On March 14, 1916, New York’s high court issued its decision in MacPherson v. Buick Motor Co. Writing for the court, Judge (later Justice) Benjamin Cardozo held that product manufacturers must take care to manufacture products that do not injure consumers. A century later, MacPherson is considered a landmark of tort law, as well as an exemplar of common law reasoning. It is credited with, among other things, contributing to the demise of laissez-faire thinking in American law and laying the groundwork for the modern doctrine of strict products liability. Yet what the decision accomplished, both as a matter of tort doctrine and jurisprudence, also remains controversial. On the occasion of MacPherson’s centenary, a panel of renowned scholars will examine the significance and influence of the case from multiple perspectives, including its influence of the evolution of the “risk society”, its reception and influence in the United Kingdom and Europe, and its place in tort theory and private law in general.
Business meeting at program conclusion.