Vita: What Attorneys Need to Know About the New EU Product Liability Directive
December 9 marks a key deadline for European Union member states: each country will be obligated to conform its existing laws to the EU's Product Liability Directive, Directive (EU) 2024/2853, adopted in 2024. Shook Partner Bill Vita discusses the updated product liability directive in an article for Interact Law's newsletter.
In “What Attorneys Across the Globe Need to Know About the New EU Product Liability Directive,” Vita says the directive represents the most significant reform of European product liability law in four decades, substantially expanding concepts of product, damage and potentially liable parties. Additionally, he says the directive strengthens claimants’ procedural tools through disclosure obligations and evidentiary presumptions.
“For attorneys around the globe, the transition period before the December 2026 implementation deadline provides a critical window to advise clients on compliance, risk allocation, contract drafting, indemnity agreements, product governance, and litigation preparedness,” he says. “As software, AI, and connected technologies become increasingly central to modern commerce, the new Directive ensures that EU product liability law is no longer anchored solely in the physical products of the twentieth century.”
Read the article in Interact Law >>
In “What Attorneys Across the Globe Need to Know About the New EU Product Liability Directive,” Vita says the directive represents the most significant reform of European product liability law in four decades, substantially expanding concepts of product, damage and potentially liable parties. Additionally, he says the directive strengthens claimants’ procedural tools through disclosure obligations and evidentiary presumptions.
“For attorneys around the globe, the transition period before the December 2026 implementation deadline provides a critical window to advise clients on compliance, risk allocation, contract drafting, indemnity agreements, product governance, and litigation preparedness,” he says. “As software, AI, and connected technologies become increasingly central to modern commerce, the new Directive ensures that EU product liability law is no longer anchored solely in the physical products of the twentieth century.”
Read the article in Interact Law >>