PA: Is R3:PL the Law or Not?

This week, Amaris Elliott-Engel, of PA Law Weekly, wrote the first of a series of articles on tort law.  Her first piece is on the uncertainty in Pennsylvania products law.  Twice in the last 3 years, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has opined that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court would adopt the Restatement Third (Products Liability).  However, the state Supreme Court has not directly addressed the issue, although there has been some provocative dicta and one instance in which the justices announced they had improvidently granted allocatur to consider whether section 2 of R3 should replace 402A of R2.  Thus, in general, state courts are applying 402A and federal courts are applying R3, though even among federal courts, some apply 402A.  As elsewhere, most plaintiffs’ lawyers tend to prefer 402A and most defense lawyers tend to prefer R3.

Thanks to Scott Cooper for the tip.

–CJR