Pennsylvania Supreme Court agrees to hear a personal jurisdictional appeal in the Hammons v. Ethicon mass tort situated in Philadelphia. Hammons will be the Pennsylvania high court’s first opportunity to weigh in on these issues. Please click here to read the commentary by PLAC member Jim Beck.

PLAC member, Jim Beck of Reed Smith, was recently interviewed by 3D Print.com about 3D printing and the law, specifically product liability. Click here to read his interview.

PLAC member, Steve Burkhart of BIC Corporation, was a featured panelist at the 2019 ICPHSO meeting in Washington DC. Steve was part of a panel discussing “E-commerce and the Rise of Counterfeits: Ensuring the Safety of Products Sold Online“

Congratulations to PLAC members Chris Spencer of Spencer Shuford of Richmond VA, and Tom Vanderford of Hyundai and their trial team who received a defense verdict in a product liability matter in the US District Court for the Western District of Virginia. More on the trial can be found here.

PLAC Member Quentin Urquhart, from Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore in New Orleans, was interviewed regarding the changes proposed to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for the Law360 article "New Deposition Rule Could Have Benefits, But Lawyers Hate It".

PLAC member, Jonathan Barton of Stanton Barton in St. Louis, recently published an expert opinion in Westlaw's Journal "Medical Devices". The article was entitled "Introduction to AI and IoT issues in Product Liability Litigation". One takeaway from his commentary is "Artificial intelligence is a mere component part subject to the same scrutiny that exists within the traditional notions of product liability law". The article appeared in the February 20th edition of the newsletter (subscription required).

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PLAC (formerly the Product Liability Advisory Council) is a not-for-profit association of manufacturing, hardware and software-related entities, suppliers, retailers and select regulatory, litigation and appellate professionals who work to shape the common law of product liability and complex regulation, provide guidance on changing regulations, and strategically help corporations manage risk throughout the entire product lifecycle.

Plaintiffs allege that a complex prescription medical device —used for robotic prostate surgery —had "defective" warnings. During litigation in the State of Washington, plaintiff claimed that strict liability should have been charged. Both the trial court and the unanimous Court of Appeals rejected this argument. An appeal was filed where plaintiff's assertion of strict liability in a warning case involving a prescription medical product challenges decades of Washington precedent.  PLAC filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of the defendant.

Spring Conference: PLAC's Spring Seminar will be held in New Orleans, Louisiana May 1-3. For more information and to register, click here.
Fall Conference: PLAC's Fall Conference will be held in Chicago, Illinois October 2-4.