On June 5, the Buffalo Law Journal published its Product Liability issue, highlighting firms in the Western New York area who represent clients on both sides of product liability cases. The Buffalo Law Journal spoke to James T. Scime, a senior partner in Lipsitz Green Scime Cambria’s Accidents and Personal Injury Department, about the firm’s Product Liability Practice Area and representing plaintiffs in these cases. The full story can be found on the Buffalo Law Journal website.
Representing clients in product liability cases
Lipsitz Green Scime Cambria represents plaintiffs in product liability cases. “Products are safer because of what we do,” Mr. Scime told the Law Journal. “Workplaces are safer; machines are safer.” Mr. Scime also told the Law Journal that minor injuries generally do not result in product liability lawsuits. He explained that clients would rather be healthy than need to hire an attorney and file a lawsuit.
The Buffalo Law Journal reports that, in product liability cases, having expert witnesses is becoming increasingly important and they are more frequently consulted on both sides of many cases. Mr. Scime explained that these expert witnesses can make product liability cases more expensive. “If someone is seriously injured, they didn’t hit the lottery,” Mr. Scime told the Law Journal. “They would give everything back to be made physically whole again.”
New York State product liability laws
Mr. Scime told the Buffalo Law Journal that he sees the product liability law in New York State as fair. “I wouldn’t say, as someone who represents claimants, that it overly favors plaintiffs,” he said. “We do have a burden of proving that it’s not reasonably safe.”
Reasons for product liability lawsuits
There are different kinds of defects that can cause a product to malfunction, Mr. Scime told the Law Journal. “There are defects in design and there’s a defect in manufacturing,” he explained. “There are also questions on whether the warnings, if any, are adequate.”
Mr. Scime explained that he has had many conversations with prospective clients where they explain that they would not ordinarily sue someone. He told the Law Journal that these suits are “nothing other than putting the financial burden of injury where it belongs: on the responsible party.” He went on to say, “If an injured person is the sole cause of their injury, then they’re responsible. I don’t think there’s anything wrong philosophically, or from a societal standpoint, on placing the financial burden on those responsible for causing the injury if, in fact, it’s the result of a defective product.”
About James T. Scime
Mr. Scime, a senior partner in Lipsitz Green Scime Cambria’s Accidents and Personal Injury Practice Area, is widely recognized as one of Western New York’s most skilled and respected attorneys. In fact, many local attorneys refer matters to him when their clients have sustained serious injuries. Over the course of his career, Mr. Scime has helped thousands of people recover financial awards for injuries they have sustained.
