Claire Weglarz Obtains Judgment Dismissing Plaintiff's Case

August 28, 2012 (Los Angeles, CA) – Claire Weglarz obtained a judgment dismissing Plaintiff's entire action filed against her product liability client in Los Angeles Superior Court. Plaintiff claimed his toxic encephalopathy and other toxic injuries were caused by his work with metals supplied to his workplace by Hawkins Parnell & Young's client. Judge Malcolm Mackey sustained HPY's client's demurrer without leave to amend, finding that Plaintiff's claims were barred as a matter of law by the raw material supplier defense. In doing so, he held that HPY's client's products did not fit into the "inherently dangerous" exception to this defense. Plaintiff's counsel advocated the position that recent case law created a loophole in the raw material supplier defense by re-defining an "inherently dangerous" product as one which causes injury by mere handling of the product. Agreeing with HPY, Judge Mackey rejected this position.