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36 S. Tex. L. Rev. 353 (1995)
Res Ipsa Loquitur and Indeterminate Product Defects: If They Speak for Themselves, What Are They Saying

handle is hein.journals/stexlr36 and id is 367 raw text is: RES IPSA LOQUITUR AND INDETERMINATE PRODUCT DEFECTS: IF THEY SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES, WHAT ARE THEY SAYING? JONATHAN M. HOFFMAN* I. ANTECEDENTS OF SECTION 3 ........................... 355 A. Res Ipsa in Negligence versus Res Ipsa in Product Liability Litigation .................................. 355 B. Age of the Product .................................. 358 C. Exclusion of Other Causes .......................... 361 D. Unavailability of Evidence .......................... 362 II. EVOLUTION OF SECrION 3 .............................. 368 A. Age and Exclusion of Other Causes ................. 368 B. Loss or Destruction of the Product .................. 369 C. Other Significant Issues ............................. 370 1. Malfunction Theory ............................. 371 2. Manufacturing Defects .......................... 375 III. PROBLEMS .............................................. 376 A. Design Defect Claims ............................... 377 1. Consumer Expectations versus Risk/Utility ...... 377 2. Reasonable Alternative Design .................. 378 B. Indeterminate Defect Liability When Evidence Is A vailable ............................................ 380 IV. THE SOLUTION IS INDETERMINATE .................... 381 When should a plaintiff be relieved of the burden to demonstrate a specific product defect? The proposed latest draft of the Restate- ment (Third) of Torts: Products Liability (Restatement (Third)) ad- dresses this topic in section 3, under the rubric of a res ipsa model. Until now, many courts have treated a claim of indeterminate product * A.B., Harvard University (1970); J.D., University of Oregon (1975); member of the Oregon State Bar since 1975; partner, Martin, Bischoff, Templeton, Langslet & Hoff- man, Portland, Oregon. The author gratefully acknowledges Westlaw for making computer research time available to assist in the preparation of this article.