On the Pulse…Marshall Dennehey Is Happy to Celebrate Our Recent Appellate Victories*

Defense Digest, Vol. 23, No. 3, September 2017

In an important victory, Terry Sachs (Philadelphia, PA) persuaded the Superior Court to reverse a $38 million punitive damages award against our client. Terry represented a company that provided security services to a Kraft bakery facility where the co-defendant, a suspended worker, shot and killed two co-workers and wounded another. The Superior Court agreed that the trial court had erred by allowing an amendment of the complaint to introduce a claim for punitive damages, particularly after this claim had been previously withdrawn. The court reasoned that this improperly added a new cause of action after the expiration of the statute of limitations. The court also observed that it was an abuse of discretion to permit the punitive damages claim to be added in the middle of the trial. Wilson v. U.S. Sec. Assocs., 2017 Pa. Super. LEXIS 537 (Pa.Super. July 18, 2017).

In another significant win, Terry convinced the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas to grant a substantial remittitur in a case where the plaintiff sustained a partial finger amputation by a defective hydraulic shear. Terry stepped in and worked with trial counsel at the post-trial motion stage. The trial judge agreed to reduce the $15 million verdict to $7.5 million. Reyes v. Cincinnati, Inc., (C.C.P. Phila., July Term, 2014, No. 3744).

*Prior Results Do Not Guarantee A Similar Outcome

_{Defense Digest, Vol. 23, No. 3, September 2017. Defense Digest is prepared by Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin to provide information on recent legal developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. ATTORNEY ADVERTISING pursuant to New York RPC 7.1. © 2017 Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin. All Rights Reserved. This article may not be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm. For reprints, contact tamontemuro@mdwcg.com.}