Robert M.N. Palmer, and William G. Petrus, The Law Offices of Robert M.N. Palmer, P.C., for Plaintiffs and Steven Soden, Shook, Hardy & Bacon, L.L.P., Attorney for Defendant Ford Motor Company; Lynn C. Rodgers, Hall, Ansley, Rodgers & Condry, P.C., Attorney for Defendant Friendly Ford, Inc.; Michael D. Hufft, Hufft & Maginn, L.L.C., Attorney for Defendant Blackcat Body Shop, Inc., Gary Cunningham, Daniel, Clampett, Powell & Cunningham, L.L.C., Attorney for Third Party Defendant Wieland Designs, Inc.; Stephen Snead, Wallace, Saunders, Austin, Brown & Enochs, P.C., Attorney for Third Party Defendant American Metal Fab, Inc., and Denis Burns, Godfrey, Vandover & Burns, Inc., A.P.C., Attorney for Third Party Defendant Goshen Cushion.

Nancy Shaver, at age 38, and her family were occupants of a 1990 Ford E150 Econoline Conversion Van on November 5, 1994 with Nancy Shaver's sister and her sister's husband and two children. All occupants of the van were wearing the available seat belts with four children restrained in a rear bench seat, two to a seat belt, and Nancy Shaver's eighteen month old niece sharing a lap belt with the child's mother. The van, driven by Nancy Shaver's brother-in-law left the roadway and struck a tree at approximately 25 - 30 mph. All occupants of the van sustained relatively minor injuries except Nancy Shaver and her sister. They were seated in a middle-row of captains seats which failed and bent forward in the collision. Nancy and her sister each struck their heads on the backs of the seats in front of them. Nancy Shaver sustained a severe head injury that required open reduction, internal fixation with evident brain damage; her sister died from very similar injuries sustained in this collision. Nancy Shaver had not received any medical treatment for the period following April, 1995. There was no claim in this suit for the death of her sister, wife of the van's driver.
 

Suit was brought on behalf of Nancy Shaver for her injuries and her husband for his derivative loss of consortium claim. Plaintiffs alleged the captains seats in which Nancy Shaver and her sister were riding were inadequate. Whether the seats, which had the lap belt attached to the seating hardware, complied with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards 207/210 was hotly contested The van in question was sold by Ford Motor Company to a Springfield, Missouri, dealership, Friendly Ford, Inc., as a shell or blank van. Friendly Ford paid Blackcat Body Shop, Inc. to convert the van which was then sold as new off the lot of Friendly Ford. No entity had ever finally certified the vehicle as complying with all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. Plaintiffs claimed that Ford Motor Company was negligent in not overseeing the process by which the vans were converted. Negligence and product defect claims were alleged against the dealership and conversion company.
 

Medical expenses were $185,575.89 to April 1995 (no further treatment).
 

The case settled for a confidential amount on January 11, 2000.