Attorney Fred Pritzker was a panelist and speaker at today’s Minnesota Law Review 100th Volume Symposium. Each panel will consider the broader impact of each particular article, both at the time of its publishing and today.
The event, titled “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants”, featured several distinguished leaders in the legal community, including law professors from across the United States, former vice president Walter Mondale, and Fred Pritzker.
Founded in 1971 the Minnesota Law Review is published by University of Minnesota law students and facility advisers. Today’s event was celebrating the 100th volume of the publication, and the symposium highlighted four of the most influential articles it had contributed to the legal community. Fred and two other panelists explored the broader impacts of William Prosser’s famed “The Fall of the Citadel (Strict Liability to the Consumer)”.
Fred’s presentation, “The Remains of the Citadel (Economic Loss Rule in Products Cases)”, discussed strict liability law in the food litigation context and how these cases can lead to food safety legislation.
The only trial lawyer to present, Fred’s presentation was enhanced by his real world experience litigating products liability cases. He highlighted three principles necessary to advance the nature of products liability law, quoting from Prosser’s Citadel work:
- Maximum Possible Protection For The Consumer. “The public interest in human safety requires the maximum possible protection for the user of the product.”
- Risk Distribution Theory. “The supplier should be held liable because he is in a position to insure against liability and add the cost to the price of his product.”
- Strict Liability. A shift of focus on the condition of the product rather than the conduct of the defendant. “Holding defendants liable without any showing of negligence; seller of a defective product is liable even if he ‘exercised all possible care in the preparation and sale of his product.'”
He concluded by offering real world solutions to the challenges of litigating strict liability cases.