Chief Justice Traynor and Strict Tort Liability for Products

There are many men of law who have played a significant part in the remarkable and uncommon development of the common law of a manufacturer's liability for injury to a consumer - from no liability at all, to liability for negligence (liability based on fault), to strict liability (liability without fault). Any listing of those who have played a most prominent part would have to include Lord Abinger, Chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer; Benjamin N. Cardozo, of the New York Court of Appeals; John J. Francis, of the New Jersey Supreme Court; William L. Prosser, of the University of California; and Roger J. Traynor, of the California Supreme Court. There would be debate as to which one of these five was most important in the development of the law, but if one considers the current state of the law in this country, then Justice Traynor's contribution may well prevail. It certainly warrants the action of the editors of the Hofstra Law Review in dedicating this issue on products liability to him.