Hobie Hind will be hosting a NASP Webinar on Thursday, October 26th at 1:00 PM EST. The topic is “The Amazon Conundrum: Developing Litigation Strategies against an Online Company That is Trying Very Hard to not be Responsible for the $150,000,000,000 Worth of Products it Distributes Every Year”.
As society shifts away from the “brick and mortar” retail experience to e-commerce, there has been a sea change in how subrogating insurers must pursue recoveries arising from foreign-manufactured, defective products purchased through online portals such as Amazon.com. Now it can be difficult or even impossible to identify the foreign manufacturer of a defective product purchased through an online portal, and even if identified, the company may not be subject to service of legal process in the United States.
Amazon.com has developed technical legal defenses that the company claims immunizes it from liability despite the fact that it is in the chain of product distribution. This will be a unique webinar done in a “town hall” discussion format where the panelists will define the issues our industry faces with online portals and receive input from the attendees on creative and effective ways that subrogating insurers can overcome the legal challenges we all face.