Burton Craige has written an article, entitled Reforming and Clarifying the Products Liability Statute of Repose, for an issue of Trial Briefs, the publication of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice. The article discusses possible reform of the time-limit law for lawsuits about defective products that injure people.

Summary: If Elaine had lived anywhere else in the United States, she could have brought suit against the SUV manufacturer. Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia have no statute of repose for products liability actions. Four states establish a presumptive ten- or twelve-year statute of repose that can be rebutted by evidence that the “useful safe life” of the product is longer or shorter. Two states establish a rebuttable presumption of no negligence if the product was first sold more than a certain period of time before the injury. Ten states have a fixed statute of repose that is significantly longer than North Carolina’s, ranging from ten to fifteen years. That leaves North Carolina as the lonely outlier. Saddled with an inflexible six-year statute of repose, North Carolinians have less protection against defective products than any other United States citizens.

Categories: News of the Firm Tags: Articles, Burton Craige, NC Legislature, NCAJ, Personal Injuries, Products Liability, Statute of Repose

Burton Craige has written an article, entitled Should North Carolina Enact the Uniform Apportionment of Tort Responsibility Act?, for an issue of Trial Briefs, the publication of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice. The article discusses possible reform of contributory negligence, and related laws for personal injury and negligence cases.

Summary: North Carolina is one of only five jurisdictions that retain the antiquated doctrine of contributory negligence. Here, as in Alabama, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia, a plaintiff whose negligence makes the slightest contribution to his injury is barred from recovering any damages against the tortfeasor. The other 46 states, either by judicial decision or by statute, have adopted some form of comparative fault, allocating damages based on the degree of fault among the plaintiff and the defendants. In 2007, four Republican state legislators introduced a bill to adopt UATRA in North Carolina. The proposed legislation would revolutionize North Carolina tort law by ending contributory negligence, adopting a system of comparative fault, and modifying joint and several liability. Legislators are likely to reintroduce the bill in 2009. If North Carolina adopts UATRA, it will be the first state to do so.

Categories: News of the Firm Tags: Articles, Burton Craige, Contributory Negligence, NC Legislature, NCAJ, Personal Injuries