NOTICE: This opinion is subject to motions for rehearing under Rule 22 as well as formal revision before publication in the New Hampshire Reports. Readers are requested to notify the Clerk/Reporter, Supreme Court of New Hampshire, Supreme Court Building, Concord, New Hampshire 03301, of any errors in order that corrections may be made before the opinion goes to press. Opinions are available on the Internet by 9:00 a.m. on the morning of their release. The direct address of the court's home page is:

THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

___________________________

Strafford

No. 95-350

BRUCE BUCKINGHAM, ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE

OF ROXANNE RAMSEY-BUCKINGHAM

v.

R. J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO CO. & a.

May 29, 1998

Stephen R. Fine & Associates, of Manchester (Stephen R. Fine on the brief and orally), for the plaintiff.

Ransmeier & Spellman, of Concord (Steven E. Hengen and R. Matthew Cairns on the defendants' joint brief), and Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue, of Cleveland, Ohio (Richard G. Stuhan & a. on the defendants' joint brief), for defendant R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

Sulloway & Hollis, of Concord (Edward M. Kaplan on the defendants' joint brief and orally for all defendants), and Shook, Hardy & Bacon, of Kansas City, Missouri (Walter L. Cofer & a. on the defendants' joint brief), for defendant Lorillard Tobacco Company.

Devine, Millimet & Branch, of Manchester (Matthias J. Reynolds on the defendants' joint brief), for defendant Philip Morris Incorporated.

McNeil & Taylor, of Dover (R. Peter Taylor on the defendants' joint brief), and Latham & Watkins, of New York, New York (Francis K. Decker and James Copley on the defendants' joint brief), for defendant Liggett & Myers, Inc.

Ouellette, Hallisey, Dibble & Tanguay, of Dover (Dennis L. Hallisey on the defendants' joint brief), and King & Spalding of Atlanta, Georgia (William E. Hoffman and David Onorato on the defendants' joint brief), for defendant Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation.

Upton, Sanders & Smith, of Concord (Russell F. Hilliard on the defendants' joint brief), and Chadbourne & Parke, of New York, New York (Bruce G. Sheffler and Debra Barnhart on the defendants' joint brief), for defendant The American Tobacco Company.

Sanders & McDermott, of Hampton (Wilfred L. Sanders, Jr. on the defendants' joint brief), for defendant Prescott Farms, Inc.

HORTON, J. The plaintiff, Bruce Buckingham, administrator of the estate of Roxanne Ramsey-Buckingham, appeals an order of the Superior Court (Mohl, J.) granting the motion to dismiss filed by the defendants, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Philip Morris Incorporated, Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation, Lorillard Tobacco Company, The American Tobacco Company, Liggett & Myers, Inc., and Prescott Farms, Inc. The plaintiff appeals the trial court's rulings that bystanders may not recover on a theory of strict liability in a product liability suit, that the plaintiff failed to allege that the defendants' products were defective, and that New Hampshire does not recognize a tort claim based on the Restatement (Second) of Torts