Product Liability - Catastrophic Injury
Cliff Shapiro obtained a settlement of 1.175 million dollars for a twenty-one year old man who was blinded in one eye as a result of an accident involving a defective platform hoist. On his first day of work for a roofing contractor the cable wire of a platform hoist snapped, struck his eye and ultimately blinded him. Cliff was able to secure a settlement with the manufacturer of the platform hoist, the manufacturer of the cable wire and the plaintiff's employer, the roofing contractor.
Cliff demonstrated at settlement mediation, that the platform hoist was defective and that the manufacturer's design of the product did not meet the American National Safety Industry (ANSI) standards. Throughout the litigation, the defense had claimed that the ANSI standards did not apply to the platform hoist involved in the accident and in a motion to dismiss the case, submitted an affidavit from the manufacturer's engineer swearing to that fact. To dispute this at the mediation, Cliff produced the same manufacturer's subsequent instruction manual for the hoist which contained warnings virtually identical to the ANSI standard, thereby destroying the defendant's argument and credibility. This went a long way to convincing the defendants to settle what turned out to be one of the largest settlements obtained in Westchester County for loss of vision of one eye.