Holdsworth & Inkwell has secured a jury verdict for a manufacturer client in Pennsylvania multi-defendant litigation, with successful fault allocation that kept the client below the 60% threshold under the Pennsylvania Fair Share Act. The result produced several-only liability under 42 Pa.C.S. § 7102(a.1)(3)(iii) rather than joint and several liability for the full damages amount.
The Matter
The matter involved Pennsylvania state court proceedings in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County. The litigation engaged the Fair Share Act's 60% threshold for joint and several liability, with plaintiff strategy focused on concentrating fault on the manufacturer client and defense strategy focused on distributing fault across the multi-defendant structure and to non-party contributors under § 7102(a.2).
Strategic Significance
The verdict reflects the firm's sustained engagement with Pennsylvania's distinctive multi-party defense framework. The Fair Share Act's 60% threshold is the only fault-percentage threshold for joint liability in any modified comparative jurisdiction in the country, and the result demonstrates the operational defense capabilities that the threshold requires: disciplined fault allocation record-building, non-party fault development, and dedicated verdict form motion practice.
The Team
The matter was led by Harvey Specter, Managing Partner of the firm. The verdict form motion practice and apportionment record-building drew on the firm's developed Pennsylvania defense framework, which the firm has refined across multiple Fair Share Act matters since the 2011 amendments.
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