Liability for Defectively Designed Products

This lesson deals with liability for defectively designed products and products that are defective because of an inadequate warning. It does not consider liability for defectively manufactured products, which are dealt with in the lesson Liability for Defectively Manufactured Products. It begins by comparing the two predominant tests for determining whether a product is defectively designed (the consumer expectations test and the risk/utility test), then considers the impact of warnings, including a consideration of the learned intermediary doctrine.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of the lesson, students will be able to:

1. Explain the difference between defectively designed and defectively manufactured products.
2. Explain and compare the two predominant tests for determining whether a product is defectively designed.
3. Discuss how the two tests work differently.
4. Analyze impact of warnings, including a consideration of the learned intermediary doctrine.