Law360, New York ( December 21, 2015, 12:24 PM EST) -- The Florida Supreme Court recently issued a significant decision affecting all strict product liability/design defect cases going forward. In Aubin v. Union Carbide, (Fla. Oct. 29, 2015), the court rejected the Restatement (Third) of Torts "risk-utility" test in favor of the Restatement (Second) of Torts "consumer-expectation" test. The consumer-expectation test examines whether a product is unreasonably dangerous because it failed to perform as safely as a reasonable consumer would expect when using it as intended or in a reasonably foreseeable manner. The risk-utility test, on the other hand, poses a higher burden for claimants. It focuses on whether the utility of a product outweighs any risk of using it. It also requires the plaintiff to prove that an alternative reasonable design existed. The court effectively made it easier for Florida courts to determine whether a defendant's product is defective, since it is no longer necessary to show an alternative reasonable design....