Pa. Supreme Court Overrules Azzarello Strict Products Liability Law; Declines to Adopt 3rd Restatement of Torts

HARRISBURG –– The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has overruled a decision that has dictated the parameters of strict liability claims for more than 35 years, but stopped short of adopting the Restatement (Third) of Tort outright.

In the 137-page opinion released Nov. 19, the high court said that while the Third Restatement informed its decision to reframe the requirements of proving strict liability claims in the state, an adoption of the Third Restatement would be “problematic.”

After overruling its 1978 decision in Azzarello v. Black Brothers Company (391 A.2d 1020, Pa. 1978), the court outlined a new framework for bringing …