9.3 Million Products Liability Jury Award

After a two week jury trial, a judgment granting CVK’s client full indemnity from the third-party defendant was entered, despite a jury assessment that the client, a retailer, was 30% at fault in this strict liability products case.

The jury found the plaintiff 25% at fault and the manufacturer 45% at fault on a strict liability theory of recovery only (i.e., there was no negligence claim for relief at the time the case went to trial). The central issue was whether the product which broke was “unreasonably dangerously defective” under Section 402A of the Restatement of Torts (Oregon has not yet incorporated the Restatement Third, Tort: Products Liability, into its statutory products liability scheme. See ORS 30.900, et. seq.).

The case is now on appeal before the Oregon Court of Appeals, with CVK’s Thom Brown representing the Respondent.