Bruce Raymond Wins Big For Deere - Unanimous CT Supreme Court Overturns Judgment

In Metropolitan v. Deere and Co., the Connecticut Supreme Court unanimously reversed a 2008 trial court judgment for the plaintiff and ordered that judgment enter in favor of Deere & Co. (decision to be officially released on 8-16-11). In doing so, the Supreme Court upheld its function to administer civil justice and also clarified the law of products liability by narrowing the applicability of the malfunction theory in Connecticut product liability cases.

The case involved a claim that a Deere lawn tractor caused a residential fire in 2003. At trial, the plaintiff was permitted to argue to a jury that an unspecified malfunction in the tractor caused the fire. Based on the speculative nature of the evidence, the Supreme Court reversed the judgment and ruled that the trial judge should have directed the verdict for the defendant.

Deere & Co.’s lead attorney, Bruce Raymond of Glastonbury’s Raymond & Bennett LLP stated: “The court recognized that, as a matter of law, the plaintiff submitted no evidence that Deere’s tractor contained any defect at the time of sale. In its decision, the supreme court agreed with our position that the trial court should have directed the verdict for the defense based on our cross examination of plaintiff’s fire experts showing that the causation evidence was speculative - among other factors. It has been a long fight, but we are pleased that our client prevailed in this case. “