Larry E Coben

January 23, 2023 | The Legal Intelligencer

The slope can be slippery between product testing to prove how an incident occurred and testing to illustrate performance of a product or relevant scientific principles. It requires very careful analysis of what testing will be helpful to illustrate relevant principles.

By Larry E. Coben

7 minute read

December 09, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

Strict liability in tort is a principled doctrine that recognizes the obligation of product manufacturers and sellers to only market nondefective products. That responsibility must extend the right of recovery to anyone who is harmed by a flaw in the product.

By Larry E. Coben

9 minute read

November 07, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

Time will tell whether Pennsylvania's jurisprudence stays the course or joins the pack allowing the defense of strict products liability cases to converge with negligence actions, and morph the well-reasoned approach followed in Tincher into a trial based upon proof that the product manufacturer did what others do—a principle rejected years ago.

By Larry E. Coben

11 minute read

August 05, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

In Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway, 266 A. 3d 542 (2021), the court ruled that courts cannot hear an out-of-state claim in Pennsylvania based upon the foreign corporation's registration to do business because registration was coerced by statute rather than a voluntary agreement to subject itself to the general jurisdiction of our courts.

By Larry E. Coben

11 minute read

June 06, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

The manufacturer rather than the consumer is responsible for including available and safely designed safety systems to mitigate or avoid foreseeable accidents.

By Larry E. Coben

9 minute read

May 09, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

When a third-party action is filed, the plaintiff ordinarily seeks to recover the cost of medical care but the defendant argues that the plaintiff is not entitled to recover the amount of the medical bills and it often argues that it should be allowed to tell the jury who has paid these bills.

By Larry E. Coben

4 minute read

April 07, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

Our courts have made it abundantly clear that comparative negligence (i.e., possible contributory negligence of a plaintiff) is not a defense to a strict liability claim.

By Larry E. Coben

8 minute read

March 03, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

If a defendant is found strictly liable to the plaintiff for marketing a defective product, then it is liable to the plaintiff for the entire verdict—even if the accident was caused by another.

By Larry E. Coben

3 minute read

January 27, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

The commonwealth of Pennsylvania is the target of the marketing and sale of millions of products every year. A large segment these products are designed and fabricated by corporations residing in other states or other countries.

By Larry E. Coben

4 minute read

January 11, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

When bus and train manufacturers market their vehicles without providing the purchaser with the option to use a safe restraint system, why shouldn't they do so at their financial peril? After all, isn't that what it has done to the students and train passengers who get on board every day?

By Larry E. Coben

12 minute read