The Role of the Consumer Expectation Test Under Louisiana's Products Liability Tort Doctrine

Article by John Neely Kennedy

This article examines a method sometimes used under Louisiana law to assess whether a product or a characteristic of the product is unreasonably dangerous: the consumer expectation test. The following section of the article, Part II, explains the consumer expectation test and its origins. Part III discusses the current status of the consumer expectation test under the LPLA and pre-LPLA law. Part IV evaluates the test's strengths and weaknesses. The article concludes with a modest recommendation about the role the consumer expectation test should play in a modern products liability tort doctrine.


About the Author

John Neely Kennedy. Partner (through a professional corporation), Chaffe, McCall, Phillips, Toler & Sarpy, L.L.P. Member, Louisiana Bar. B.A. 1973, Vanderbilt University; J.D. 1977, University of Virginia; B.C.L. 1979, Oxford University. The author helped draft the Louisiana Products Liability Act, LA. REV. STAT. ANN. §§ 9:2800.51-.59 (West 1991), which is discussed in this article, and was chief administration spokesperson for its passage in 1988 as special counsel to the Governor of Louisiana. The opinions expressed in the article are solely those of the author.

Citation

69 Tul. L. Rev. 117 (1994)