Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
The following blog entry is written to illustrate a common motion filed during civil litigation. Reviewing this kind of filing should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.
(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this brain injury/boating accident lawsuit and its proceedings.)
1. Defendant National not only manufactured the subject boat, but designed, marketed and distributed it to retailers across the nation. National was wholly responsible for decisions relating to the types of warnings, cautionary signs and advisories posted in the boat, and for information distributed to boat purchasers in the boat’s Owner’s Manual.
2. Defendant National, Inc. operated a number of retail sales outlets, and was an authorized dealer in National products. National personnel sold the boat to Defendant White based on his representations about what type of boat he wanted and the uses for that boat. National personnel were also responsible for acquainting Mr. White with the boat, including a basic review of how to operate the boat. National personnel also attended training conducted by National regarding general knowledge of the boat and ways to market the boat. National personnel also advised customers as standard operating procedure that the capacity signs posted in the subject boat were informational only, and that so long as there were sufficient life jackets on board, the operator was not limited to the number of passengers displayed on those capacity signs. National personnel and employees of the National Marine Manufacturers Association, the organization that “certified” the subject boat’s occupancy, have also testified that the occupancy stickers were not warning labels, but informational only.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.
3. The allegations In this case not only involve the facts from the day of the subject incident, but include the design, development and marketing of this boat, including critical decisions made by National relative to passenger and weight capacity. An important issue is the extent to which National and National went to consider consumer expectations with respect to capacity, signage and operation of the boat; the extent of any testing of the boat’s operating characteristics by National; safety standards of care as they apply to design, manufacture, marketing, distribution and consumer education, and the process by which National certified the boat as safe for use when loaded to capacity. (See Part 6 of 8.)
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.