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Product Liability
Taking on the country’s largest manufacturers requires
superior legal skills and technical knowledge. Our attorneys
are ready for the challenge, relying on their decades of
experience in product liability cases.
We have helped consumers hold manufacturers responsible
for injuries and death caused by defective products including
cars, trucks, cranes, pharmaceutical drugs, motorcycles,
asbestos and much more.
Ford, Nissan, Yamaha, Toyota, Hyundai and General Motors
are among the national vehicle manufacturers who have unsuccessfully
defended themselves against our attorneys’ thorough
presentations. Cases have involved products such as defective
fuel systems, seat belts, air bags, roll bars, gear shifts,
wheels and more.
Examples of our firm’s product liability cases:
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Vancil v. Undisclosed
$3.25 million settlement
Plaintiff’s counsel: Paul L. Stritmatter, Keith L.
Kessler
A major national manufacturer failed to include a safety
device on a piece of industrial equipment. The result: a
worker suffered a severe closed-head injury.
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Moore v. International Harvester
$2.7 million settlement
Plaintiff’s counsel: Paul L. Stritmatter, Keith L.
Kessler
Settlement was reached on behalf of a 19-year-old man who
was badly burned.
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Flood v. Proler
Settlement for policy limit
Plaintiff’s counsel: Paul W. Whelan
A
man’s arm was amputated in an incident caused by faulty
equipment at a scrap steel facility.
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Wirth v. Lederle
Confidential settlement
Plaintiff’s counsel: Paul W. Whelan
A batch of DPT vaccine that was “hot,” or stronger
than it should have been, affected several children in the
western U.S. Our young client had a high fever then a seizure
that the doctor couldn’t bring down. The boy suffered
brain damage and eventually, death.
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McWhorter v Burroughs Welcome
Confidential settlement
Plaintiff’s counsel: Paul W. Whelan, Peter O’Neil,
Murray Kleist
Joe Meling of Olympia tainted Sudafed with cyanide in a
murder attempt on his wife. As is common in tampering cases,
Joe attempted to divert attention from the incident by poisoning
Sudafed packages in several regional drugstores. Our client
was the widow of a man who had taken some of that tainted
medication. The defendant drug manufacturer called it an
isolated incident, but many stores in Olympia took the product
off the shelf anyway. A recall was issued only after several
people had died, including our client’s husband. Joe
Meling’s wife survived the attempt on her life and
Joe is serving a life sentence.
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Mazzei v. Industrial Seating, Inc. and Custom Stamping
& Manufacturing
$2.5 million verdict
Plaintiff’s counsel: Paul L. Stritmatter, Brad J.
Moore
Outdoorsman to the core, Richard Mazzei loved his job in
the log yard and spent his free time camping and hunting.
One day he was driving the log stacker he typically operated
when the seat suddenly snapped and broke. As a result, Richard
severely injured his back, causing debilitating pain that
ran down his leg. Two surgeries could not repair the damage.
Richard lost his job and could not be retrained. Paul handled
the liability phase and Brad the damages phase of the trial
against the manufacturers of the seat and the faulty mounting
bracket.
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Barker and Coleman v. Teco, Dana and Columbia Body &
Equipment
$2.45 million settlement
Plaintiff’s counsel: Paul L. Stritmatter, Keith L.
Kessler
Routine tree branch trimming ended in serious injuries for
two Public Utilities District workers. The bucket of an
aerial manlift they were working in fell 35 feet when part
of the hydraulic system broke apart. Both men suffered broken
bones and internal injuries in the fall.
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Horn v. Baxter
Confidential settlement
Plaintiff’s counsel: Paul W. Whelan
We reached a settlement with the company responsible for
contaminated blood products that left our client with Hepatitis
C.
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Howell v. Spokane Blood Bank
Confidential settlement
Plaintiff’s counsel: Paul W. Whelan
A blood transfusion to preserve a life ended in death because
of AIDS-contaminated blood.
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Bonicelli v. Puget Consumers Co-Op
$1.5 million settlement
Plaintiff’s counsel: Reed Schifferman
A woman squeezed an “organic fire starter” onto
charcoal briquettes preparing for a backyard barbecue. When
the charcoal didn’t ignite, the woman tried again.
She heard a “pop” and her hair and clothes caught
fire. Severe burns resulted. Because the manufacturer was
no longer in business, Reed and the legal team persuaded
the court to allow the claim be made against the product
retailers and distributors. The product is now off the market.
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Tobias v. Premier Press Brake and Linemaster Switch
Corp.
$925,000 settlement
Plaintiff’s counsel: Michael E. Withey, Keith L. Kessler
Alberto Tobias was changing tools on a Premier press brake
when his foot accidentally hit a Linemaster switch that
activated part of the machine. His palm was crushed and
he lost three fingers and a thumb. Both manufacturers contributed
toward the settlement amount.
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Richard & Pamela Glubrecht v. Insurance Auto Auctions
& CB Equipment
$1.2 million settlement
Plaintiff’s co-counsel: Keith L. Kessler, Paul L.
Stritmatter
Richard Glubrecht drove his flatbed tow truck to the defendant’s
wrecking yard to unload a vehicle. He brought a forklift
into position, set the parking brake and, started to remove
chains holding the wrecked car in place. The forklift had
a faulty parking brake and rolled, injuring Richard. With
Paul and Keith’s effective and intense case preparation,
Richard won a favorable settlement.
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Harp v. Bradshaw Asia, Ltd., et. al
$700,000 settlement
Plaintiff’s counsel: Brad J. Moore
The metal hook of a tie-down cord ripped into the plaintiff’s
eye, resulting in permanent loss of vision. The cord had
been used to secure camping equipment in the back of a pickup.
The metal hook slowly bent straight, whipping across the
bed of the pickup and slashing into the plaintiff’s
eye. For less than a penny, the manufacturer could have
used a stronger hook more resistant to straightening - and
this horrific event would have never occurred.
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