PUERTO RICO Law and Practice Contributed by: Mónica Ramos-Benítez and Roberto A. Cámara-Fuertes, Ferraiuoli LLC
2.11 Appeal Mechanisms for Product Liability Claims There are no specific appellate rules or mechanisms for product liability cases. Once a final judgment has been entered and noti - fied, Rule 47 of the Puerto Rico Rules of Civil Pro - cedure provides the affected party with 15 days to file a motion for reconsideration. Provided the motion complies with Rule 47, it tolls the time for filing an appeal. When the court finally adjudicates the motion for reconsideration, the party will have a jurisdictional period of 30 days to file an appeal in the Puerto Rico Court of Appeals. See PR Rule 52.2 of Civil Proce - dure. Once the Court of Appeals enters judgment, the affected party has a jurisdictional period of 30 days to file a discretionary petition for certiorari to the PR Supreme Court. Id. The PR Rules of Civil Procedure contemplate judicial review of certain interlocutory orders and resolutions through petitions for certiorari to the Court of Appeals, which must be filed within 30 days from the order or resolution. Id. If the interlocutory order or resolution is related to injunctive relief, provisional remedies or to the denial of a dispositive motion, the Court of Appeals has no discretion to decide whether to review the petition. See PR Rule 52.1 of Civil Procedure. However, the Court of Appeals has the discretion to decide whether to review the petition if the interlocu - tory order or resolution is related to the admissibility of fact witnesses or essential experts, matters relating to evidentiary privileges, entries of default, in cases of family relations and public interest, or in any other circumstance in which waiting for an appeal would constitute an irremediable failure of justice. Id. 2.12 Defences to Product Liability Claims The following are among the most common affirmative defences to product liability claims. • Substantial Modification or Alteration: A plaintiff is barred from recovery when the injuries resulted from alterations or substantial modifications made by a third party to the product that rendered it unsafe or defective.
• whether the testimony is based on sufficient facts or information; • whether the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods; • whether the witness applied the principles and methods reliably to the facts of the case; • whether the principle underlying the testimony has been generally accepted in the scientific commu - nity; • the qualifications or credentials of the witness, and • the bias of the witness. An expert’s opinions or inferences may be based on facts or data perceived by them or within their per - sonal knowledge or reported to them before or dur - ing the trial or hearing. See PR Rule 704 of Evidence. The facts or data do not have to be admissible in evi - dence if experts in that field reasonably rely on it to form opinions or make inferences about the matter in question, but the proponent of the opinion may not disclose them to the jury unless the court determines that their probative value in assisting the jury to evalu - ate the expert testimony is substantially greater than their prejudicial effect. Id. 2.9 Burden of Proof in Product Liability Cases The plaintiff in all product liability cases bears the bur - den of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the product is unreasonably dangerous (that a defect exists) and that said unreasonably dangerous condition (the defect) caused the damages claimed. All the required elements of the cause of action must be proven. It should be noted, however, that in design defect claims, Article 1544 (b) of the new Civil Code of 2020, in codifying the risk-utility test, appears to have created a burden-shifting framework where, once the plaintiff has established that a defect exists and that the defect caused the harm, the burden of proving the reasonableness of the design shifts to the defendant. 2.10 Courts in Which Product Liability Claims Are Brought Claims can be brought either in the Superior Courts of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, where the case will be tried and decided by a judge, or in the US Dis - trict Court for the District of Puerto Rico, where the case would be decided by a jury.
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