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41 W. St. U. L. Rev. 57 (2013-2014)
A Knight/Li News Update: A Detailed Analysis of the Case Law Suggests that We Should Return to a Consent-Based Assumption of Risk Defense

handle is hein.journals/wsulr41 and id is 61 raw text is: A Knight/Li News Update: A Detailed Analysis of the Case Law Suggests That We Should Return to a Consent-Based Assumption of Risk Defense Christopher D. Boatman* I. INTRODUCTION ......................................................... 57 II. HISTORY ............................................................... 59 A . Li v. Yellow Cab. Co ........................................... 59 B . K night v. Jew ett ............................................... 60 C . Shin v. A hn ................................................... 6 1 D . N alw a v. Cedar Fair ............................................ 61 III. PROBLEMS ............................................................. 62 A. Inconsistent Analytical Approaches and Counterintuitive Results.. 62 1. Ford v. G ouin .............................................. 63 2. American Golf Corporation v. Superior Court ............... 65 B. The Law is as it Stands Today Because of Poor Case Interpretation .................................................. 67 1. G rey v. Fibreboard ......................................... 67 2. Li v. Yellow Cab Co ....................................... 68 3. K night v. Jew ett ........................................... 71 IV . SOLUTIONS ......................................................... 73 A. How a Return Would Solve the Counterintuitive Results and Historical Inaccuracy Problems ................................. 74 1. Counterintuitive Results .................................... 74 2. H istory .................................................... 75 B. The Unwarranted Criticisms .................................... 76 1. Incom patible with Li ....................................... 76 2. Untenable Legal Fiction .................................... 76 3. Unfair to Equal Defendants ................................. 78 4. O verload of Cases ......................................... 79 V . C ONCLUSION ....................................................... 80 I. INTRODUCTION Assumption of the risk is a defense to negligence.' Before Knight v. Jewett,2 in order for a defendant to prevail on this defense, he had to prove that the plaintiff had * J.D. Candidate, May 2014, Western State College of Law. I would like to thank Professor Philip Merkel and Jeff Guarrera, for all of their help and support in putting this article together. I especially want to thank Professor Gregory Sergienko for instilling in me a love for Torts. Without him as a Professor, this article would not have been possible. 1. See, e.g., Ford v. Gouin, 834 P.2d 724, 734 (Cal. 1992). 2. 834 P.2d 696 (Cal. 1992).

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