Disentangling DeVries: A Manufacturer's Duty to Warn against the Dangers of Third-Party Products

AuthorDavid Judd
PositionJ.D./D.C.L., 2021. Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Louisiana State University
Pages222-276
Louisiana Law Review Louisiana Law Review
Volume 81
Number 1
Fall 2020
Article 11
12-11-2020
Disentangling DeVries: A Manufacturer’s Duty to Warn against the Disentangling DeVries: A Manufacturer’s Duty to Warn against the
Dangers of Third-Party Products Dangers of Third-Party Products
David Judd
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/lalrev
Repository Citation Repository Citation
David Judd,
Disentangling DeVries: A Manufacturer’s Duty to Warn against the Dangers of Third-Party
Products
, 81 La. L. Rev. (2020)
Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/lalrev/vol81/iss1/11
This Comment is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews and Journals at LSU Law Digital
Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Louisiana Law Review by an authorized editor of LSU Law Digital
Commons. For more information, please contact kreed25@lsu.edu.
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Disentangling DeVries: A Manufacturer’s Duty to
Warn against the Dangers of Third-Party Products
David Judd*
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction.................................................................................. 218
I. Development of the Third-Party Duty to Warn............................ 222
A. History of the Duty to Warn .................................................. 222
B. The Third-Party Duty to Warn............................................... 228
1. Products Used in Conjunction with One Another........... 229
2. Component Parts ............................................................. 233
3. Replacement Parts........................................................... 235
4. Bare-Metal Products........................................................ 237
C. State Statutes and the Third-Party Duty to Warn................... 239
II. Three Different Approaches to the
Third-Party Duty to Warn ............................................................ 241
A. The Bare-Metal Approach:
No Third-Party Duty to Warn................................................ 241
B. The Foreseeability Approach:
The Third-Party Duty to Warn Subsumed
by the Generic Duty to Warn................................................. 244
C. The Middle-Ground Approach:
A Conditional Duty to Warn about
Third-Party Products.............................................................. 247
1. DeVries and the Maritime Context.................................. 247
2. Non-Maritime Contexts................................................... 250
III. Courts Should Adopt a Conditional
Third-Party Duty to Warn ............................................................ 251
A. The Bare-Metal Defense: Less Than
Bare-Minimum Relief............................................................ 251
Copyright 2020, by DAVID JUDD.
* J.D./D.C.L., 2021. Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Louisiana State University.
I want to thank a number of individuals for providing me with tremendous support
while writing this Comment. First, President Tom Galligan, Jr., for his invaluable
insights and willingness to challenge my claims. Next, to my family, especially my
parents, for their love and encouragement. Finally, to all those who contributed in
their own way, from editors to friends and loved ones.
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218 LOUISIANA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 81
B. The Foreseeability Approach: Visibly Excessive.................. 257
C. The Inevitability Standard: Bound to Be Right ..................... 262
1. Condition 1: Inevitability ................................................ 263
2. Condition 2: Actual or Presumed
Knowledge of Danger ..................................................... 266
3. Condition 3: Actual or Presumed Knowledge
of Anticipation of Danger ............................................... 267
Conclusion.................................................................................... 270
INTRODUCTION
At 24 years old, Timothy finally caught a break.1 After two years of
rejections from veterinary schools, Timothy was admitted to the Doctor of
Veterinary Medicine program at a university in a nearby state.2 Of course,
the prospect of hundreds of thousands of dollars of student loans covering
Timothy’s out-of-state tuition tempered his excitement.3 Timothy,
however, received additional good news soon after starting his first
semester: his sister-in-law had given birth. As a new uncle, Timothy
wanted nothing more than to meet his nephew back home. Encouraged by
decent grades, Timothy was confident he could afford a small break from
his incessant studies to return home.
While driving home, Timothy’s car violently swerved off the rural
highway and crashed into a tree. The crushing impact broke his back,
leaving him paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life.
Timothy’s meager insurance policy only covered a fraction of his medical
expenses, and without some form of financial recovery, Timothy could not
afford to finish veterinary school. A post-crash analysis revealed that the
car’s multipiece wheel was incompatible with the tire surrounding it,
1. The defective product in this hypothetical scenario comes from the facts
of Rastelli v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. Rastelli v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber
Co., 591 N.E.2d 222 (N.Y. 1992).
2. See Lori Hehn, How Hard is it to Get Into Veterinary School? A Look at
the Acceptance Rate, VETPREP BLOG (Sept. 10, 2019, 5:29 PM), https://blog.vet
prep.com/how-hard-is-it-to-get-into-veterinary-school-a-look-at-acceptance-the-
rate (estimating national average acceptance rate of veterinary schools at 11.7%)
[https://perma.cc/2KQ3-26M9].
3. See Media Frequently Asked Questions, ASSN AM. VETERINARY MED.
CS., https://www.aavmc.org/media-faqs.aspx (last visited Sept. 12, 2019)
(estimating median annual tuition for out-of-state veterinary students at $50,123
for four-year programs) [https://perma.cc/M5VT-ZE4J].

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