wrote in message
om...
(RH tOWNSEND) wrote in message
. com...
I am in litigation support. I have a project that I hope someone or
everyone on this list might be able to help me since you have
apparently been involved with water well drilling equipment or
involved in the industry. I am interested in any incident at anytime
since 1970 thru current. I am searching for those that were injured or
almost injured because of a falling or flying object. I am seeking
knowledge of incidents wherein injury has been suffered by anyone of a
water drilling crew member by a falling object even through to the
current time. snip

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With or without product liability, people will still be injured and
killed when using any type of mechanism, even fire or a stone axe.

Product liability cases are generally taken on a contingency basis.
This means that a good attorney will carefully examine the
circumstances and will take a case only if it appears the [potential]
plaintiff has at least a plausible action, i. e. the plaintiff is not
primarily responsible for their own injuries and some proximate
assignable cause exists.

While we all like to hate lawyers, it is good to remember that «
product liability » is simply the « iron fist » inside the « velvet
glove » of the invisible hand of the much touted « free market. »

While product liability litigation is perceived to be a major PITA,
never-the-less it appears to be the only way to beat common sense into
individuals, companies and corporations that are too cheap, too stupid
and (mainly) too arrogant to change their products when field
experience clearly indicates an ongoing, immediate and unreasonable
danger.

Without product liability litigation, the direct and consequential
costs of such injuries are born entirely by the unfortunate victims,
their immediate families, and society-at-large, unless traditional «
extra-legal » proceedings such as assassination or extortion of the
parties thought to be responsible occur. There are several problems
with this (other than the moral ones). (1) The vic (or their
representative) is never sure they are getting the party actually
responsible, and in the case of a corporation, « there ain’t
nobody home » to hit. (2) They have to be strong/ruthless enough to
carry out the retribution. (3) Products never or only very slowly
improve. (4) Society-at-large must still absorb most of the
considerable cost because of reduced earnings by and public assistance
to the victims, etc., i.e. revenge rather than compensation is
obtained.

When actual cases are examined, rather then relying on media hype and
sensation, (which should be suspect as most major media outlets are
now owned by mega- corporations) it is clear that in almost all
product liability cases (assuming defendant liability), large
compensatory and consequential damages are only awarded when the
plaintiff is substantially and possibly totally disabled, normally had
and will suffer excruciating pain, and will require around-the-clock
care. == Failure to make such awards does not eliminate the
expenses involved, but simply transfers the costs from the responsible
entity to society-at-large because of public assistance, Medicare,
etc., payments.

Large punitive damages are very seldom awarded the first time a
product liability case goes to trial, unless gross incompetence and/or
egregious/malicious behavior can be proven. Indeed, the responsible
entity generally gets multiple « bites at the apple » before
significant punitive damages are awarded. As the intention of
punitive damages is to « get someone’s attention » these must be
extremely high to accomplish this with companies or corporations with
large incomes. For example, for the typical US adult with 30,000$US
annual income a 5,000$US fine is about 1/6 of their gross annual
income. For a corporation making 10 billion $US per year, the
equivalent prorated amount of 1/6 of annual income would be
1,600,000$US. When parity purchasing power [PPP] (1 additional dollar
to a person making 10,000$ per year is worth much more than 1
additional dollar to a person making 50,000$ per year) is considered,
the award must be even higher to have equivalent perceptive effect. I
am not aware of any product liability case (other than a few class
action suits with tens of thousands of plaintiffs) where such an award
has been made and upheld.

In the case of accidents resulting from water well drilling activities
and/or equipment, it may be there is no product liability exposure,
however if it is like most activities, considerable unnecessary and
avoidable risk exists because of the failure of the equipment
manufacturer and/or owner-operator to remedy known existing faults or
deficiencies and/or apply newly available techniques (such as finite
element analysis) and materials.

The choice is not between costs/expenses or no costs/expenses
resulting from industrial accidents, but *WHO IS TO BEAR THE COSTS*:
Society-at-large and to a smaller extend the victims and their
immediate families, or the individuals and organizations who profited
from the manufacture and operation of the equipment which resulted in
the accidents. Its your choice and your (tax) money.

For the record, I am not a lawyer (and never played one on TV). I
spent 30 years as an engineer and QC manager in automotive and
heavy-duty truck component manufacturing before recycling myself into
academia.

Unfortunately this analysis ignores the billions taken out in the process in
attorney fees as well as the deep pockets concept where the small individual
directly responsible for the accident is bypassed in favor of the larger,
frequently blameless, entity with money. Or the jurors who use the same PPP
concept as you and conclude that the plaintiff was 99% at fault but they
need to be compensated by the "Evil Corporation" since it won't really cost
the EC anything anyway.

I used to work for an insurance claims adjusting firm and I think among my
all-time favorites was the home owner whose three year old thought the
ceiling fan blades going around was fascinating. So the guy holds the kid
up over his head who promptly holds his hand up and gets it broken when the
next blade comes around. Filed a lawsuit, our insured had us settle to make
them go away. Exactly where was the "cheapness, stupidity or arrogance" of
the ceiling fan manufacturer?

Steve.

Who, being from North Carolina, watched John Edwards become an EXTREMELY
wealthy man chasing ambulances, then buy himself a seat in the Senate on a
platform of promises impossible to verify since he had no voting record, who
is now possibly going to become Vice President after spending almost his
entire Senate career running for higher office and STILL not having much of
a voting record and not doing a damned thing for his constituents.