Kunsch earns unanimous defense verdict in product liability case

On July 15, 2022, Sweeney & Sheehan Partner Michael Kunsch won a unanimous defense verdict in a product liability case following a 4-day jury trial in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The plaintiff sustained injuries after falling from a steel rolling tower scaffold in the course of his employment as a union carpenter. In a significant pretrial ruling, District Judge Mark Kearney predicted that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will overrule its longstanding categorical preclusion of evidence of compliance with industry standards in cases where a plaintiff pursues a risk-utility theory of defect. In light of the Court’s ruling, the plaintiff elected prior to trial to proceed solely under a consumer expectation theory of defect against the distributor of the scaffold.