Weber Gallagher Simpson Stapleton Fires & Newby LLP

May 08, 2006 : Brian L. Calistri Earns Jury Victory in Products Liability Trial

Brian L. Calistri, a partner in the Philadelphia office of Weber Gallagher Simpson Stapleton Fires & Newby LLP, won a major victory in a products liability case in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas on May 2, 2006.  Although the jury awarded $5 mllion to the plaintiff (a security guard at the Wachovia Center who was severely injured when a parking booth blew over on him during high winds), they found no liability against the Firm's client, which had manufactured and installed the booth at issue.  The manufacturer had initially been a target defendant, but on the first day of trial Judge Gary Devito granted a Motion in Limine excluding the plaintiff’s product expert testimony that insufficient bolts had been used to anchor the booth.  The Judge allowed the co-defendant's product warning expert (who maintained that the manufacturer should have supplied end user instructions and warnings about proper anchoring of the booths) to testify, but the jury ultimately rejected his testimony and instead concluded that the parking company’s lack of maintenance of the booth was the sole cause of the accident.