Won affirmance from the Montana Supreme Court of a trial verdict for Ford in a product liability case.

WTO successfully defended the appeal of a product liability case before the Montana Supreme Court. The case involved a fatal car accident in which an admittedly negligent driver hit the plaintiff's rented Ford Explorer at high speed. The plaintiff's theory was that Ford should have made some of its optional safety equipment standard at the time of the accident and that its failure to do so made the Explorer defective, even though Ford's new technology was not available in any other manufacturer's vehicles at the time. After the jury returned a verdict in favor of Ford, the plaintiff appealed.