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Originally posted by Shape Shifter
You can read about the case here: http://www.monkeytime.org/lakey.html (spree: a collection of excerpts on the case from the Raleigh News & Observer). Experts had little to do with the case. I think the jury was persuaded mainly by the fact that so many other people had been killed/maimed in similar accidents, which could have been prevented by simply putting some fucking screws in the fucking drain cover.
I linked this not because I wanted to discuss Edwards' merits as a trial lawyer (by all accounts, he was really, really good). I found it interested that Drudge posted this story with the linK "SHOCK: Little Girl Disembowled by Pool Drain" (or something like that). Trial lawyers are a favorite target of Drudge and his ilk, and yet they are SHOCKED when someone gets maimed by a defective product.
Who should they trust to put an end to this SHOCK? They want smaller government, so Congress/Adminstrative Agencies are out. Pool drain (and other consumer product) manufacturers have proven they can't be trusted. Who is left to make sure little children can play in a wading pool without having their intestines sucked out of their bodies and being fed from a tube in through their chests for the rest of their lives?
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It is pretty clear you have never worked anywhere near a PI lawyer, plus you are preternaturally gullible.
Every products case starts with the PI guy doing a patent search to show how many simple great solutions are out there and the bad manufacturer ignored them because of GREED!!! Of course the fact that there are massive practical problems with the available solutions gets pushed under the rug.
I worked at a firm that had a PI dept. They were asked to speak at a firm meeting. They had just hit on a massive judgement against a hot water tank manufacturer. A 2 year boy was left alone in his basement. The proud parents also stored gasoline in the basement. The little boy started pouring the gas on the floor. fumes came up and the pilot light on the hot water tank ignited the fumes. the boy was horribly burned.
Our white hat guys jumped in. They created the theory that if only the pilot light had a tube extending 10 inches higher, then the American family man could safely ignore his child and not worry about him having access to the gasoline storage areas. It was a bullshit theory, but there it was. Until, in a needle in the haystack document inspection they found a sketch by an engineer of a tube to raise the pilot light. It never went anywhere because you cannot restrict airflow to the pilot light, but so what!! We made zillions. Actually the money came in the month before I made partner
Somehow, I don't see how we helped society.
People want spas and hot tubs and swimming pools. All of those require water to circulate. Manufacturers try to make them safer, but they still have to be workable. Life is unsafe.
