Judge Wilson Dismisses Claim of Defectively Manufactured Tree Stand

In this Western District of Virginia products liability case, the plaintiff alleged he was injured in a fall from a defectively manufactured tree stand while hunting in Floyd County.  Plaintiff's expert claimed that the tree stand may have been defective because of inadvertent introduction of hydrogen into the steel during manufacturing, but both plaintiff's and defendant's experts agreed that there was not enough evidence for them to conclude with any confidence that this had occurred.  Plaintiff argued that his expert's opinion was not final and requested additional discovery, including discovery of third party manufacturers of the tree stand.  Judge Wilson, however, ruled that plaintiff already had adequate time for discovery and only recently asked for additional time to "finalize" expert opinions after defendant had deposed the expert and moved for summary judgment.  The Court stated: "Experts should not be moving targets whose opinions are constantly changing and being supplemented in order to overcome proper pretrial procedures."

The case is  Bambarger v. Ameristep Inc. No. 7:12cv280 (W.D. Va. Nov. 29, 2013) (Roanoke Division).