On March 11, 2011, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”) will officially launch a new website which offers a forum for consumers to register complaints about product-related safety issues. The database, located at http://saferproducts.gov/ will register complaints of injury or of potential harm filed by consumers, safety groups, health care professionals and other interested parties;...
It is as commonplace and disconcerting as ordering specialty food at a fast food restaurant and receiving what they commonly serve. You don’t get what you want. In litigation, product manufacturers, builders and providers of products and ideas are seldom producing background information on those items and ideas without first requiring that the requesting party...
The prevailing laws in the Middle East are generally based on, and utilize elements of, Shari’ah, The Koran and the Hadith together with what is termed as Latin law, influenced by Egyptian Napoleonic Code style law. The concept of insurance is not contradictory to Islam, the payment of blood money by an individual to a deceased’s...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has recently issued an opinion holding that a subrogating insurer can sue a defendant for negligence for damage to property even though the subrogating insurer and the defendant were not in privity of contract. This opinion provides guidance on privity of contract as well as economic...
The Expedited Jury Trials Act (ETA) Assembly Bill 2284 became effective in California state trial courts. Additional rules implementing the program are being prepared by the California Judicial Council. AB 2284 provides for expedited jury trials in civil cases where both parties agree. The trials scheduled pursuant to the ETA will be heard on a...
As Lord Mansfield ruled in one of the oldest English authorities on subrogation, payment of the loss by an insurer to its insured does not affect the liability of the wrongdoer. He set forth the basic principle as follows: “Every day the insurer is put in the place of the insured … The insurer uses...
Seasoned subrogation professionals do not need to be told how important it is to attempt to afford potential adversaries the opportunity to inspect a loss site before the site, and evidence on the site, has been significantly altered or disturbed. Making such entreaties to an experienced practitioner essentially amounts to “preaching to the choir”. However,...
As in the United States, experts in England and Wales often play a fundamental role in litigation. Their opinions influence whether a case is brought, case strategy and settlement decisions. Experts currently have limited immunity for claims of professional negligence. This immunity extends to evidence given by the expert in court and to work which...
Since 1401, English common law has treated fire damage caused by an escape of fire as being actionable by an adjoining owner without proof of fault. This liability was based on custom and on the special duty imposed on house holders to keep their fires safe. The strictness of this liability was the result of...
In a November 2010 decision, the Washington Supreme Court replaced the longstanding “economic loss rule” with a what it has termed the “independent duty doctrine.” The case, Affiliated FM Ins. Co. v. LTK Consulting Services, Inc. , stemmed from a fire in Seattle’s Monorail System. Prior to the fire, the City of Seattle had contracted...
