Larry E Coben

January 30, 2024 | The Legal Intelligencer

Pennsylvania has steadfastly held to the principle that in strict products liability cases, evidence of a manufacturer's due care is both irrelevant and inadmissible.

By Larry E. Coben

6 minute read

January 09, 2024 | The Legal Intelligencer

The evidentiary battle over whether a defendant may offer evidence that a product's design is in accord with customs in the industry or complied with government standards has ended.

By Larry E. Coben

6 minute read

December 01, 2023 | The Legal Intelligencer

Despite the underlying motivations, or perhaps because of them, the legal grounds for a request to change venue based upon "forum non conveniens " has evolved into a war of words in which our trial courts are asked to decide whether the plaintiff's selected forum is "vexatious" or "oppressive," or merely "inconvenient" to the defendant.

By Larry E. Coben

6 minute read

November 03, 2023 | The Legal Intelligencer

In the post-COVID era, courts and litigants have been inundated with motions seeking summary judgment based upon the argument that the manufacturer was not duty bound to design its product more safely than it did. While each case must be decided based on the facts presented, there are some overarching legal precepts that govern this analysis.

By Larry E. Coben

11 minute read

November 02, 2023 | The Legal Intelligencer

Every motorcycle manufacturer has known for decades of the safety importance of including a headlight system which provides important visual cues to other motorists to minimize cross-over collisions.

By Larry E. Coben

11 minute read

August 25, 2023 | The Legal Intelligencer

Congress does in fact have the authority to address the conduct of those sitting on the Supreme Court and it should enact ethical rules governing their personal conduct which implicates their impartiality.

By Larry E. Coben

5 minute read

August 08, 2023 | The Legal Intelligencer

Currently pending before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is the question whether in the defense of a product defect case, the manufacturer or seller may introduce evidence that its product was designed or manufactured to meet industrywide customs and practices or applicable government standards.

By Larry E. Coben

8 minute read

August 04, 2023 | The Legal Intelligencer

In this moment in time, the perplexing issue raised by this appeal is why shouldn't a nationwide corporation be subject to personal jurisdiction in each state in which it decides to obtain the benefits obtained by registering to do business and carrying out continuous and substantial business—regardless of the state in which the harm has arisen?

By Larry E. Coben

6 minute read

June 05, 2023 | The Legal Intelligencer

The nature and extent of design work (and discussions among engineers and other corporate employees) who have been working on issues related to product safety are also pertinent to establish "state-of-the-art," or "state-of-the-industry" in the design, construction and testing of the same or similar products.

By Larry E. Coben

12 minute read

April 06, 2023 | The Legal Intelligencer

To help understand and appreciate the steps required to develop and try a products case using the RBT, we provide this account of a recently litigated defectively designed helmet case.

By Larry E. Coben

8 minute read