Business Law Ch 10

Which of the following is true regarding defenses to negligence-based product liability actions?

A defendant may rely upon the defense of contributory, comparative, or modified comparative negligence, depending upon which defense is accepted by the state where the case arose.

Which of the following are factors the trial court may find helpful when balancing a product's utility against the risk the product creates?

A. The usefulness and desirability of the product. B. The safety aspects of the product. C. The availability of a substitute product that would meet the same need and would not be as unsafe. D. The manufacturer's ability to eliminate the unsafe character of the product without impairing its usefulness or making it too expensive to maintain its utility. E. All of the above.

Which of the following arises when a consumer knows that a defect exists but still proceeds unreasonably to make use of the product, creating a situation where the consumer has voluntarily assumed the risk of injury from the defect and thus cannot recover?

Assumption of the risk.

Which of the following is true regarding damages that may be recovered in negligence-based product liability cases if proven?

Both compensatory damages and punitive damages may be recovered.

Which of the following causes of action stem from contract theory?

Breach of warranty.

Under a strict product liability theory, who is considered a reasonably foreseeable party who may recover if injury is sustained?

The buyer, the buyer's family, the buyer's guests, and foreseeable bystanders.

When all products of a particular design are defective and dangerous, those products have which of the following type of defects?

Design.

Under a strict product liability theory, who may be held liable to an injured party?

Manufacturers, distributors, and retailers.

When an individual product has a defect making it more dangerous than identical products, that individual product is said to have which of the following defects?

Manufacturing.

Which of the following are commonly used theories of recovery in product liability cases?

Negligence, strict product liability, and breach of warranty.

Which of the following is true regarding the application of negligence per se in product liability cases based on negligence?

The doctrine of negligence per se is also applicable to product liability cases based on negligence.

Compliance with federal laws may lead to the defense that use of state tort law is ______________ by a federal statute designed to ensure the safety of a particular class of products.

Preempted

Which of the following must a plaintiff generally show in order to recover in a product liability lawsuit?

That the product is defective and also that the defect existed when the product left the defendant's control.

Which of the following defenses is an argument that harm was caused not by the defendant's negligence but by the plaintiff's failure to properly use the product?

Product misuse.

Which of the following may be sued in product liability actions?

Retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers.

Which of the following do courts often consider in determining whether a manufacturer was negligent in failing to warn?

The likelihood of the injury, the seriousness of the injury, and the ease of warning.

Under which of the following theories may a plaintiff be able to proceed even if the plaintiff cannot trace an injury caused by a product to any particular manufacturer?

The market share theory..

How do plaintiffs usually prove that a defect exists in a product?

Through expert testimony and/or evidence of the circumstances surrounding the accident that would lead the jury to infer that the accident must have been caused by a defect in the product.

Upon which type of law is product liability law primarily based?

Tort law.

Which of the following do courts focus on when a strict product liability action is involved?

Whether the manufacturer knew of a problem with the product.