Preview

Strict Liability; Alabama Law

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
539 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Strict Liability; Alabama Law
Tort Law | Strict Liability | Alabama Law | | Shannon Martin | 12/22/2011 |

|

Alabama Tort Law is the only truly comprehensive resource on tort law in Alabama. With expert discussion of proof requisites and defenses, it covers all the elements of each tort actionable under Alabama law. It provides the information necessary to determine if there is a case and what is needed to prove or defend it. Alabama Tort Law not only provides up-to-date coverage of relevant case law and analysis, it also includes comprehensive appendices with practical material, including checklists and sample complaints for frequently encountered topics.
Alabama recognizes two theories of strict liability, which are ultra-hazardous or abnormally dangerous activities, and unreasonably dangerous products. Ultra-hazardous itself and the risk of harm it creates to those in the vicinity. The basis for liability is that one who for his own purposes creates an abnormal risk of harm to his neighbors must be responsible for relieving that harm when in fact it does occur. Unreasonably dangerous products are unreasonable when it is foreseeable, and the manufacturer’s ability or unreasonable danger is the measure of its duty in the design of its product. A manufacture’s failure to achieve its full potential in the design unreasonable danger forms the basis for it strict liability in tort. In the following case Dickinson v. City of Huntsville, 822 So. 2d 411, 417 (Ala. 2001) is an example of the ultra-hazardous strict liability.
In May 2000, James Shannon Dickinson, an employee of the City of Huntsville, and Water Pollution Control, Inc., a company of which Dickinson is an officer and in which he is a shareholder, sued Metro Investigations, Inc., Jay Kennedy, an employee of Metro Investigations, and Loretta Spencer, mayor of the City of Huntsville, alleging that Spencer had improperly hired Kennedy and Metro Investigations to investigate his outside business activities and seeking

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Haugen Vs Ford Summary

    • 285 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In Haugen v. Ford Motor Co., the requirement of Article 2-302(2) that the court required an affording opportunity for the buyer to present evidence to aid the court in making a determination. In this case, Plaintiff buyer challenged the judgment of the District Court of Williams County (North Dakota) that granted summary judg-ment in favor of defendant manufacturer dismissing the buyer's damage claim based on a liability exclusion for damage from fire. The buyer filed a complaint against the man-ufacturer when the car he bought burst into flames while he drove it. The manufacturer was awarded summary judgment dismissing the buyer's claim based on a liability ex-clusion for damage from fire included in the limitation of liability. The court…

    • 285 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    b. Product liability for a defective product and a failure to warn of the dangers of handling liquid served as hot as appellee’s coffee…

    • 844 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bugusa Case Study

    • 914 Words
    • 4 Pages

    According to (Melvin, 2011) “Products liability refers to the liability of any seller (including the manufacturer, retailer, and any intermediary seller such as a wholesaler) of a product that, because of a defect, causes harm to a consumer.” (P.226). Sally could argue BUGusa were negligent by not including the insulation needed on the equipment just to save on production costs. However, a more appealing option for Sally to pursue would be a strict liability tort because she doesn’t need to prove the elements of negligence. Sally could argue that BUGusa are strictly liable for her injuries because they placed a product on the market without insulation and she was injured as a…

    • 914 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    for strict liability torts. BUGusa, Inc. failed to provide an insulator in their original design for their wire tappers due to the production cost. BUGusa, Inc. has since realized its mistake, yet did not recall the older versions of the equipment, leaving Sally at risk of injury, which is exactly what happened. Strict Liability can be defined, as; “the legal responsibility for damages or injury, even if the person found strictly liable is not at fault.” (USLegal.com, 2014). Under this definition, Sally does not have to prove that BUGusa, Inc. was negligent in their actions producing their product, just that the product in question was defective, and it caused her…

    • 877 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Finally, Gore v. BMW addressed the constitutionality of Alabama’s methods for imposing punitive damages. In conjunction with the Hammond and Green Oil, it is a part of Alabama’s judicial review of punitive damage awards for excessiveness.…

    • 270 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the case of the fifteen-year-old Rob Jr., the Church of Devine Light was at fault will be held responsible for the actions of Tom Marsden, an employee of the church, under strict liability. Rob’s parents, Rob Sr. and Bunny, could file charges against Tom Marsden and the Church of Devine Light for negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and false imprisonment.…

    • 1036 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Quiz 2

    • 592 Words
    • 4 Pages

    6. Specific performance is a limited remedy as it is only available for breach of contract to sell a unique item.…

    • 592 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Intentional Torts

    • 704 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Buckley, W.R. & Okrent, C. J Torts and personal injury law 3rd ed. Ch.6 & 7 (2004).…

    • 704 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Texas is the forefront of the tort reform movement in the United States. Supporters of tort reform believe that huge jury awards are not only excessive to the injury sustained by the plaintiff but also a void on the state's economy and is damaging to certain professions. Opponents argue that tort reform is not only legislative tampering with the judicial system but favors these powerful professions and business interest groups who seek to be protected from punishment for practices and products that cause harm to citizens. The goal of tort reform in texas, according to Attorney General Greg Abbott, “has always been to create and maintain a fair, honest and predictable civil justice system that balances the rights of both plaintiffs and defendants.” Tort reform is said to be good for Texas, and over the past years lawsuit improvements have changed our state in becoming the nation's representation for civil justice…

    • 1023 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Product Liability

    • 2251 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Consumers use a variety of products on a daily basis to assist them in accomplishing a task or completing a project and they expect the product to be properly designed and safe to use. However, in the event that a product is defective and causes injury to the person using it, the manufacturer may be liable for the injury and have to compensate the injured person (s). Companies that manufacture products need to be sure they are doing all within their power to assemble products that are free of defects that could accidentally cause harm and cost the company. Product liability is the responsibility of manufacturers, distributors and sellers of products to the public, to deliver products free of defects which harm an individual or numerous persons and to make good on that responsibility if their products are defective (Product Liability, 2011). Products containing inherent defects that cause harm to a consumer of the product, or someone to whom the product was loaned or given, are the subjects of products liability suits (Product Liability Law). Products liability claims can be based on negligence, strict liability, or breach of warranty of fitness depending on the jurisdiction within which the claim is based. If a person(s) is injured while properly using a product that is defective, they have a right to file a claim against the company that would be titled a product liability lawsuit. However, in order to prevail on a product liability claim, the product complained of must be shown to be defective (Product Liability Law, 2011). A defective product causes injury or damage to a person or a person's property because of some defect in the product, its labeling or the manner in which the product was used. There are three types of product defects that incur liability in manufacturers and suppliers: design defects,…

    • 2251 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tort Reform In Texas

    • 255 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Before 1975 Texas was considered to be a complete quagmire of judicial mumbo-jumbo. The state’s system of justice allowed for laws to be applied arbitrarily. Enforcement of personal property rights and contracts varied depending on which local court had the case. Moreover, several counties that had bad reputations notwithstanding the court. Judicial outcomes often depended on which attorney was before which judge in which county. Equal enforcement of the state’s laws was simply not a certainty upon which a citizen could rely. In the early most attempts at tort reform in the State of Texas, a well-respected University of Texas Law School professor was asked to spearhead a commission and make recommendations on how to fix the those judicial inequalities.…

    • 255 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Pro Tort Reform

    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Kirk W. Dillard, Illinois' Landmark Tort Reform: The Sponsor's Policy Explanation, 27 LOY. U. CHI. L.J. 805, 809 nn.1, 16-17 (1996).…

    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Introduction to Law

    • 524 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A movie star sued a tabloid newspaper for statements it made regarding her abuse of drugs. The story was not true, having been invented by the editors to sell newspapers. Assume the movie star lost several employment opportunities because of the story and she decided to sue.…

    • 524 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Tort Reform

    • 1409 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Though many tort reform advocate groups exist, the most prevalent and well publicized advocate group that has arisen is the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA). These advocates have presented numerous reasons and facts as to why tort reform needs to take place in our legal system. Their first argument stems from the costs of tort law. They explain that the legal system has been burdened with too many frivolous law suits and that the system has therefore become expensive. They presented that the U.S. tort system in 2003 incurred $246 billion dollars in costs, which results to $3,380 per a family of four. They take this argument one step further by stating that the growth in these tort costs has consistently exceeded the gross domestic product in the last 50 years by 2-3 percent (ATRA).…

    • 1409 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The case of Spandeck Engineering (S) Pte Ltd v. Defence Science & Technology Agency (Spandeck) led to the development of the Spandeck test which is a two-stage test of establishing legal proximity and considering public policies, following the fulfilment of the threshold of factual foreseeability. The Spandeck test is said to be universal and applicable to all types of harm resulting from negligence. Claims for physical injury, psychiatric injury and pure economic losses have been successfully addressed with the Spandeck test. Similarly, cases concerning occupier’s liability can be addressed by applying the Spandeck test too to determine whether the occupier has been negligent to the entrant.…

    • 1178 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays