, we are back in present day with another allegation of automobile defects: are auto manufacturers’ laudable efforts to go green causing damages to those cars?  Specifically, are the newer soy-based wire coatings and other plant-based coatings particularly enticing to rodents? 

Join Steve and Rebecca as they discuss the cases that are currently being litigated around these issues, and how the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act can provide additional avenues for plaintiffs to recover in cases like these.