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Locks Law Partner Marc P. Weingarten was recently awarded the most prestigious international award given by the American Association of Justice (AAJ), the national organization of plaintiff trial lawyers. At the Annual Convention of AAJ in San Francisco in July, Marc received the 2009 Jackass Penguin Award from the International Relations Committee and the International Practice Section of AAJ. Although the name sounds odd, the history of this award is quite honored. About 15 years ago, a delegation of AAJ officers visited South Africa to help launch an association of plaintiff lawyers in that country, called the South African Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (SAAPIL). While there, the lawyers visited the beach in their spare time and were quite taken by the delightful little birds indigenous to the area known as jackass penguins. They decided to name the annual international award from AAJ after these little creatures.

Marc P. Weingarten, a partner in the Philadelphia office of Locks Law and Joseph M. McGill, a senior associate in that office recently were successful in the jury trials in Philadelphia state court for two gentlemen who tragically died of mesothelioma. The cases were tried together, in a consolidated manner, before one jury. One man died of mesothelioma at the age of 93 and was awarded $492,000. The other gentleman died of mesothelioma at the age of 63 and was awarded $732,000.

These trials were unique because the only exposure they had to asbestos was in the installation and repair of automobile brakes and clutches. These so-called friction defendants have a scorched earth policy of never settling cases, although in these cases they offered each plaintiff $100,000 to settle before the trial began. The 93 year old victim was able to prove his case against Bendix and the other gentleman proved his case against Borg-Warner.

CNBC reports that the tough economic times have taken their toll on the Repo Man as well. The creditors who hire the repo men have been trying to cut costs, which has led to a decrease in revenue and jobs in the automobile repossession business. Even though delinquent auto loans are at a record high, creditors are desperate to keep present loans serviceable primarily because the values for repossessed cars (and used cars generally) have fallen, just like real estate prices have during this Great Recession.

Partner, Janet Walsh was recently honored by being included in the Irish Voices list of the "75 Most Influential Irish American Women." This honor was bestowed for her contributions to Irish American society and particularly because of her involvement with the Irish American Bar Association of New York and its role in the Irish American community. Janet is a past president of the Association and currently serves on the Board of Directors. Congratulations on this achievement, Janet!

The July 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) contains an article analyzing the 1999 to 2005 death rate from mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung caused by exposure to asbestos. The article is based on a report from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). 18,068 deaths attributed to mesothelioma were reported during that time period, with an increase from 2,482 deaths in 1999, to 2,704 in 2005. The JAMA article recommends that physicians should document the occupational history of all patients who are suspected to have and are confirmed to have mesothelioma.

Jonathan Miller and team have won a victory in the PA Supreme Court upholding strict liability in the case Bugosh v. I.U. North America, Inc..

What is Strict Liability?
In essence, strict liability holds a manufacturer or seller liable for harm done by his product, whether or not he knew or should have known that the product could cause that harm. Strict liability can attach for harm from a poorly designed product, a poorly manufactured product, or the failure to warn adequately of the hazard from the product.

Marc P. Weingarten, a Partner in Locks Law has been elected to a fellowship in the Litigation Counsel of America (LCA). LCA is a trial lawyer honorary society composed of less than one half of one percent of all American lawyers. Fellowship in the LCA is based upon effectiveness and accomplishment in litigation, both at the trial and appellate levels, and superior ethical reputation.

Marc P. Weingarten, a Locks Law Partner, has been reappointed to the International Relations Committee of the American Association for Justice (AAJ). The purpose of this committee is to review and strengthen the relationship between AAJ and trial lawyer organizations of other countries. In addition to being appointed to this committee, Marc is the education coordinator for the International Practice Section of AAJ. In that role, he has arranged for lawyers from England, Holland, Canada, California, and Ohio to make an educational presentation at this year's annual convention of AAJ, to be held in Philadelphia in July. In addition, Marc will be speaking at that program as well, and his topic of presentation will be international litigation concerning Vioxx.

Steve Knowlton recently achieved a multi-million dollar settlement for our client who was severely burned after an automobile accident in which the car she was driving was struck from behind and exploded. The case was brought in 1998 against a major auto manufacturer alleging that the post collision fuel fed fire (PCFFF) was the result of a defectively designed fuel system. Expert analysis of the wreckage of the car revealed that the gas tank was driven into the drive shaft of the vehicle causing it to split and spill gas, resulting in a fire that claimed the lives of three other passengers and caused severe burns to our client, the driver. After nearly eight years of litigation, the review of over 3 million pages of documents, some of which revealed that the manufacturer clearly knew of the risk of this exact automotive defect, and the review of tens of thousands of hours of crash test videos, the auto manufacturer agreed to settle the case---requiring complete confidentiality.

Marc P. Weingarten, a Partner in the Philadelphia and New York offices recently made a presentation to a joint meeting of the Kentucky Justice Association (formerly known as the Kentucky Academy of Trial Attorneys) and the Kentucky Defense Counsel. Marc made his presentation, which was entitled "Strategy of Direct and Cross-Examination of Expert Witnesses" on May 16, 2008 in Louisville, Kentucky and it will be presented again on May 30, 2008 in Lexington, Kentucky. Marc's presentation was part of a day-long seminar to teach lawyers how to try cases. The seminar was called "Trial Strategies and Techniques From Both Sides of the Bar. The concept of this program was unique in that it is one of the few education courses for trial lawyers which is sponsored by both the plaintiff bar as well as the defense bar. Marc used a PowerPoint presentation which was prepared by Philadelphia paralegal Leah Min which included numerous slides as well as a video clip from the movie "My Cousin Vinnie" to demonstrate advanced techniques of direct and cross-examination of expert witnesses. Marc used examples of his thirty-year experience in trying cases before juries to help to teach these members of the Kentucky Trial Bar effective ways of examination. The program in Louisville was attended by over 100 attorneys and it is anticipated that the Lexington program will be equally well attended. In appreciation of Marc' s presentation to this group, a donation was made by the Trial Lawyer Associations to the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation.