 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Thompson v. F.B. Cross & Sons3/22/2002
greater pressurization of the system.
Thompson asserts that through the use of appropriate care and skill commensurate with its experience Cross should have selected a PVC lid with a bolt-down closure device similar to that which it replaced, which would be impervious to abrasion, and designed the new water line system to include a pressure relief valve. The record reflects a material dispute of fact about whether Cross simply replaced the existing system at the NVF plant or whether the components selected by Cross and the reconfiguration of the system by Cross constituted a design change. Accordingly, the Superior Court should not have granted Cross' Motion for Summary Judgment regarding Thompson's claim for negligent design, failure to warn and negligent maintenance/repair.
Duty to Investigate
Thompson's second argument is that the trial judge erred by instructing the jury that, with regard to the claim for negligent installation, Cross had no duty to investigate the nature of the material used in the strainer system. At the request of Cross, the trial judge instructed the jury as follows: "Due to the limited contractual undertaking, F.B. Cross & Sons, Inc., had no duty to investigate the abrasive nature of the liquid in this system. However, the jury may determine that F.B. Cross knew or should have known about the abrasive nature of the liquid in this system." The foregoing instruction by the trial judge was given in the context of Thompson's claim for negligent installation and was based on the previous summary judgment ruling that Cross was not responsible for any design defects.
Cross acknowledges that if it assumed a duty to design, it would also have a correlative duty to investigate the abrasive nature of the liquid in the system. We have already concluded that the entry of summary judgment was erroneous because Thompson's claim of defective design against Cross was a factual dispute for the jury to decide. Therefore, at the next trial, Thompson's claim that Cross breached its duty to investigate the abrasive nature of the liquid in the system should also be submitted to the jury with a proper instruction.
Expert Testimony
Thompson's last two arguments relate to the trial judge's decisions to permit William Daley to testify for Cross and not to permit Alan Levine to testify for Thompson. Both of these rulings involved expert testimony and were addressed to the discretion of the trial judge in the specific factual context of the first trial. We have concluded that this matter must be remanded for a new trial. Therefore, we will not address the merits of either discretionary ruling. We do hold, however, that neither of those rulings shall constitute the law of the case at the next trial.
Conclusion
The judgments of the Superior Court are reversed. This matter is remanded for a new trial.
Page 1 2 3 4 Delaware Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|