$1.51 Million Settlement for Auto Product Liability

The firm represented a young woman who was severely injured when the car seat she was riding in completely tore off its mountings during an accident. The young woman was wearing her seatbelt when the accident occurred but that lifesaving device ended up ripping though her lower abdomen because her seat failed. The other passengers of the car whose seats didn’t fail walked away with minor injuries.

The firm discovered that the manufacturer of the vehicle used flimsy plastic mounts to secure the rear seats to the frame of the car. The manufacturer argued that the car’s seats met the minimum federal standards but documents showed that the manufacturer was aware that its seats were far too weak and would fail in normal speed accidents. More importantly, the firm was able to use their detailed knowledge of the car industry to show that many other manufacturers designed, tested and sold much stronger seats that would have prevented the young woman’s injury. The manufacturer settled the case for $1.51 million.