Product Liability - Attorneys and Law

When you buy a product, you expect that product to work as intended. At a very minimum, you expect that the product will not cause you injury. Unfortunately, not all products are properly tested or properly manufactured, and sometimes things go wrong. It can happen with almost any product, from a car with defective breaks to a drug that causes unexpected side effects or dangers. If you are hurt by a product that was supposed to help you, the law protects you from this defective product by allowing you to bring product liability accident claims.

Understanding Product Liability Claims

Product liability claims are a form of personal injury case that occurs when you are hurt by a bad product. These personal injury claims can occur as a result of:

• Design/manufacturing defects in a product
• Defective drugs
• A medical device that malfunctions
• Tire defects
• Design problems with a vehicle

In general, any time a product harms you, you may be able to recover damages for a product liability claim.

Proving Your Product Liability Claim

In many cases, proving a product liability claim is simpler than proving other types of accident claims. Proving the claim is simpler because most states have instituted strict liability laws.

Strict liability means that the manufacturer or producer of the product didn’t need to be negligent in the design or creation of the product to be held liable for your injuries. Various implied warranties, including the implied warranty of merchantability and the implied warranty of fitness, mandate that a product must work in the manner it is intended to. This means if a person uses a product the way he should and he gets hurt, liability attaches.

Who is Responsible?

In a strict liability product liability claim, anyone who was responsible for getting the product into the hands of the consumer can be held responsible. This can include the manufacturer, the producer, the people who made each of the parts of the product, and even the salesperson who sold the product to you.

The purpose of strict liability is to make sure that manufacturers and producers do careful testing. If a manufacturer knows he can be held accountable, he will take extra steps to make sure anything he puts on the market is safe.

Bringing A Product Liability Claim

Anyone who is hurt by a defective product can sue. However, when a product is bad, it usually hurts many people, not just one. As a result, often product liability claims turn into class action lawsuits where a number of people group together with a similar claim. Each member of the class will be part of one lawsuit, and each will get a portion of the jury award or damages.

Working with a Product Liability Attorney

When you are hurt by a product, you should get help to figure out how to make things right. An experienced product liability attorney can assist you in many ways during a product liability claim. Your lawyer can:

• Determine whether liability exists by assessing how the product hurt you
• Help you to determine which party or parties to file suit against
• Make sure you file all court paperwork properly and that you comply with all requirements to sue, including the statute of limitations
• Assist you in gathering the evidence you need to prove that the bad product caused your injuries
• Help you to form a class action of similar plaintiffs so you can sue even in cases where the cost of suing for your own individual case might not be worth it
• Negotiate a settlement with the manufacturer so you can collect damages even if you don’t want to take the case all the way to court
• Let you know if a settlement is fair and help you to determine what damages you can expect, including damages for pain and suffering, lost wages, medical bills, emotional distress or even punitive damages

A lot of money can be at stake in a product liability claim, and you don’t want to get stuck footing the bill for your injury. By contacting a product liability lawyer, you are taking an important step in holding the maker of a bad product accountable.