"LWG" wrote in
:

I don't want to get in the way of a really good rant, but can we put a
little finer edge on this?

For all the idiotic decisions out there, whether against Cessna,
Lycoming, Parker-Hannefin or even McDonald's, there was some guy on
the other side arguing his heart out saying "My client did nothing
wrong, and its product met all of the applicable legal standards." He
was left sputtering and every bit as outraged as the writers in this
thread when the jury came back awarding millions against his client.

In cases that are settled, the companies pay because they have a
damned good idea of what a jury is going to do if it watches the
grieving widow or listens to the burn victim describe his treatment,
regardless of how well-made or well-engineered their products were.

There are *some* lawyers who manipulate gullible and sympathetic
juries to the detriment of society, especially general aviation. The
system, including the trial process, legislatures (i.e. lawyers who
write laws) and the judiciary (i.e. former lawyers who think they are
little legislatures) has become malignant, destroying the body that
gave it life. But like a malignancy, there is the rest of the body --
lots of decent, hard-working, intelligent and right-minded people who
are trying like hell to stop the spread of the disease.

"Matt W. Barrow" wrote in message
...

You left out the attitude of some jurors who say "It's only the
insurance companies money." That adds to the sympathy the jury already
feels toward a badly injured victim.

Many years ago I was on a jury where an oversized passenger refused to
wear a seatbelt on a commuter flight. At first the Captain told her to
leave the aircraft and called the police to remove her. When the police
arrived, she agreed to wear the seatbelt and promised to obey the Captain's
instructions. They let her stay. Other passengers testified that during
the take off roll, she removed the seat belt and bragged to them that the
Captain didn't know what he was talking about, seat belts weren't
necessary. Near their destination, the Captain informed all passengers
that there was expected moderate to severs turbulence and asked everyone to
ensure their seatbelts were tightly fastened. The other passengers
testified that they pleaded with this passenger to put on the seatbelt, but
she refused. The aircraft hit severe turbulence. She was thrown into the
air and crashed to the floor of the aircraft, breaking two ribs, an arm, a
leg, and also had a skull fracture. Of course she sued the airline. The
forelady of the jury wanted to give her much more than the suit was for
becase "It's only an insurance companies money." I don't know what
eventually happened, as it ended in a hung jury. One other juror and
myself refused to give her a penny. We felt sorry for her for the injuries
she had suffered and the medical bills she incurred, but she did it to
herself.

--
Marty Shapiro
Silicon Rallye Inc.

(remove SPAMNOT to email me)