Hurwitz Fine attorneys Dan D. Kohane, Esq. and James J. Crowley, Esq. recently discussed the potential liability surrounding defective Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). These systems promise safer roads, but defective design, faulty software, and inadequate warnings are creating a new frontier of product liability risk for automakers, suppliers, and even fleet operators. As responsibility shifts from human drivers to embedded technology, questions of who is at fault after a crash—driver, manufacturer, or both—are becoming more complex and data driven. This article explores emerging theories of liability for defective ADAS, including design and manufacturing defects and failure-to-warn claims, and offers practical steps companies can take in determining whether ADAS was at fault for an accident. 

Hurwitz Fine P.C. had three courtroom victories in The Harmonie Group’s 2023 Significant Cases Publication.

New York proposes legislation conditioning a foreign corporation’s authority to do business in New York with consent to jurisdiction of the New York courts for all actions against the corporation. Attorney Michael J. Williams explains this proposed legislation and its implications for businesses and claims in his latest legal alert.

In  Nemeth v. Whittaker, Clark, & Daniels, Inc., the New York Court of Appeals overturned a $15 million asbestos verdict, finding plaintiff’s trial proof on causation was insufficient as a matter of law.  This decision took a more stringent approach to assessing the requirements of experts in establishing specific causation between alleged asbestos exposure and the cancer diagnosis.  The First Department recently followed suit in a series of cases, including the vacatur of what was initially a $325 million jury verdict.  No longer will conclusory assertions of experts linking asbestos to mesothelioma and lung cancer provide sufficient proof on specific causation for individual products and exposures.

Product manufacturers and distributors can be relieved of strict product liability in New York from design defect claims where the manufacturer offered the product with an optional safety device and the purchaser chose not to buy it.  Scarangella v. Thomas Built Buses, 93 N.Y.2d 655 (1999).