Law Commons^™

Products Liability Tort Reform: Why Virginia Should Adopt The Henderson-Twerski Proposed Revision Of Section 402a Restatement (Second) Of Torts, Peter Nash Swisher

University of Richmond Law Review

Over the past three decades, literally thousands of American products liability judicial opinions have explicitly referred to, and analyzed, section 402A of the Second Restatement of Torts. At least thirty-four states have judicially adopted section 402A, and

five other states have passed specific statutes adopting the section.3 Since the landmark products liability case of Greenman v. Yuba Power Products,Inc.4 in 1963, at least forty-five states have now adopted some form of strict liability in tort remedy in American products liability actions.5 Only Virginia and four other states do

not recognize a strict liability in tort remedy applied to state prod- …

Virginia Law Of Products Liability, Thomas W. Williamson Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

When the history of Twentieth Century America's jurisprudence is chronicled, a prominent chapter will be devoted to the rise of product liability law. At the beginning of the century, a person injured by a defective product usually had no recourse against either the product's seller or manufacturer. By 1970, the barriers obstructing recovery had been dismantled and it was generally accepted that a seller or manufacturer of a product would be strictly liable to anyone injured by the defective condition of the product.

Virginia Should Adopt Strict Tort Recovery In Products Liability, John P. Rowley Iii, Sally Y. Wood

University of Richmond Law Review

Since World War H, revolutionary changes have overtaken the American law of products liability. Such changes have been in response to the increase in consumer injuries resulting from defects in sophisticated products mass-produced by sophisticated manufacturing processes. This has occurred during a time of increased litigiousness and general awareness of the need for consumer protection. Accordingly, products liability suits have multiplied, and the legal theories used to determine the outcome of such suits have similarly been in an era of dramatic transition. Such legal changes have significantly affected both tort and warranty law across the country. Until 1960 products liability …

Caveat Emptor To Strict Liability: One Hundred Years Of Products Liability Law, Emanuel Emroch

University of Richmond Law Review

The development of the law of products liability is historically related to industrial growth, business and economic expansion, and the growing demand over the years for consumer protection. As the industrial system has come of age and man has begun to make excursions into outer space, the ancient principle of caveat emptor-"let the buyer beware" has been significantly changed in favor of the consumer. As we emerged from the ancient mercantile society, where the seller and buyer usually met and bargained, to an impersonal market characterized by corporate organization, industrial and technological advancement and complexity, and sophisticated marketing and finance, …