Assuming that the Third Circuit wouldn’t take an interlocutory appeal from Ford, which is arguing for the application of the Restatement (Third) of Torts in a case headed for trial next month, U.S. District Judge Arthur Schwab of the Western District of Pennsylvania denied the car company’s motion for a stay.
Schwab, who is handling the case, intends to stick with his decision to apply the Restatement (Second) of Torts because the Pennsylvania Supreme Court hasn’t yet adopted the new Restatement, although the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has predicted that it would since 2009. Since then, there have been differing opinions from district court judges about which standard properly applies in products liability cases tried in diversity jurisdiction.
