Exam 6: Strict Liability and Product Liability

Should plaintiffs be able to recover from cigarette manufacturers for smoking-related illnesses? Are there variables that should affect the manufacturers' liability? What are they? What effect should the warnings on cigarette packages have on the outcome?

A wholesale distributor who is named in a product liability suit based on strict liability could avoid liability if:

The doctrine that imposes liability on a seller of a product only if the seller sold the defective product directly to the injured party is known as:

Strict liability does not require the injured person to prove that the defendant breached a duty of care.

Bob is at the Boston Biceps Bodybuilding Club riding an exercise bike.Bob wants to change the channel on the television that is mounted high on a nearby wall.He reaches for the remote control device and finds that another member has accidentally taken the remote control and left behind a cellular phone.Bob drags the exercise bike over to the television.He stands on the seat of the exercise bike in order to reach the television,but the seat post breaks and Bob falls to the floor.Bob is injured and cannot control his temper.He puts his entire 170 pounds into destroying the bike and throws it across the room against the wall,breaking off several pieces,with the handlebars landing on the running track.Half an hour later,another patron,Randy,trips over the handlebars as he is running on the track and is injured.Randy and Bob both sue the manufacturer and the health club under products liability for their injuries.Discuss their cases.

Under comparative negligence,if a plaintiff is found by the jury to be 25 percent negligent and the damages are $400,000,the plaintiff would only recover $300,000.

A seller is being sued by a buyer under a strict liability theory for having sold a defective widget.Which of the following facts would not be beneficial to the seller's defense?

Failure to provide adequate instructions for the safe assembly of a product is a defect.

What is the significance of a "defect" in a products liability case based on strict liability?

In order to recover in a products liability case based on strict liability,the plaintiff must prove that the product had a defect:

Which of the following best describes a defect in packaging under products liability?

Which of the following could not give rise to a strict liability in tort action for products liability?

Under comparative negligence,if a plaintiff is found by the jury to be 25 percent negligent and the damages are $100,000,the plaintiff would only recover $25,000.

If a manufacturer produces a defective product,sells it to a wholesaler,who sells it to a retailer,who sells it to a consumer,who is injured,which parties in the chain of distribution are potentially liable under strict liability?

The crashworthiness doctrine requires that vehicles be designed to take into account the possibility of a second collision.

In considering whether a product contains a defective design,the courts will consider the following except:

A seller who conceals a defect in a product,but who does not affirmatively misrepresent the quality of the product,cannot be sued for intentional misrepresentation.

To be successful in a negligence cause of action,the plaintiff must prove that the defendant breached a duty of care that caused the plaintiff's injuries.

Because strict liability is a tort doctrine,privity does not apply,so that even bystanders can recover under strict liability.

Under the judicial philosophies developed in the area of product liability: