In a design defect case, expert testimony is required and necessary, particularly because the question of causation is beyond the common knowledge and experience of an average jury.

The plaintiff fell from a stepladder that he purchased from Home Depot. The record revealed that the ladder was manufactured by a separate entity. The plaintiff was using the ladder to clean his home’s rain gutters, which he had done twice per year since the date of purchase. The plaintiff never noted any ladder instability in the two years leading up to the fall. On the date of the accident, the plaintiff ascended and descended the ladder approximately 15 times without issue. He then fell from the ladder as he was stepping upwards, while reaching for the gutter with his left hand and holding a bag of leaf debris in his right hand. In support of his case, the plaintiff relied upon an expert in an attempt to show that the ladder design was defective. The defendants moved for summary judgment, arguing that the plaintiff failed to establish a prima facie case of a design defect because the plaintiff’s expert’s report: (1) was void of an opinion that the ladder was defective; and (2) assuming the ladder was defective, failed to explain that the defect was the cause of the accident. The District Court found that summary judgment was appropriate as the plaintiff failed to proffer the requisite expert testimony regarding the alleged design defect. The court held that in a design defect case, expert testimony is required and necessary, particularly because the question of causation is beyond the common knowledge and experience of an average jury. Without such an expert, a jury would be left to speculate as to causation. Summary judgment was granted in favor of the moving defendants on the design defect claim.

_{Case Law Alerts, 2^nd Quarter, April 1, 2016}

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