Opinion ID: 2293263
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: A Replacement Scheme

Text: As highlighted in DGS and above, the powerful no-negligence-in-strict-liability rubric has undergirded numerous Pennsylvania decisions in the product liability arena over the last thirty years. See DGS, 587 Pa. at 259, 898 A.2d at 604. Thus, at the risk of understatement, a present disapproval of this premise would open a substantial void. This appeal was accepted for review to evaluate both whether that void should be opened, and, if so, whether Section 2 of the Third Restatement should be adopted outright to fill at least a portion of it.
I am on record as favoring prospective movement to the Third Restatement position, and I remain of that position today, for the reasons I previously have stated. See Phillips, 576 Pa. at 664-82, 841 A.2d at 1012-23. I believe the Third Restatement's provisions are far more reasoned and balanced than Azzarello, and adoption would represent a substantial advancement in Pennsylvania law. While Appellee is correct that we should not cede our decision making authority to commentators, the reality is that necessary modernization of the law of Pennsylvania has been suppressed for so long by the no-negligence-in-strict-liability mantra that we are essentially thirty years behind. The Restatement would serve as a far more rational platform from which to make modest future adjustments, if necessary, than Azzarello. As stated very recently by a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in conjunction with a prediction that this Court would adopt Sections 1 and 2 of the Third Restatement: The Third Restatement ... eliminates much of the confusion that has resulted from attempting to quarantine negligence concepts and insulate them from strict liability claims. Berrier v. Simplicity Mfg., Inc., 563 F.3d 38, 55 (3d Cir.2009). Thus, the Restatement provides a suitable template for making up for lost time and moving forward.
To the degree a majority of the Court is not comfortable adopting the whole of Section 2 in this case, [21] there are other alternatives to leaving Azzarello in place while the Court continues to search for the perfect vehicle in which to devise a replacement scheme. For example, the Court could at least depart from Azzarello prospectively, thus clearing a path for our common pleas and intermediate appellate courts to consider the reasoned recommendations of the Third Restatement, as well as other reasoned alternatives and/or refinements. As the cases would move through the system, this Court inevitably would make selections to fill the void created by Azzarello's long tenure. [22] Undoubtedly, this approach would not be wholly satisfying to those who have long pursued a modernization of this Court's product-liability jurisprudence. It may well be, however, that the forum for timely, comprehensive solutions is with the political branch, which possesses the broader tools necessary to make better informed social policy decisions balancing the strong, competing interests involved in the product liability arena. [23] If the Court were to pursue the common-law lawmaking alternative, it could initially reaffirm the understanding, as succinctly expressed by one commentator, that [m]odern products liability law rests fundamentally on the premise that manufacturers are fairly held to answer in the courts for the basic safety of their products' designs. Owen, Design Defects, 73 MO. L.REV. at 291. Since the difficulties described above are with Azzarello and not Section 402A itself, Pennsylvania would remain a Section 402A jurisdiction. [24] The disapproval of Azzarello's no-negligence-in-strict-liability approach, however, should yield at least the non-exclusive set of consequences and considerations set forth in the addendum attached to this opinion as Appendix A.