Is My Drywall Chinese? - HB Litigation Conferences

DEFENSES
Florida - Strict Liability May Not Apply
– Strict products liability does not apply to structural improvements
improvements
to real estate.
See Plaza v. Fisher Development, Inc., Inc. , 971 So. 2d 918 (Fla.
3d DCA 2007) (holding that the installer of a conveyor
system in a Pottery Barn store was not liable for personal
injuries resulting from a defect in the conveyor system
because the conveyor system was an improvement to real
property and thus not a "product").
An exception exists "where the injuries result not from the
real property as improved by the alleged defective product
but directly from a defective product manufactured by
defendant, which product may have itself been incorporated
into the improvement of the realty before the injury from the
product occurred." See Fed. Ins. Co. v. Bonded Lightning
Protection Sys., Inc., Inc. , 2008 WL 5111260 (S.D. Fla. Dec. 3,
2008).
DEFENSES
Innocent Seller Defense
– In some states, such as Mississippi and Texas, where a retailer
sells a product that it does not change in any way, and the
retailer is unaware of any obvious defect in it, the retailer is
essentially immune from liability.
"It is the intent of this section to immunize innocent sellers
who are not actively negligent, but instead are mere conduits
of a product." Miss. Code Ann. § 11-1-63 11 63(h). (h).
"A manufacturer shall indemnify and hold harmless a seller
against loss arising out of a products liability action, except
for any loss caused by the seller's negligence, intentional
misconduct, or other act or omission, such as negligently
modifying or altering the product, for which the seller is
independently liable." Tex. Civ. Civ.
Prac. Prac.
& Rem. Rem.
Code §
82.002.