hard · LSAT
The legal principle of strict liability is often applied in product liability cases, where a manufacturer is held responsible for a defective product regardless of fault or intent. Advocates argue that this system provides a crucial safety net for consumers and incentivizes corporations to prioritize safety in the design phase. However, critics contend that strict liability can stifle innovation, particularly in high-risk industries like pharmaceuticals or aerospace, where the threat of massive litigation might discourage the development of life-saving but inherently risky technologies. If every unforeseen complication leads to a crushing legal judgment, firms may choose to exit the market altogether rather than risk bankruptcy. This suggests that the legal system should move back toward a negligence-based standard, which requires a showing that the manufacturer failed to exercise reasonable care, thereby balancing consumer protection with the need for technological progress.
Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the author's argument?
- In the pharmaceutical sector, rates of new drug discovery have proven higher in nations operating under strict liability than in those operating under a negligence standard.
- Manufacturers in negligence-based jurisdictions often spend more defending lawsuits than strict-liability manufacturers spend settling them.
- High-risk industries frequently receive government subsidies that cushion them from the full financial weight of litigation under any legal regime.
- Under a negligence standard, the threat of suit is often too weak to deter firms from releasing products with known but hard-to-prove defects.
- Strict liability has never once driven a single manufacturer in any industry to abandon a product line.
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