Products Liability FORUM ARCHIVE
The topic of product liability law arises so often in the media today that some brief explanation of its scope, origins, and impact might prove useful. This short essay is intended to be a primer for those who appreciate the importance of the topic, but would like some guidance on how to think about it more rigorously. . . . Continue reading...
New York Intermediate Appellate Court Says Punitives Not Possible in Tobacco Case By Michael Krauss, 07-23-2008 "No discovery, no parade of expert witnesses, no jury, and loser pays" By Walter Olson, 07-22-2008 Pennsylvania: retreat from strict product liability urged By Walter Olson, 07-22-2008 A depressing book on antidepressants? By Walter Olson, 07-18-2008 New areas for litigation By Carter Wood, 07-16-2008 LeadPaintLawFirm.com By Walter Olson, 07-15-2008 Preemption: Meanwhile, back at the convention By Carter Wood, 07-08-2008 Preemption: The legislative undermining under way By Carter Wood, 07-08-2008 Gourdine v. Crews By Walter Olson, 06-30-2008 Criminalizing asbestos cases By Carter Wood, 06-27-2008 Meanwhile, fear sweeps the Triad By Carter Wood, 06-23-2008 Another Supreme Court Review of Smoker's Suit By Carter Wood, 06-09-2008 Around the web, June 6 By Walter Olson, 06-06-2008 The mass-tort statute of limitation game By Walter Olson, 05-31-2008 Did Merck settle too generously? By Walter Olson, 05-30-2008 Federal Preemption, the Hearing By Carter Wood, 05-15-2008 On the Hill By Carter Wood, 05-11-2008 Hello? May I Speak to the Victim of the House? By Carter Wood, 05-09-2008 MTBE Settlement Despite Lack of Causation and Fault By Michael Krauss, 05-09-2008 Tort Reform Efforts Continue in Oklahoma By Carter Wood, 05-08-2008 Around the Web, May 4 By Carter Wood, 05-04-2008 The Costs of Lead Paint Hype By Carter Wood, 04-29-2008 Bisphenol A: Chemical Industry Defends Itself, Condemned By Carter Wood, 04-27-2008 Warning of Risk is Unavailing to Drug Maker By Michael Krauss, 04-23-2008 Still Waiting for the Congressional Hearings By Carter Wood, 04-21-2008 Thanks for the Invitation By Carter Wood, 04-21-2008 New featured column: Jim Copland on FDA pre-emption By Walter Olson, 04-14-2008 Rose v Brown & Williamson: Plaintiff's Judgment Quashed on Appeal By Michael Krauss, 04-11-2008 "California Supreme Court Adopts Sophisticated User Defense" By Walter Olson, 04-03-2008 Vaccine lawyer subpoenas Kathleen Seidel By Walter Olson, 04-03-2008 Paul Offit in NYT By Walter Olson, 04-01-2008 Pfizer held liable to reimburse cost of non-Pfizer drugs... By Michael Krauss, 03-24-2008 Medical monitoring in West Virginia By Walter Olson, 03-13-2008 AP: "Carpal tunnel cases are plummeting" By Walter Olson, 03-06-2008 Litigating Backwards By Hans Bader, 02-25-2008 Richard Epstein on Riegel v. Medtronic By Walter Olson, 02-23-2008 Momentous USSC decision in Riegel v Medtronic By Michael Krauss, 02-20-2008 Anticonvulsants and suicidality, cont'd By Walter Olson, 02-18-2008 Suicide risk of anticonvulsants? By Walter Olson, 02-06-2008 Altria departs New York... By Walter Olson, 01-31-2008 Paul Offit podcast By Walter Olson, 01-19-2008 Lead paint lawsuit news By Ted Frank, 01-14-2008 Another thimerosal study... By Walter Olson, 01-08-2008 UK government: "Warning: too much information can harm" By Ted Frank, 01-02-2008 Minnesota as the new Madison County By Michael Krauss, 12-11-2007 Lottery Litigation Dept.: Jeff Tamraz welding verdict By Ted Frank, 12-06-2007 A Vioxx settlement question By Walter Olson, 11-24-2007 Chrysler: this time, we need a jury By Walter Olson, 11-23-2007 Product redesign in the New York courts By Walter Olson, 11-20-2007 $60 Million Damages Award to Sleepy Driver Overturned By Michael Krauss, 11-08-2007 Defense verdict in Thomas case By Walter Olson, 11-06-2007 Non-Manufacturer Owes Duty to Product Consumer, says Federal Court By Michael Krauss, 11-02-2007 Riegel v. Medtronic By Ted Frank, 11-02-2007 Wacky Tobacco By Ted Frank, 11-01-2007 "No alarm on Wall Street over Wyeth case" By Walter Olson, 10-29-2007 Electronic fetal monitoring in the WSJ By Walter Olson, 10-28-2007 Antivaccine mythmongering By Walter Olson, 10-22-2007 Medtronic recall litigation on the horizon By Ted Frank, 10-16-2007 "On vaccines, immune to reason" By Walter Olson, 10-13-2007 New featured column: "Courts thin out lead paint lawsuits" By Walter Olson, 10-05-2007 Nagareda, "Mass Torts in a World of Settlement" By Walter Olson, 10-01-2007 Around the web, September 28 By Walter Olson, 09-28-2007 Rhode Island: paint cos. should pay $2.4 billion for cleanup By Walter Olson, 09-18-2007 WLF on alcohol advertising suits By Walter Olson, 09-15-2007 Emily Bazelon on personal responsibility By Ted Frank, 09-10-2007 Trucking on down to Marshall, Texas By Walter Olson, 09-10-2007 In Defense of Off-Label Drug Use By Michael Krauss, 08-31-2007 Toy recall and medical monitoring By Walter Olson, 08-23-2007 Reaction to Trial Lawyers Inc. lead paint report By Walter Olson, 08-09-2007 Ohio product liability veto undone By Walter Olson, 08-03-2007 Settle? They'da been goners By Walter Olson, 07-29-2007 No Injury Consumer Protection Class Actions By Moin Yahya, 07-19-2007 "Consumer Class Actions Usurping Personal Injury Claims" By Walter Olson, 07-19-2007 MMR vaccine scares By Walter Olson, 07-17-2007 Pharma "litigation for all, and safety for none" By Walter Olson, 06-24-2007 Nigerian copycat tobacco suits By Walter Olson, 06-20-2007 Autism omnibus trial under way By Walter Olson, 06-19-2007 Wrongful Death By Plaintiffs' Lawyers? By Michael Krauss, 06-14-2007 Mo. high court rejects St. Louis lead-paint suit By Walter Olson, 06-13-2007 Tobacco suit stresses race angle By Walter Olson, 06-07-2007 Thimerosal and Autism: Final Round? By Michael Krauss, 06-05-2007 Curlin and the fen-phen scandal By Walter Olson, 06-04-2007 Milwaukee lead-paint suit goes to trial By Walter Olson, 05-31-2007 FDA scandal! Or is it? By Ted Frank, 05-17-2007 More on choice of law and product liability By Walter Olson, 05-11-2007 More on Krauss's choice-of-law approach By Ted Frank, 05-08-2007 St. Louis wants to pursue lead paint action By Walter Olson, 05-03-2007 Federal Choice-of-Law, State Sovereignty, and Products Liability By Michael Krauss, 05-02-2007 NY Court: Statute of Limitations Means What It Says By Michael Krauss, 04-24-2007 The "mercury militia" By Walter Olson, 04-24-2007 Reasons to be Skeptical of Civil Juries By David Bernstein, 04-19-2007 NJ Verdict Demonstrates Absurdity of Punitives By Michael Krauss, 04-19-2007 Methodists back vaccine quackery By Walter Olson, 04-17-2007 Tying one hand behind bioscientists' backs By Walter Olson, 04-13-2007 Michael Krauss on Engle tobacco litigation By Walter Olson, 03-29-2007 New featured column: "The Fear Industrial Complex" By Walter Olson, 03-27-2007 New Trial Ordered in $15M Ford Case By Michael Krauss, 03-23-2007 "Second Thoughts on Breasts" By Ted Frank, 03-21-2007 Chrysler hit with $50M punitives By Michael Krauss, 03-12-2007 More rough weather for tobacco defense By Walter Olson, 03-05-2007 Still more on Philip Morris v. Williams By Ted Frank, 02-28-2007 R.I. judge says paint makers must pay for cleanup By Walter Olson, 02-27-2007 Colorado Home Astroturf By James R. Copland, 02-26-2007 "Worried in America" By Walter Olson, 02-21-2007 More on Philip Morris v. Williams By Ted Frank, 02-20-2007 Initial thoughts on Philip Morris By James R. Copland, 02-20-2007 Philip Morris v. Williams opinion By James R. Copland, 02-20-2007 Oregon Supreme Court Decision Thrown Out By Michael Krauss, 02-20-2007 Adam Liptak on Buell-Wilson By Ted Frank, 02-19-2007 Drugmaker liability in Michigan By Walter Olson, 02-15-2007 "If you can defeat the motion to dismiss, you're 75 percent of the way home." By Michael Krauss, 02-08-2007 Arthur Allen, "Vaccine" By Walter Olson, 02-07-2007 MMR vaccine and autism, cont'd By Walter Olson, 01-21-2007 Canada permits silicone breast implants By Walter Olson, 01-11-2007 "Rollover Economics: Arbitrary and Capricious Product Liability Regimes" By Ted Frank, 01-04-2007 Mississippi Supremes to Hear Ford Appeal By Michael Krauss, 01-03-2007 Plavix: New round of drug suits on the way? By Michael Krauss, 12-22-2006 Garza verdict slashed By James R. Copland, 12-21-2006 Bausch & Lomb MoistureLoc litigation By Ted Frank, 12-19-2006 Those "bad toy" lists By Walter Olson, 12-15-2006 SUV rollover lawsuits By Ted Frank, 12-13-2006 Ohio lead-paint suits, cont'd By Walter Olson, 12-12-2006 When does the statute of limitations run on Tobacco Suits? By Michael Krauss, 12-06-2006 Akron withdraws lead paint lawsuit By Walter Olson, 11-30-2006 Book corner By Walter Olson, 11-29-2006 Driver passes car on curve at 37 mph over posted speed, gets $15M By Michael Krauss, 11-22-2006 "FDA ends ban on silicone breast implants" By Walter Olson, 11-20-2006 Patent Holder Does Not Want to Market Drug in USA By Michael Krauss, 11-13-2006 Turning lead into gold By Ted Frank, 11-11-2006 Garcia v. Ford Motor: "A Valentine's tale" By Walter Olson, 10-20-2006 New featured column: Ted on open-ended litigation By Walter Olson, 10-16-2006 "Anthrax and Lawyers" By Ted Frank, 10-10-2006 Federal Jury finds for Merck in VIOXX case By Michael Krauss, 10-09-2006 Sherwin-Williams strikes back By Walter Olson, 10-09-2006 This one's a real head-scratcher... By Michael Krauss, 10-03-2006 Oct. 12 panel in D.C.: "Mass Fraud in Mass Torts?" By Walter Olson, 10-03-2006 A note on spinach law By Ted Frank, 09-27-2006 Race to the Courthouse... By Michael Krauss, 09-27-2006 "Light" tobacco class action, cont'd By Walter Olson, 09-27-2006 The wrong kind of reform: Arizona and Premier Manufactured Systems By Ted Frank, 09-18-2006 "Ark. jury rejects Prempro suit" By Walter Olson, 09-17-2006 The Headline versus the Text By Michael Krauss, 09-15-2006 R.I./duPont lead pact: charity under scrutiny By Walter Olson, 09-13-2006 More on DOJ tobacco suit ruling By Walter Olson, 09-06-2006 Ted fact-checks a lawn-mower lawsuit By Walter Olson, 08-30-2006 Lead paint lawsuit blogging By Walter Olson, 08-27-2006 More on vaccines at MPT By James R. Copland, 08-25-2006 "Vaccines Are Scarce. Why?" By Ted Frank, 08-25-2006 Trans Fats, Ctd. By Michael Krauss, 07-26-2006 NJ courts' Mass Tort Information Center By Walter Olson, 07-22-2006 Welding and Product Liability By Michael Krauss, 06-28-2006 RI lead paint sidelights By Walter Olson, 06-28-2006 Peter Huber on pharmaceuticals policy By Walter Olson, 06-25-2006 Cali Lead Paint By Sam Munson, 06-23-2006 Antivaccination warriors, jabbed By Walter Olson, 06-23-2006 $111 million demanded over grout fumes By Walter Olson, 06-22-2006 Trial Lawyers, Inc. Update By Sam Munson, 06-20-2006 Allowing interstate competition for health care (and other) law By Michael Krauss, 06-20-2006 After UK vaccine panic, charges of misconduct By Walter Olson, 06-14-2006 More on benzene-in-sodas suits By Walter Olson, 06-08-2006 R.I. Supremes Decline to Decide Due Process/Contingent Fee Challenge By Michael Krauss, 06-05-2006 The "Benzene Scare" -- Coming to a Courtroom Near You? By Michael Krauss, 06-02-2006 More on the Oregon Case Now Before the Supremes By Michael Krauss, 06-02-2006 Update: Supreme Court to review Oregon Philip Morris punitive damages decision By Ted Frank, 05-30-2006 Conference 5/31: "The Value of Play" By Walter Olson, 05-26-2006 Paint litigation: its spreadability By Walter Olson, 05-17-2006 The tangled web of liability in B & L By Larry Ribstein, 05-17-2006 Contact lens solution fungus infections By Walter Olson, 05-11-2006 Judge fines R.I. AG for contempt By Walter Olson, 05-09-2006 More Tobacco Twists And Turns By Sam Munson, 05-08-2006 Blawg Review #56: Sex, Virtual Weddings, and Baseball By James R. Copland, 05-08-2006 "Governor to veto genetic seed liability bill" By Ted Frank, 05-06-2006 RI lead paint verdict By Walter Olson, 04-26-2006 The Worst Disease By Sam Munson, 04-26-2006 Lessons so far from the Vioxx cases By Michael Krauss, 04-24-2006 Maryland lead-paint legislation By Walter Olson, 04-19-2006 The Tobacco Wars By Sam Munson, 04-19-2006 Lawyer Lead-ership By James R. Copland, 04-18-2006 Tobacco Tales, Ctd By Michael Krauss, 04-18-2006 "The Cutter Incident" on C-SPAN2 By Ted Frank, 04-13-2006 Court: Coke should have warned of fizziness By Walter Olson, 04-13-2006 Michigan's FDA defense law By Walter Olson, 04-11-2006 McDarby: Gilmartin to testify By James R. Copland, 04-06-2006 Merck loses in McDarby case By James R. Copland, 04-05-2006 Lead Paint Fights Back By Sam Munson, 04-05-2006 Rhode Island lead paint By Ted Frank, 04-02-2006 Here Comes The Sunscreen Suit By Sam Munson, 03-31-2006 First West Coast Vioxx Cases By Sam Munson, 03-27-2006 Can Businesses Be Sued Even When They Have Met FDA Requirements? By Ted Frank, 03-21-2006 Associated Press on obesity litigation By Walter Olson, 03-19-2006 Global tobacco settlement exhausted punitives By Walter Olson, 03-17-2006 One vaccine lawsuit -- and the damage it did By Walter Olson, 03-15-2006 Sykes rebukes Wisconsin high court By Walter Olson, 03-10-2006 Lead paint follies By Walter Olson, 03-08-2006 Defective Because Effective By Michael Krauss, 03-06-2006 No punitives in R.I. lead paint case By Walter Olson, 03-02-2006 Offit, "The Cutter Incident" By Walter Olson, 02-28-2006 Jury deliberating in RI lead paint retrial By Walter Olson, 02-17-2006 Safety standards and federal pre-emption By Walter Olson, 02-17-2006 Playground design and liability By Walter Olson, 02-16-2006 BREAKING NEWS: Oregon Supreme Court affirms 151:1 punitive:compensatory damages ratio v. Philip Morris By Ted Frank, 02-02-2006 Idiots can harm themselves through Ipod, lawsuit says By Michael Krauss, 02-02-2006 NHTSA pre-emption draws protest from 26 AGs By Walter Olson, 01-25-2006 Welding rod shenanigans By Walter Olson, 01-22-2006 Wisconsin liability trip By Walter Olson, 01-21-2006 Forbes on welding rod litigation By Walter Olson, 01-09-2006 CRC on Environmental Working Group By Walter Olson, 12-16-2005 Taser on Trial By Michael Krauss, 12-12-2005 Welding: Boren loses; Dewey Morgan caught lying By Ted Frank, 12-09-2005 Ortho Evra, cont'd By Walter Olson, 12-07-2005 GM CEO: Lawsuit abuse a competitive disadvantage By James R. Copland, 12-06-2005 Correcting Wisconsin's high court By Walter Olson, 11-23-2005 Welding lawsuit in Madison County: manganese and Parkinson's By Ted Frank, 11-21-2005 ATLA blocking avian flu bill By Walter Olson, 11-17-2005 Ortho-Evra By Walter Olson, 11-15-2005 Refusing vaccines By Walter Olson, 11-11-2005 "Paint by Lawyer" By Walter Olson, 11-07-2005 Another AG assails Oxycontin maker By Walter Olson, 11-05-2005 Merck wins one! By James R. Copland, 11-03-2005 "A very dangerous lawsuit": the tactics of Mikal Watts By Ted Frank, 11-02-2005 Silicosis affair -- typical? By Walter Olson, 10-12-2005 Update: Jasper popcorn suits settle By Ted Frank, 10-09-2005 Terror in Tater Tot Town By Walter Olson, 10-07-2005 Toxically blonde By Walter Olson, 10-04-2005 Something in the water at Harvard? By Walter Olson, 09-30-2005 Mississippi fen-phen scandal By Walter Olson, 09-28-2005 NHTSA pre-emption: trial lawyers hit the roof By Walter Olson, 09-08-2005 Richard Epstein v. Mark Lanier By Walter Olson, 08-30-2005 Kinsley on Ernst v. Merck By Ted Frank, 08-29-2005 Teflon and PFOA By Walter Olson, 08-26-2005 Feminists for choice By Walter Olson, 08-23-2005 "Rodzilla" and trade association liability By Walter Olson, 08-22-2005 Parade of new blogs By Walter Olson, 08-21-2005 Wisconsin's lawless high court By Walter Olson, 08-11-2005 Learning the Wrong Lessons from "An American Tragedy" By David Bernstein, 08-08-2005 Energy bill passes, sans MTBE shield By James R. Copland, 07-29-2005 New from the Washington Legal Foundation By James R. Copland, 07-29-2005 Lying with Statistics - Ernst v. Merck edition By Ted Frank, 07-29-2005 Update: Popcorn flavoring suits II By Ted Frank, 07-20-2005 More on Michigan medical monitoring decision By James R. Copland, 07-18-2005 Michigan rejects medical monitoring By Walter Olson, 07-18-2005 "Snuff Out This Silly Suit" By Walter Olson, 06-29-2005 EPCOT center ride death By Walter Olson, 06-16-2005 "Invaluable" By Walter Olson, 06-13-2005 Lawyers doing their jobs By Walter Olson, 06-11-2005 Expanding drug liability -- retroactively By Walter Olson, 05-07-2005 You're in the anti-obesity army now By Walter Olson, 05-06-2005 Gun suits and the Dormant Commerce Clause By Walter Olson, 04-25-2005 "Pathological science" By Walter Olson, 04-23-2005 FDA mulls breast implant return By Walter Olson, 04-13-2005 Pfizer pulls Bextra By James R. Copland, 04-07-2005 Illinois municipalities bail on Crown Vic suit By Michael DeBow, 03-22-2005 On the Supreme Court's docket By Walter Olson, 03-14-2005 DuPont's Teflon travails By Walter Olson, 03-08-2005 Agent Orange is back... By James R. Copland, 02-28-2005 "Side Effects of the Drug Scares" By Walter Olson, 02-28-2005 "A Well-Oiled Machine" By Walter Olson, 02-15-2005 Post hoc ergo propter hoc By Walter Olson, 02-08-2005 Fen-phen's spiral By Walter Olson, 02-02-2005 Obesity suit reinstated By Walter Olson, 01-31-2005 Update: British Medical Journal embarrassed By Ted Frank, 01-28-2005 MTBE's cash leak By Walter Olson, 01-28-2005 Tabarrok, Surowiecki on Vioxx By James R. Copland, 01-27-2005 2nd Circuit weighs in By James R. Copland, 01-26-2005 Myrna Blyth's "Spin Sisters" By Walter Olson, 01-24-2005 "Pharmaceuticals the next victim?" By Walter Olson, 01-21-2005 British Medical Journal embarrassed By Walter Olson, 01-18-2005 Bob Herbert at it again By James R. Copland, 01-14-2005 "Demonizing for Dollars" By Walter Olson, 12-29-2004 Ohio enacts wide-ranging liability reforms By Walter Olson, 12-20-2004 P.R. by Fenton By Walter Olson, 12-07-2004 Olson on obesity By James R. Copland, 12-03-2004 WSJ on obesity study flaws By James R. Copland, 11-30-2004 Chrysler to appeal $102 million verdict By James R. Copland, 11-24-2004 Growth areas By Walter Olson, 11-12-2004 Warning label madness By Walter Olson, 10-31-2004 Ephedra retailer litigation, cont'd By Walter Olson, 10-28-2004 Ephedra retailer litigation By Walter Olson, 09-23-2004 Boeken: Campbell equals win for MO By James R. Copland, 09-22-2004 Plaintiff's bar: let us handle your criminal defense By Walter Olson, 09-17-2004 Not quite beach reading but still good... By Leah Lorber, 09-02-2004 Kentucky high court vacates $15M punitive award By Leah Lorber, 08-29-2004 From the archives: benefits of product liability By Walter Olson, 08-27-2004 Junk science in asbestos litigation By James R. Copland, 08-17-2004 Double Hurdles By Ted Frank, 08-16-2004 Why Stella Liebeck is important By Ted Frank, 08-04-2004 Rebuked asbestos judge joins asbestos advisory firm By James R. Copland, 07-30-2004 Tobacco appeal bond update: the Empire State enters the fray? By James R. Copland, 07-26-2004 Pre-Emption and the FDA By Michael Krauss, 07-26-2004 Popcorn butter: suppliers win one By Walter Olson, 06-30-2004 The nullification crisis of 2004? By James R. Copland, 06-15-2004 Wall Street Journal highlights asbestos bankruptcy scams By James R. Copland, 06-03-2004 Ninth Circuit allows gun lawsuit to proceed By James R. Copland, 05-28-2004 Nissan headlights By Ted Frank, 05-19-2004 "The Last Rung" By Walter Olson, 05-17-2004 Vaccines, cont'd By Walter Olson, 05-16-2004 From a kit (no lawyer included) By Walter Olson, 05-16-2004 AEI: Lawsuits without Injuries? By Ted Frank, 05-16-2004 McDonald's coffee revisited By Ted Frank, 05-16-2004 Silica lawsuits: castles from sand By Walter Olson, 05-15-2004 Back at the old test-rigging game By Walter Olson, 05-15-2004 Chicago lead paint case dismissed By Walter Olson, 05-14-2004 Tobacco recoupment suit loses in France By Walter Olson, 05-14-2004 "Why does the gun industry deserve special protection?" By Walter Olson, 05-14-2004 Market-share liability: now prove you're innocent By Walter Olson, 05-14-2004
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