New Jersey Attorney Secures Summary Judgment for Fastener Supply Client

New Jersey attorney Tobin (Tobey) A. Butler successfully obtained summary judgment for a fastener supply company client in a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey that involved catastrophic and permanent injuries.

Plaintiff claims he was working on a roof in Bridgeton, New Jersey when a bolt broke from a device that secured him to the roof. Plaintiff fell 37 feet to the ground and landed on crushed concrete and was later airlifted to a trauma center in Camden, New Jersey. He later required multiple surgeries, including a spinal fusion.

Plaintiff and his spouse sued multiple defendants involved in the manufacture and the supply of component parts for the device. It was discovered that the Plaintiff was improperly utilizing the device as a fall arrest, and the bolt that had broken was supplied by the fastener supply client.

After engaging in extensive discovery over a period of several years, Tobey first successfully challenged the opinion of Plaintiff’s expert witness pursuant to the standards established by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. After striking Plaintiff’s expert report, Tobey motioned for and obtained summary judgment by arguing that the fastener supply client had no liability to Plaintiff under the New Jersey Products Liability Act and that Plaintiff could not establish liability without an expert opinion.

The matter has been appealed and will be sent to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit where Tobey will continue to defend the fastener supply company client.

Tobey practices out of the Cherry Hill, NJ office. He focuses his practice on products liability, medical and non-medical professional liability, wrongful death, premises liability, automobile negligence and toxic tort.