Tim Rayne

Pennsylvania Car Accident & Personal Injury Lawyer

Tim Rayne

Pennsylvania Car Accident & Personal Injury Lawyer

Archives for July 2019

Pennsylvania Federal Court Decides Groundbreaking Decision on Liability of Amazon For Dangerous Products

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On July 3, 2019, a panel of the Third Circuit Court decided the appeal of the Pennsylvania Federal Court ruling in Oberdorf v. Amazon.com Inc., a groundbreaking decision in Pennsylvania Product Liability Law.

The Third Circuit found that online retailer Amazon qualified as a “Seller” under Pennsylvania Product Liability Law, making it strictly liable for injuries caused by defective products sold online to Pennsylvania consumers.  This is an important case because in addition to allowing Heather Oberdorf to be compensated for her serious injury, this decision may allow other injured consumers to sue Amazon, or other online sellers, if they are injured by a defective product purchased on the internet.

Nevertheless, the decision may be struck down because the Third Circuit has agreed to hear re-argument of the case En Banc, meaning that the entire Court will hear the case and decide whether the decision should stand or be reversed.  Thereafter, it’s also possible that the case could be heard in the United States Supreme Court.

The Facts of the Case

On December 2, 2014, Heather Oberdorf logged into Amazon.com and typed a search for dog collars.  Her results included a collar that was sold by The Fury Gang, an Amazon third party vendor.  Oberdorf bought the collar through the Amazon website and it was shipped from The Fury Gang in Nevada to Oberdorf’s home in Pennsylvania.

When Oberdorf used the dog collar a few days later, it broke and the retractable collar snapped back and hit her eyeglasses causing them to shatter.  Oberdorf was blinded in her left eye.

Oberdorf tried to sue both Amazon and The Fury Gang, but The Fury Gang could not be located, meaning that Amazon was the only company in the transaction that would be able to compensate Oberdorf for her serious injuries.

Pennsylvania Product Liability Law

Under Pennsylvania Product Liability Law, all members of the stream of commerce, including Manufacturers, Distributors and Retailers, are Strictly Liable for injuries caused by products that are defectively designed or manufactured.  The purpose of Product Liability law is to protect consumers from unnecessary injuries and to incentivize all members of the stream of commerce to only manufacture and sell safe products and to have adequate insurance to cover any injuries caused by defective products.

Amazon’s Defense and the Court’s Decision

Amazon defended the Product Liability claim by arguing that it did not qualify as a Seller but, instead, was more like an auction house acting as the agent for another entity that was the real seller.

Ultimately the Third Circuit decided that since Amazon asserts substantial control over its vendors and had the ability to vet the products and make sure that they were safe, Amazon should qualify as a Seller. In addition, since The Fury Gang had essentially disappeared, allowing a claim to move forward against Amazon was Oberdorf’s only chance at justice.  Because of these and other reasons, the Court found that Amazon would qualify as a Seller and could be sued by Oberdorf under Pennsylvania Product Liability law.

Far Reaching Implications

Since Amazon sells countless products throughout Pennsylvania, this decision has far reaching implications.  If it stands, this ruling will allow injured victims of defective products to sue Amazon as a Seller even if the manufacturer or third party vendor cannot be located or is bankrupt.  Since Amazon has the ability and means to purchase insurance to cover these claims, the net result should be that injured parties will be protected and appropriately compensated when they are injured by defective products sold by Amazon.

Stay tuned to see if the Decision stands after the En Banc appeal and to see whether the case gets heard by the United States Supreme Court!

Tim Rayne is a Personal Injury Lawyer with the Pennsylvania law firm MacElree Harvey.  Tim has law offices in Kennett Square and West Chester Pennsylvania.  For over 25 years, Tim has been helping injured victims of accidents receive fair compensation from insurance companies.  Contact Tim Rayne at 6108400124 or trayne@macelree.com for a Free Consultation regarding your injury claim.  

 

 

 

 

Pedestrian Accident Victim Testimonial

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A pedestrian injured in a Pennsylvania car accident provides a video testimonial for Pennsylvania Injury Lawyer Tim Rayne.

“I don’t think that I could have gotten through this if it wasn’t for Tim. There were so many different times when I thought I can’t do this or I can’t do this alone and Tim was always there to say Let’s just take a step back, do you need to need to come to the office?

I ended working through some of my PTSD issues because of working with Tim.  I don’t think I could have made it through without him.”

Tim Rayne is a Pedestrian Injury Lawyer who helps injured victims of Pennsylvania accidents receive fair treatment and compensation from insurance companies.  Tim has law offices in West Chester and Kennett Square Pennsylvania.  For 25 years Tim has been helping injured accident victims understand their legal rights and has been fighting with insurance companies on behalf of his clients.  Tim offers Free Consultations and can be reached at 6108400124 or trayne@macelree.com.  

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Big Win in Risky Car Accident Case

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It was a risky West Chester car accident injury case and I almost didn’t take it.

The problem with the case was that the Police Officer who investigated it found that my prospective client, Jana, was responsible for causing the crash by turning left in front of the Defendant’s oncoming vehicle.

The reason why I took the case is that the crash took place at a very tricky intersection and Jana had a good reason why she turned left on a solid green light as the Defendant was approaching.

The intersection was tricky for the Defendant in that, as he approached the intersection it changes from one lane to two lanes and the lane he was in quickly became a right hand turn only lane.  So, to go straight through the intersection, he would have had to have switched to the left lane which was the through lane.

Jana told me that when she got to the intersection, she saw the Defendant in the right hand turn only lane and, because of that, she had the right-of-way to turn left.  However, as she turned, he kept coming straight at her in the right hand turn only lane and crashed into her broad-side with the front of his vehicle slamming into the passenger side of her vehicle.

The Lawsuit

Allstate Insurance Company insured the Defendant and, based upon the Police Report and the statement of the Defendant, it refused to pay any compensation to Jana for the concussion and neck injury she suffered in the collision.

Our only choice was to file a lawsuit against the Defendant.

When I took the Defendant’s deposition, he provided testimony that was favorable to Jana’s case.  First he testified that he was not familiar with this tricky intersection and this was the first time he had driven through it in over 10 years.  Second, he admitted that he did not remember changing lanes as he approached the intersection.

This testimony supported our theory of the case which was that Defendant got confused by the tricky nature of the intersection by failing to change to the left lane and accidentally entered the intersection in the turning lane, not the through lane, so the accident was his fault.

Despite the damaging testimony of the Defendant, Allstate did not change its evaluation of the case and continued to refuse to settle the case.

This forced us to take the case to an Arbitration Trial in the Chester County Pennsylvania  Court.

The Arbitration Trial

At the trial, I was prepared with overhead drone photos of the intersection as well as a video showing the tricky approach to the intersection from the Defendant’s perspective.

I called the Defendant as the star witness in my case and he admitted his unfamiliarity with the intersection as well as the fact that all along he had been confused about how the accident happened and where Jana’s car had come from.

We also had post accident photos showing debris on the ground in a spot where it should  have been if the impact had occurred in the right hand turn lane, not the through lane.

Jana herself was a convincing and credible witness.  She testified that she drove the road all the time and was 100 percent sure that the Defendant was in the right hand turn lane as she began her turn and as well as she he entered the intersection and crashed into her.

Ultimately we won the case and Jana got fair compensation for her injuries.

This was a very satisfying case.  Although it was not a high dollar case, I am proud that I was able to prove the Police and Allstate were wrong in their knee-jerk evaluation of the case and I was able to vindicate Jana and get her fair compensation for her injuries.

Tim Rayne is a Chester County Pennsylvania Car Accident Lawyer with MacElree Harvey.  For 25 years Tim has been helping injured victims of accidents receive fair treatment from insurance companies.  Tim has offices in Kennett Square and West Chester Pennsylvania.  Contact Tim Rayne for a Free Evaluation of your accident claim at 6108400124 or trayne@macelree.com.

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