An appeals court in West Virginia on Friday reversed a $7 million award in a product liability lawsuit against the Ford Motor Co. to the family of a woman who died when her Ford Mustang was involved in a fiery crash.
An appeals court in West Virginia on Friday reversed a $7 million award in a product liability lawsuit against the Ford Motor Co. to the family of a woman who died when her Ford Mustang was involved in a fiery crash.
The West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals sent the case back to Kanawha County Circuit Court for a new trial.
A jury had found that Ford was 99% at fault for the 2016 death of Breanna Bumgarner and awarded the money last year to her Raleigh County family.
Court records show that Bumgarner’s 2014 Mustang was hit by a pickup truck that had crossed the center line on U.S. Route 33 near Spencer in Roane County. The Mustang caught fire and Bumgarner was trapped in the vehicle. The lawsuit also named the 16-year-old driver of the other vehicle and her parents as defendants.
The plaintiff’s attorneys had argued that the Mustang’s brake fluid reservoir was not sufficiently protected from the crash and it led to the fire. The jury found that the reservoir’s design was not safe enough in preventing leakage in the accident.
The appeals court sided with Ford’s contention that negligent design claims require proof of a reasonable alternative design for establishing the existence of a defect, and that the jury should have been properly instructed on the requirement.
The new Intermediate Court of Appeals is creating a more consistent family law across the state.
The state’s new intermediate court of appeals has been active for more than a year now, and its effects are starting to become apparent when it comes to families.
Members of the Joint Standing Committee on the Judiciary heard an update from the new appeals court during interim meetings Monday at the West Virginia Independence Hall in Wheeling.
Intermediate Court of Appeals Chief Judge Daniel Greear said previously the implementation of family law was inconsistent and varied greatly between circuit courts in disparate counties.
“The circuit courts that heard family law appeals in Mon County might have entirely different conclusions than the circuit courts that heard the appeals in Mercer County. Or, Berkeley County might be different than Kanawha County. And they, in fact, were.” he said.
The intermediate court began hearing cases in July 2022 after being created by the passage of Senate Bill 275 in 2021. The three-judge panel hears appeals from family courts as well as other issues including civil cases from circuit courts and worker’s compensation cases.
Greear said before the intermediate court’s creation, appeals went directly to the state supreme court which could not devote as much time to issues of family law.
“We think that one of the most significant things that’s going to happen, that I didn’t anticipate or realize, from the existence of our court is the development of family law in a consistent manner throughout the state,” he said.
Greear says since its inception in 2021, the intermediate court has more than tripled the number of published decisions on family law from 22 to 65.
The Intermediate Court of Appeals of West Virginia will hear three arguments at Concord University this Thursday, Sept. 21 as part of a new judicial educational initiative called ICA On-Campus.
The state’s newest court is taking their work on the road this week.
The Intermediate Court of Appeals of West Virginia (ICA) will hear three arguments at Concord University this Thursday, Sept. 21 as part of a new judicial educational initiative called ICA On-Campus.
The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals regularly hears arguments at West Virginia University and Marshall University, including a tradition of visiting Marshall every few years in mid-September to honor the anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787.
Intermediate Court of Appeals Chief Justice Dan Greear said his court wanted to do something similar but include the state’s other four year institutions.
“We just wanted to share that experience and broaden the students that we can reach with that,” he said. “Students at Shepherd or West Virginia State or Concord or Bluefield State, or wherever, ought to have the same kinds of opportunities if we can do it. We just thought it’d be a much better use of resources to kind of expand the universe of students who are able to see that versus just repeating the same old thing to the same old students.”
Greear said the ICA will host one on-campus argument day during each term of court moving forward – once in the fall and again in the spring. The Chief Justice of the court chooses the venue for each term.
“I got the first pick, and my son graduated from Concord last spring, so that’s why I chose Concord,” Greear said. “Judge (Thomas) Scarr will be chief beginning in January, so it’ll be up to him to choose where we’re gonna go in the spring and fall next term.”
The court invites students to witness the branch of government and observe what happens.
“Hopefully, the prelaw students or students in other majors that relate to the law that might be interested in that will get to come out and see firsthand what happens,” Greear said.
After each argument at Thursday’s hearing, the ICA’s three judges will step aside so students and the public can have a short question and answer session with the attorneys about the cases they argued. After the argument docket is over, the judges will be available informally to answer questions about the judiciary.
West Virginia’s highest courts are hitting the road this month as part of Constitution Day events at Concord and Marshall universities.
West Virginia’s highest courts are hitting the road this month as part of Constitution Day events at Concord and Marshall universities.
The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia will hear oral arguments in Huntington at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 13, at the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center.
The Supreme Court has a tradition of visiting Marshall every few years in mid-September to honor the anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787.
“I’m thrilled to bring the court back to the Marshall campus,” Chief Justice Beth Walker said. “Our last visit was in 2019 before COVID-19, so it’s exciting to resume this great tradition coinciding with Constitution Day.”
Marshall University is named for former U.S. Chief Justice John Marshall. He was the longest serving chief justice in court history from 1801 to 1835.
Concord University will host the West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 21, in the Main Theater. The court will hear three arguments.
The event is open to the public and will allow people to see the inner workings of the court and learn about the legal process.
Three shop students and their teacher from a West Virginia high school are working this summer to build furniture for the new Intermediate Court of Appeals courtrooms.
Three shop students and their teacher from a West Virginia high school are working this summer to build furniture for the new Intermediate Court of Appeals courtrooms.
Herbert Hoover High School in Clendenin won the bid to produce benches, podiums and tabletops for the main courtroom in Charleston and five satellite courtrooms.
The satellite courtrooms in Grant, Lewis, Morgan, Raleigh and Wetzel counties will allow parties to virtually argue cases.
The court was created last year to hear appeals of civil judgments from circuit courts.
The main bench is being made of walnut and will seat up to five judges, while the satellite benches are made of cherry and can be linked to the main courtroom, the Supreme Court said in a news release.
Some members of the Supreme Court and Intermediate Court of Appeals visited the shop this month to discuss details.
The students — Kole Johnson, Josh Stuart and Lane Ramsey — are working on the project during the summer and being paid $15 an hour, the release said.
“You guys wanted them to do the work and they are,” Hoover shop teacher Tim Meyer told the court officials. “They could set up a cabinet shop and make a living at this.”
As of July 1, West Virginia has a new level of courts between Family Court and Circuit Courts and the state Supreme Court of Appeals. The Intermediate Court of Appeals will take some of the Supreme Court’s load and also hear Family Court cases that weren’t always heard by the Circuit Court.
As of July 1, West Virginia has a new level of courts between Family Court and Circuit Courts and the state Supreme Court of Appeals. The Intermediate Court of Appeals will take some of the Supreme Court’s load and also hear Family Court cases that weren’t always heard by the Circuit Court.
The three judges on the court are Judge Thomas E. Scarr, Judge Daniel W. Greear and Judge Charles Lorensen.
News Director Eric Douglas spoke with one of the three judges on the panel, Judge Dan Greear, to find out more.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Douglas: What’s the elevator speech version of what the Intermediate Court of Appeals is for?
J. Alex Wilson
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Supreme Court of Appeals
Judge Dan Greear speaks at the Intermediate Court of Appeals of West Virginia Ribbon Cutting at West Virginia Judicial Tower. June 30, 2022.
Greear: It’s an intermediate level between our circuit courts, and our Supreme Court. Forty one other states have that. We’re the 42nd. In civil cases, at least, that’ll be an extra layer of review, to make sure that the laws are applied properly, that the procedures are followed and that critical cases and issues are heard correctly and ruled on correctly by the trial judges. The Supreme Court will obviously then be able to review our decisions. In some other areas of law, we’re interestingly replacing a level of review. For instance, in family law decisions, currently, appeals from Family Court go to Circuit Court, we will be replacing that level.
Under the current statutes, circuit courts have discretion to hear those appeals. In other words, a circuit judge can look at a petition for appeal, as it’s called, and say, “You know what, that’s just not significant enough, I’m going to deny that petition. And I’m not going to rule on that appeal on its merits. I’m just going to let the ruling stand.” We will issue, by statute, a decision on the merits on each of these.
Douglas: So you will automatically hear any appeal versus the circuit court.
Greear: That is exactly correct. The circuit courts obviously are trial courts, not specifically appellate courts at all. And our trial judges are tremendously worked with abuse and neglect cases, criminal cases, their docket and their caseloads continue to grow larger and larger. So we think taking at least this little piece of what they have to do off of their plate and letting us do it will help them out, at least in some measure, to enable them to focus on their trial court work that they do. Same thing with administrative appeals for administrative agencies with grievances or things, like with public employees and employment disputes. Now all those are coming to us instead of the circuit court.
Douglas: This is the first time West Virginia has an Intermediate Court of Appeals. Where did it come from?
Greear: The need depends on the legislators you talk to, I guess, but let me back up and give you the history. There was a 1974 constitutional amendment passed, that gave the legislature the authority to create this if they desired to do so. So this issue has been around since at least 1974. Obviously, it didn’t happen until 2021. It’s not my job as a judge to state policy reasons for that. But I think there was a desire to ensure that every dispute, not only got heard at the trial level, but had adequate opportunity to be reviewed on appeal. And even in some cases, a second review of that appeal. So I think the view of the legislators was that it was needed to ensure that justice was carried out. And also as I’ve mentioned to take some of the workload off both the circuit courts and the Supreme Court.
Douglas: In theory, the Supreme Court will see fewer cases, because they’ve been handled by the Intermediate Court.
Greear: In theory, any case decision we make could be appealed to the Supreme Court. But in practice, when you look at those other 41 states, the amount of cases that go through the Intermediate Court and then to their next level review, there’s a number of cases that are weeded out, so to speak, in this level. The amount that progressed to the next level are smaller and smaller.
Douglas: Do you have any estimate of how many cases you’ll see?
Greear: A ballpark range is probably 800 to 1000 cases a year, in total that we’ll be seeing. The Supreme Court in some years is heard as many as 1500 or 1600, or generally over 1000. So we’re going to probably be somewhat smaller in number of cases than the Supreme Court.
Douglas: You will see you will hear each of these cases as a panel.
Greear: That’s right. All of the decisions will be made by the three of us. And it’ll either be a unanimous three zero decision, or it’ll be a two to one majority. So we will vote on all the decisions that we make in every case.
Douglas: What are the types of cases you expect to hear?
Greear: Probably the cases that will gather the most attention, and you’ll hear most about in the media are lawsuits disputes between individuals, between companies, between corporations. And certainly, the types of cases that garner political discussion are often big verdicts against big companies.
Douglas: But you expect that the bulk of your cases will be the Family Court.
Greear: Yes, by numbers. And one other major area of case we hadn’t talked about was worker’s comp. In those kinds of appeals, we will replace the Office of Judges. When you look at numbers, the amount of workers comp appeals, family law appeals is probably going to be larger than the civil cases that we hear.
Douglas: I remember hearing just a couple of months ago, you’re going to have virtual or remote hearings?
Greear: We’re tremendously excited about it. We have five satellite courtrooms around the state, in Raleigh, Lewis, Grant, Morgan and Wetzel Counties. They will have closed circuit video, the three of us as judges will be in our Kanawha City courtroom, but somebody from Martinsburg, for example, instead of driving four and a half hours to Charleston, and may be spending the night, can drive a half hour to Morgan County and appear there by video. They will have a big screen and we’ll see them and they’ll see us. And we’ll interact exactly like they were there in person. We’re not requiring it, it’s totally there for their convenience to reduce their expense and make our court more accessible. And we think that’s going to be a tremendous addition to our court.
