Addie M. Willis, Special Administratrix of the Estate of Bobby Willis, Deceased v. Caterpillar Incorporated

CUDAHY, Circuit Judge.

On February 22, 1995, Bobby Willis, then a citizen of Mississippi, was fatally wounded when the forklift he was operating overturned, crushing him. Almost three years later, on February 20, 1998, Addie Willis, the Special Administratrix of Bobby’s estate and also a citizen of Mississippi, filed a complaint in the Central District of Illinois, alleging that Caterpillar Inc. (Caterpillar) had designed, manufactured and distributed that forklift in a latently defective and dangerous condition due to company negligence. Caterpillar, a Delaware corporation with its principal…