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Practice Tip: Trying the Design Defect Case
A properly pleaded Complaint in a design defect case will permit the plaintiff to try his case on several different theories: negligence, strict liability and breach of warranty. Nevertheless, certain cases would be most efficiently tried only as a breach of warranty.
Trying a negligence case requires the jury to find that the defendant failed to act reasonably in designing the product. To make out a prima facie case of negligence for a design defect, the plaintiff must show there was a feasible design alternative that would have made the product safer. Product liability law evolved to provide a recovery for persons injured by defective products without the need of proving negligence. This, the courts thought, would lessen the plaintiff's burden at trial and shift the risks and costs from the injured party to the manufacturer. Despite the good intentions, however, over the past 20 or 30 years, courts have said that actions in strict liability for defective design are really negligence cases. Thus, what started out as an attempt to make manufacturers strictly liable for product design defects, ended up requiring the same proof as a claim in a negligence case.
The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.