Private Law Theory

ABSTRACT
There has been an explosion in e-commerce consumer sales transactions over the past few years – a trend that increased significantly during the pandemic. But what happens when one of those products is defective and causes injuries to the purchaser? The vendors of products sold through these internet transactions are often foreign entities beyond the jurisdiction of the US courts. Others are domestic companies who close their accounts and disappear when things go awry.

This article addresses the various approaches taken by the courts and offers the author’s view about potential remedies available to consumers.

Jacobsen, Kenneth, Navigating [The] Amazon: Liability of E-Commerce Companies for Defective Products Sold Through Their Internet Websites (October 3, 2021), 71 DePaul Law Review 87 (2022).