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< See All Litigation Support Projects Litigation Support Alleged Failure of a 17-ft. Multi-Use Ladder Client Industry: Legal/Civil Defense Result: Jury verdict for the Defense Plaintiff was seriously injured when a Type-1A 17 Foot Multi-Use Ladder allegedly failed and caused Plaintiff to fall as he was working on the soffit of his home. Defense Counsel came to us to perform structural and material analysis, standards review, and experimentation to confirm or refute Plaintiff’s claim that the subject ladder failed while he was standing on it. We performed basic structural analysis and discovered that the stress required for failure of the subject area was not consistent with the loading conditions at the time of the alleged failure. Plaintiff testified that just before the accident he was standing with his back towards the house and with both hands over head while straddling two ladders with one foot on each ladder. The subject ladder had a maximum rating of 50 pounds higher than that of the non-failed ladder and was located at the higher end of an incline just before the accident occurred. Based on the evidence, we developed a theory that the ladder was damage by Plaintiff as he fell to the ground due to a failure to maintain the necessary 3 points of contact with the subject ladder. This theory was consistent with the observed loading conditions of the two ladders. We tested the theory by attempting to reproduce the damage. A drop test, using sand and two exemplar ladders, was developed to deliver energy similar to that of a person of Plaintiff’s weight. Two tests were conducted with results identical to that of the subject failure. Exemplar ladders failed through pure bending did not demonstrate the same mechanism of failure.

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