Supreme Court of Florida
In Re: Standard Jury Instructions in Civil Cases - Report No. 19-03
February 27, 2020
Summary
The court authorized proposed amendments to Florida's standard civil jury instructions concerning strict liability, failure to warn, comparative fault, defenses, burdens of proof, and a products-liability model instruction. The amendments clarify that a plaintiff may use the consumer-expectations test without being required to use the risk/benefit test, add a manufacturing-time state-of-the-art consideration, revise fault-apportionment language, and add a learned-intermediary defense instruction. The court expressly stated that authorization does not resolve the legal correctness or applicability of the instructions.