Law Commons^™

The Product Liability Of Manufacturers: An Understanding And Exploration, Donald M. Jenkins

Akron Law Review

The beginning point will be an examination of the existing theories of manufacturer's liability namely, negligence, contract warranty and strict liability. For example purposes, Ohio law will be used to illustrate the interpretative development of the law and its application. Ohio is a legitimate jurisdiction for this purpose. It has been a pace-setting jurisdiction in the development of the law and has arrived at the point of accepting the concept of strict liability for defective products. Furthermore, the evolution of product liability law in Ohio typifies the pattern that has occurred or is occurring in a majority of the other …

The Product Liability Of Manufacturers: An Understanding And Exploration, Donald M. Jenkins

Akron Law Review

The evolution and application of product liability law in the past fifteen years represents one of the most dynamic developments in law.

The result of these rapid and violent developments has been to substantially increase the susceptibility of producers to suits by members of the public in direct actions. It was assumed the crest of the wave of expanded product liability was reached with the formulation of the legal principles set forth in Section 402A of the Restatement (Second) of the Law of Torts. However, subsequent court actions proved this assumption to be invalid.

Manufacturer And Professional User's Liability For Defective Medical Equipment, Rosemary Rubin

Akron Law Review

One particular area of product liability, however, has been slow to accept strict liability. In the field of medical devices and equipment the courts seem reluctant to find liability without a clear showing of negligence, whether the defendant is the doctor, the hospital, or the manufacturer of the product. In this paper the focus will be on the emerging law in this area regarding medical equipment made only for use by experts, including nurses, doctors, dentists, anesthesiologists, emergency personnel and hospitals. The discussion will exclude blood and drug cases for these lead to conclusions of their own. The concentration will …

A Case Of Judicial Chutzpah (The Judicial Adoption Of Strict Tort Products Liability Theory), Morris G. Shanker

Akron Law Review

[O]ur courts in discovering strict tort have indeed acted in rather unusual ways: ways which, I believe, can be explained only by realizing that we are dealing with those who have just discovered the gospel, who have just heard a message from on High. Let me give you some specific examples.

Liability For Product Design In Ohio - A First Step Toward Solution, Edgar A. Strause, James H. Hedden

Akron Law Review

This article concerns an area of the law of strict liability in tort which is now emerging from an embryonic stage in Ohio - namely, a manufacturer's liability for conscious design choices in developing its product. It is the thesis of this article that in the recent case of Temple v. Wean United, Inc., the Ohio Supreme Court has taken a major step toward a solution to the inherent difficulties in passing judgment upon the reasonableness of a manufacturer's conscious design choices. In doing so, the court has simultaneously lessened the otherwise open-ended exposure of manufacturers to liability concerning …

Product Liability - Can It Kick The Smoking Habit?, William Kepko

Akron Law Review

This comment, divided into two major sections, will review the reasons for past inability to collect damages from the tobacco industry and explore possible theories of recovery that may be advanced in the new round of pending litigation.

A New Private Action In Products Liability: Swenson V. Emerson Electric Co., Stephen Griffin

Akron Law Review

By the late 1960's, statistics revealed that a total of twenty million people were injured or killed annually in consumer product-related accidents. Congress reacted by establishing a committee to investigate the adequacy of consumer protection against unreasonable risks caused by hazardous household products. This committee concluded that producers of hazardous products are in the best position to safeguard consumers against injury, but found that many producers lacked motivation to engage in meaningful self-regulation. Consequently, they recommended the creation of a federal regulatory agency.

Congress responded by enacting the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), and by establishing the Consumer Product Safety …

Cipollone V. Liggett Group, Inc.: A Preemptive Lucky Strike?, Christopher J. Gagin

Akron Law Review

The gravamen of this casenote will focus on the Court's preemption analysis. Included in this examination will be the legislative and economic forces underlying the Court's conclusion that the 1965 Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act does not preempt all state common law tort actions against cigarette manufacturers.