Goldberg Segalla’s Kenneth M. Alweis and Lisa M. Robinson, members of the firm’s Retail, Hospitality, and Development and Product Liability Practice Groups, obtained a defense verdict for a national retail sporting goods chain in a multimillion-dollar product liability trial involving an all-terrain vehicle/utility task vehicle (ATV/UTV) rollover.

The 47-year-old plaintiff in this federal court case was driving a UTV on a public road with her 10-year-old daughter as a passenger at the time of the incident. The plaintiff sustained a tibia/fibula fracture that required five surgeries. She brought a product liability action against the manufacturer of the UTV and the distributor, our client, asserting improper and misleading instruction in the use of the product.

After discovery, motions to preclude the plaintiff’s’ expert and motions for summary judgment were filed. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York granted the motions to preclude the expert witness and dismissed all of the causes of action except the plaintiff’s failure to warn cause of action.

The jury trial was held in Binghamton, NY. In his closing argument, the plaintiff’s counsel asked the jury for several millions of dollars in damages, as well as punitive damages.

Following a seven-day trial, and after less than four hours of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict of no cause against both defendants.