In the Legal's Products Liability, Mass Torts & Class Action supplement, read about company-generated documents and emails, navigating choppy waters for government contractors and personal jurisdiction in products liability litigation.

The last several years have brought significant developments to Pennsylvania products liability law, ranging from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's decisions in Tincher v. Omega Flex and Lance v. Wyeth to rulings on the scope of evidence in the trial of a products liability case, to the application of the Pennsylvania Fair Share Act to a strict product liability claim

Courts have worked to construct rules for use before and during trial that ensure only true business records—that is, records of regularly conducted activity that carry an air of trustworthiness and reliability—are admitted into evidence, while avoiding admission of day-to-day communications and other documents that cannot be categorized as business records.

Companies contracting with the federal government should be aware that significant changes are likely under the Trump administration in the manner in which the government solicits and funds contracts and the extent to which the government recognizes knowledge of risks related to the goods or services subject to such contracts.

Over the last seven years, the U.S. Supreme Court has rapidly and dramatically altered the landscape of personal jurisdiction law.

After the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued its decision in Tincher v. Omega Flex, the committee appointed by the court to prepare jury instructions issued “suggested standard products liability instructions” (published by the PBI) in an effort to provide guidance to the bench and bar.