2020 Webinar: Are Optional Safety Devices Truly “Optional?”

The Product Liability & Complex Torts Practice Group  hosted a complimentary webinar on January 16, 2020,  titled: Are Optional Safety Devices Truly “Optional?”

Click here to view the webinar recording

About the Webinar:

Technological advancements in artificial intelligence, computing, material science, and design engineering have given rise to a host of new technologies that make powered pieces of equipment more useful and, in many instances, safer for use in many applications.  In many cases, as an industry evolves, manufacturers present these new technologies to purchasers as “options.”  This presentation will explore the potential liability of manufacturers and dealers of equipment when new technologies are presented as “options.” Questions addressed will include: can a product be defective for failing to make an optional safety device standard; can the existence of an optional safety device be a defense to a product defect claim; can a dealer be liable for failing to offer an optional safety device and under what circumstances might a manufacturer or dealer owe a post-sale duty to retrofit or warn?  Counsel will not only discuss the current status of the law and recent cases addressing these issues but offer some practical guidance on how manufacturers and dealers may minimize risk in such situations.

Panelists:

JACOB LEHMAN is a trial lawyer and partner with the Philadelphia ALFA International firm German, Gallagher & Murtagh P.C. He focuses his practice on complex civil litigation splitting his time between claims of professional negligence, product liability and other matters involving catastrophic injury. He also has a significant commercial litigation practice. Jake’s focus is on creativity, aggressive advocacy, and most of all client service. He is a 2006 graduate of Temple University and completed his law degree at Rutgers University School of Law in 2009. In 2017 he obtained an LLM in trial advocacy with honors from Temple University’s nationally ranked trial advocacy program. He is an active member of the Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Bar Associations and the Temple American Inn of Court. He writes and presents on legal topics in various venues and publications. Mr. Lehman has been honored by his peers including selection in 2016 as one of 35 “Lawyers on the Fast Track” by the Philadelphia Legal Intelligencer and by repeated inclusion in Law & Politics Magazine as a Super Lawyer: Rising Star, a distinction given to only 2.5% of Pennsylvania Attorneys under 40.

MATTHEW D. JACOBSON is a Member in the Des Moines, Iowa ALFA law firm of Whitfield & Eddy, PLC.  Matt’s litigation practice includes representing product manufacturers at state, regional and national levels.  His practice also includes consulting with product manufacturers on issues relating to accident prevention, including formation of safety committees, performance of hazard analyses and composition of safety labels and manuals.  For the past 20 years, Matt has spoken to a group of product manufacturers on a biannual basis to address issues relating to production liability prevention and defending product liability lawsuits.  Matt is admitted to practice in both Iowa and Illinois, including the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Iowa and the Northern, Central and Southern Districts of Illinois.  He has also represented clients on a pro hac vice basis in Wisconsin, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Alabama, New York, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, Louisiana, West Virginia, Oklahoma, California, Kentucky, Kansas, South Carolina, and Colorado.  Matt earned his B.S. from the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts (1990) and his J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law (1993).