Limiting Consumers' Recovery in Products Liability Lawsuits

Strict products liability is a legal doctrine that imposes liability for personal injury and property damage caused by defectively designed or manufactured products. The manufacturer or seller of such products is held responsible if the product injures a consumer who buys or uses the product.

Public Policy Considerations Underlying Strict Products Liability

Products liability deals with personal injury and property damage caused by products that are defective due to a design or manufacturing defect. Strict products liability is a legal doctrine that holds a manufacturer or seller responsible for making or selling a defective product, regardless of fault, if the product injures a purchaser or user or his/her prope

Breach of Warranty

Products liability law covers personal injury and property damage that occurs when a defective product is used. A product is defective if its design makes it dangerous, if it was improperly manufactured or if the manufacturer failed to warn of the product's dangers. You may be able to recover damages if you are injured while using a defective product. There are three theories of products liability: strict liability, negligence, and breach of warranty. This article covers a manufacturer's liability for breach of warranty.

The Bioterrorism Act of 2002

After the terrorist acts that caused the collapse of the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001, the U.S. Congress passed The Bioterrorism Act of 2002. The full name of the law is the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness Response Act of 2002. The main goal of the law is to protect the food supply from bioterrorism. The law also covers drinking water security and controls on dangerous biological agents and toxins. The main provisions of The Bioterrorism Act of 2002 are discussed below.

Apportionment of Liability

The apportionment of liability between multiple defendants in product liability actions varies from state to state. The state laws governing apportionment of liability range from joint and several liability to proportionate liability to various hybrid forms of apportionment. Under the theory of joint and several liability, a plaintiff could recover all of his or her damages against only one of multiple defendants. Joint and several liability was designed to allow plaintiffs to recover from some defendant instead of having to pursue all potential defendants who could avoid liability by blaming the injury on other defendants. Joint and several liability places the burden on the defendant of joining other tortfeasors in an action or risk having to pay for all of a plaintiff's damages alone.