Petzl, Others Beat Injury Case for Unreliable Expert Testimony

Lack of expert testimony showing product defect doomed a suit against Petzl Co. and others by a man who faulted a bolt in a harness system for his 37-foot fall from a barn roof, the Third Circuit affirmed Wednesday.

The man needed expert testimony to show that the bolt was defective, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit said, rejecting his argument that it was a simple item a juror could readily understand.

The average juror is unlikely to understand the engineering design considerations, metallurgical aspects of the bolt, or the principles of physics at work on the ...