Compairing the lawsuit engines

[nblum]

Alan, what if I told you that someone involved in the case noted that MTH was given three times as much time to present their case as Lionel was given to defend itself? Wouldn't that raise questions as to the judge's decision making?

Your assumption about where I get my knowledge of our system of jurisprudence is mistaken. I don't watch much TV :). My father was a graduate of Columbia University's law school and nationally recognized for his work in the sociology of the criminal justice system ("The practice of law as a confidence game.") My best friend is one of the most successful bankruptcy lawyers on the East Coast. I have served as expert witness and defense witness in several cases. Not to mention occasional contact with patent attorneys and as consultant to either plaintiff 's or defendant's counsel in malpractice actions. So while not expert by any means, I'm not exactly unfamiliar with the system, as well as its strengths and weaknesses.

As I said, the bizarre liability award by the jury is a sign that something very strange probably happened in the courtroom. When a jury makes an award in litigation involving a small percentage of a company's product line that winds up being on the order of magnitude of the total profits of that company, that's a red flag of a miscarriage of justice or that the jury thinks the defendant actually murdered someone and got away with it :).

[garyseven]

Neil,
I take it we won't find "The Practice of Law as a Confidence Game" nor any of your father's works on Oprah's Book Club Suggested Reading List... [;)]
I did read some excerpts from it during nap time. Seriously, you must be very proud.

But as my Uncle Olaf always said, "Never forget, you can learn from the dumbest of people, too."

[Anonymous]

Neil

Typically, the Plaintiff HAS more witnesses as the burden of proof shifts to the Plaintiffs (innocent until proven guilty) So yes the Plaintiff 's portion will usually be much longer than the Defendants. There is less of an issue of time in civil trials as opposed to criminal trials so judges give civil trials whatever time they need to put on their case. In criminal matters, the judge decides the timing and sometimes restricts the state's case by limiting witnesses like multiple police presents , unless the other cop has special evidence that only he could provide.

MTH just needed more time; so NO wrongful issue there! Lionel did not have much of a case and would have preferred if the jury heard much less.. It is a tactic that is used to make a point that MTH's case is not worth responding to in full.

Ok no TV for you. But learning by osmosis is not an acceptable prerequisite for taking a bar exam. Even if the process was via a close relationships. A civil trial is different from a criminal trial. Even though, I haven't read your fathers book on the criminal law process, which is quite different from a civil trial and is played by a different standard of review and burden of proof (99% as opposed to 51%)... Is the book on Amazon??

However, the appeals court will correct any alleged bad acts by the trial judge.

Alan

[nblum]

Like I said I'm certainly no expert but those who are quite knowledgeable and involved have claimed that Lionel was not well served by their attorneys and that the jury's decision is widely at variance with the facts of the case. Obviously I've heard this exclusively from those who believe Lionel was without liability. Civil juries can get it wrong, just as criminal juries can do so, sometimes because they are led down the wrong path by the judge. As you say, if this is the case in this instance, the appeals process will most often deal with it. Certainly it will be a real shocker if the amount of the award stands.

My father's books are mostly out of print but readily available on Amazon used. The essay on "the practice of law as a confidence game" is reprinted widely in the sociology "reader" textbooks currently in use in criminology. As an attorney, sociologist and a critic of the legal profession, the police and the jurisprudence system as a whole he obviously viewed the whole system as considerably less perfect than you do. It will come as no surprise that he was honored frequently by a variety of sociology and criminiology organizations but not by any bar association.[:)]

[Dave45681]

QUOTE: Originally posted by AlanHN

As to the original question of the thread; the parts were copied exactly; so isn't the Shays the same and also the articulated engines??

Alan

Sorry I can't answer the original question, but I will just mention this.

The Shay engines offered by Lionel (back to ~1992) have been three truck models, those offered by MTH (back to ~ 1997, if I recall for the WVP&P model) have been four truck models.

So at least for the Shays, they definitely were not copied exactly or the same.