CASUALTY TERMS & CONCEPTS · 6 MIN READ

Strict Liability, Products, and Warranties

Strict liability dispenses with proof of fault. For abnormally dangerous (ultrahazardous) activities, the Restatement imposes liability even on those exercising utmost care, weighing six factors: high degree of risk, likelihood of great harm, inability to eliminate the risk through reasonable care, lack of common usage, inappropriateness of the location, and community value outweighed by danger. Blasting and storing explosives are the archetypes; the actor's corporate form is irrelevant. Common carriers face their own heightened duties compared to ordinary bailees for hire. Products liability is the larger exam target. Under the landmark strict-liability rule, a commercial seller of a product in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous is liable without privity — remote purchasers and even bystanders may sue. Three defect types organize the field: manufacturing defects, where the unit deviates from its intended design (judged by consumer expectations and pure strict liability); design defects, where the whole line is flawed — tested under either the consumer-expectation test or the risk-utility test asking whether a reasonable alternative design existed; and warning defects, where inadequate instructions or warnings make the product unsafe, aided in many states by a heeding presumption that an adequate warning would have been followed. The learned-intermediary doctrine channels prescription-drug warnings to the physician rather than the patient, though direct-to-consumer advertising has eroded it, and comment k shields unavoidably unsafe products like vaccines that are properly prepared and warned. The state-of-the-art defense measures warnings and design against what was scientifically knowable at the time of sale, and the economic-loss doctrine bars tort recovery when a product injures only itself, leaving the plaintiff to contract and warranty law. Warranty law supplies the contract track. An express warranty arises from any affirmation of fact or promise that becomes part of the basis of the bargain — a specific durability claim qualifies, while vague puffery does not, and no writing is needed. The implied warranty of merchantability arises in every sale by a merchant dealing in goods of that kind and promises fitness for ordinary purposes. The implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose arises when the seller knows the buyer's particular purpose and the buyer relies on the seller's skill to select the goods. The federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act then locks the door: a supplier giving a written warranty on a consumer product cannot disclaim implied warranties — a full warranty cannot even limit their duration, while a limited warranty may cap their duration to the written warranty's term if reasonable and conspicuous.