Massachusetts Supreme Court ICC bumper jack failure case

Case law on expert testimony scope. Man jacking truck by ICC bumper, bumper welds broke without frame deformation. Tom's testimony (defective welds based on Lincoln Electric reference) was challenged at the Massachusetts Supreme Court; ruling established what a welding expert may say in MA courts.

I've been on this a number of times. One case went to the Supreme Court of Massachusetts 35 years ago, where I testified. This guy was jacking up his truck to do some work, and he was using the ICC bumper — which is the thing on the back so when a car runs into it, it doesn't go under the truck. The ICC bumper had failed. He was jacking by the ICC bumper, and it just lifted straight up — no bending of that little three-sided frame steel. The welds broke. All we had was a lousy little Polaroid photo from years before, no other evidence. I told the jury that the welds were defective, and the other side took it to the Supreme Court of Massachusetts saying I couldn't say that. But I had the reference from the Lincoln manual that says any properly made weld in mild steel will outpull the metal for any direction, size, or load on a weld. So that's the ruling — case law in Massachusetts on how much an expert can say.