Product liability laws exist to protect people who sustain injuries while using products they’ve purchased from companies. Anyone injured while using a product they bought can file a personal injury lawsuit in the hopes of collecting compensation from a defendant.
A recent National Safety Council report reveals that more than 10 million Americans visit emergency rooms each year after sustaining injuries caused by defective consumer products. They typically suffer these injuries when using electronics, appliances, bicycles, medical devices, children’s toys, and even vehicles. Some go on to hire a product liability lawyer to take a defective product case to court.
Were you injured while using a product you believe was defective? Hiring a personal injury lawyer to handle your case might put you in a position to collect compensation following an accident involving a defective product or even something like a car accident caused by a defective part within your vehicle. Learn more about product liability cases below.
What Is Product Liability?
Product liability is a legal reference to the liability that product manufacturers and companies that sell products take on when people are injured while using defective products.
People who purchase products and use them as intended have a right to expect that products will work like they’re supposed to and not cause harm. If using defective products properly for their intended purpose results in personal injury, they also have the right to take legal action against manufacturers and/or sellers during product liability cases.
Product liability laws have changed quite a bit within the U.S. over the years. Once upon a time, only those who bought products could file defective product claims in court. But these days, almost anyone injured by a defective product can file a claim in pursuit of compensation from a defendant and/or their respective insurance company.
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What Are the Different Types of Product Liability?
There are a handful of different types of product liability you should have on your radar when it comes to defective products. One extremely prevalent type of product liability is design defects. Certain products contain defects that make them dangerous from the start, and these tend to be some of the easiest cases to take to court.
Other types of product liability include the following:
- Manufacturing defects, which refer to any issues that arise with products during the production phase
- Failure to warn, which alludes to when manufacturers and/or sellers neglect to warn consumers about the possible risks associated with products
- Warranty breaches, which occur when manufacturers and/or sellers don’t honor the warranties they originally extended to consumers
When manufacturers mass produce defective products, they often find themselves at the center of class action lawsuits. These lawsuits involve numerous plaintiffs all seeking compensation for the same reason. Plaintiffs can split legal costs and may find it easier to prove their claims due to the power in numbers.
What Are Common Examples of Product Liability?
According to the Harvard Business School, about 30,000 new products enter the market in the U.S. each year. Because of this, there’s no shortage of examples of product liability. At least a small percentage of this new product pool will always include a few defective products that cause legal complications for the companies behind them.
Some common examples of product liability are:
- Defective car parts that automakers eventually recall
- Defective medical devices that do more harm than good once they’re used by those suffering from certain conditions
- Defective toys that contain small parts that can break off and turn into choking hazards for children
- Defective ladder rungs that break while a person is standing on them, causing them to fall
- Batteries that fail to include a warning about the potential to combust under high temperatures
- Mislabeled baby formula that fails to state a certain ingredient, leading to allergic reactions
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What Does a Plaintiff Need To Prove During a Product Liability Case?
Just because someone is injured while using a product doesn’t automatically prove the product is defective. Those filing these product liability claims through a personal injury attorney must establish certain parameters during a case to collect compensation.
The plaintiff in a defective product case must prove the following:
- They purchased a certain product, and it had defects that made it dangerous to use
- They used this product as intended and didn’t deviate from the instructions for using it or show negligence on their part
- They sustained injuries that required medical attention while using a defective product
- They need compensation to recover physical and/or emotional damages
Proving a product liability case can present challenges for even an experienced personal injury lawyer. However, an attorney can evaluate a case involving a defective product and come up with a robust strategy to help a plaintiff argue their case in court.
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Is Filing a Product Liability Case Through a Personal Injury Lawyer Worth It?
Of all the different types of personal injury claims that people can file, product liability claims usually offer some of the largest average judgments in cases that end up going to trial. The Insurance Information Institute discovered that the average jury award in defective product cases is over $7 million. This figure is almost three times the average jury award in personal injury cases in general, which is just under $2.5 million.
Hiring a personal injury attorney to handle a defective product case can help a person earn the settlement or judgment they need to cover the cost of medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and more.
About Accident Hotline
Accident Hotline is a trustworthy resource for those exploring the idea of hiring a product liability lawyer. We can match you with an experienced product liability attorney in your area who can guide you through the compensation process.
If you were injured while using a defective product, contact us today to start your search for the right attorney in your area. Set the legal process in motion by calling us at (844) 343-9609 to schedule a free consultation with one of our knowledgeable agents.
For a free consultation, call 844-343-9609