How a Lancaster, PA Personal Injury Attorney Took on Ford — and Won

Too often, the role of the personal injury attorney is mischaracterized. Far from ambulance-chasing instigators, the best of them more accurately described as something else entirely- heroes.

Let me explain.

In my community of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a local attorney was hired by a couple after a traffic accident. Their car had spun in bad weather and was struck on the passenger side by an oncoming pickup truck. The wife suffered a severe brain injury.

At first, the case looked like a fairly typical vehicle accident. But as the Lancaster attorney dug deeper, he developed a different theory of what had happened.

The welds at the base of the pillar supporting the vehicle’s roof had failed during the collision. When they failed, the structure struck the wife in the head.

What began as a routine accident case suddenly became something very different — a product liability claim against the auto manufacturer.

The manufacturer defended the case aggressively. It had to. A loss could mean exposure across tens thousands of vehicles with the same design.

The resources on the defense side were enormous: experts, engineers, seasoned defense attorneys from major firms.

But the Lancaster lawyer dug in just as firmly. It was about as close to a modern-day David and Goliath fight as one sees in a courtroom.

At the first trial, the manufacturer won. Many lawyers would have stopped there.

This one didn’t.

He appealed the case to the Pennsylvania Superior Court in Stecher v. Ford Motor Company. The Superior Court ruled in favor of the couple and sent the case back for another trial.

The second time, the jury accepted the Lancaster attorney’s theory of liability. They found the manufacturer responsible and awarded the couple millions of dollars to compensate the wife for her injuries.

Think about what that required.

A single attorney from a small firm in Lancaster taking on a global auto manufacturer with vast resources, teams of experts, and access to the very finest major defense firms.

Over several years, the Lancaster attorney invested thousands of hours into the case. He personally advanced tens of thousands of dollars in litigation costs his clients did not have — money needed for expert witnesses, testing, and preparation.

There was no guarantee of success. No promise of recovery.

He did it because of the commitment he had made to his clients, and because he intended to honor the trust they had placed in him.

I happened to run into the attorney on the day the jury returned its verdict.

He was sitting outside the courtroom with his client.

Exhausted.

Elated.

Heroic.