Kathleen Hamilton and Bradley Zaffiri recently obtained summary judgment for a client in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Missouri (Timothy Farkas v. Overton Industries, Inc., et al; No. 4:17-CV-761 RLW).

Plaintiff alleged that he suffered an amputation to his hand while operating a tube-forming machine as part of his employment with a metal tube fabricating company in St. Louis, Missouri. He filed a suit for personal injuries against HeplerBroom’s client, which manufactured an interchangeable component part later incorporated into the tube-forming machine. Because the part manufactured by HeplerBroom’s client was not defective and was not designed specifically for use in the machine at issue, summary judgment was entered in favor of the client. (Missouri law does not impose liability on the manufacturer of a non-defective component part when the end product was designed, assembled and sold by other entities.)

Both Hamilton (a partner) and Zaffiri (an associate attorney) work in the firm’s St. Louis office and focus their practices on complex tort litigation, including the defense of personal injury matters.