New Texas Auto Auction Services, L.P. v. Gomez De Hernandez

Auctioneers are usually neither buyers nor sellers, but agents for both. 1 While they are obviously engaged in sales, the only thing they sell for their own account is their services; the items they auction are generally sold for others. In this case, the court of appeals held an auto auctioneer could be liable in both strict liability and negligence for auctioning a defective car. But product-liability law requires those who place products in the stream of commerce to stand behind them; it does not require everyone who facilitates the stream to do the same. Accordingly, we reverse.

I.…