Product Liability
Product liability is the area of law in which manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, retailers, and others who make products available to the public are held responsible for the injuries those products cause. If you have lost a loved one or suffered from and injury resulted from a defective product resulting from someone else’s negligence, you should not have to shoulder the financial burden alone.
General Product Liability
Each year in the U.S., a million people or more are injured because of defective products. Defective products come in many…
Defective Products
Product defects arise most prominently in legal contexts, where the term is applied to “anything that renders the product not reasonably safe…
Defective Child Products
It is customary for new children to be welcomed into the world with a shower of gifts, including things like walkers, highchairs, strollers…
Defective Vehicle Parts
In the U.S., the value of the automotive aftermarket is estimated at roughly $257 billion. Altering, augmenting or modifying…
Defective Medical Devices
In recent history, medical devices have revolutionized the field of medicine and healthcare, but when medical devices are defective…
Defective Farm Equipments
Occupations in the field of agriculture are among the most dangerous jobs in the U.S. Every day, roughly 500 farm and agricultural…
What Is Product Liability?
In the U.S. alone, every year more than one million people are injured because of a defective product. These products can take a variety of forms, like defective medical devices, defective consumer products, defective automobiles and automobile parts, etc.
Product Liability refers to the liability of every party up and down the manufacturing chain of that product for the damage or injury caused by that product. The manufacturer of component parts (the top of the chain), an assembling manufacturer, the wholesaler and the retail store owner (the lowest rung of the chain) are all potentially liable for damages. And while ‘products’ generally are considered to be physical, tangible items of personal property, product liability law has expanded the umbrella of ‘product’ to include writings (like navigational charts), intangibles (like natural gas), naturals (like pets), real estate (like houses) and others.
As there is no federal product liability law, litigation varies enormously from state to state, and you need a law firm that has experience and success litigating product liability lawsuits. Don’t entrust your suit to a firm that does not have the expertise to fully inform you of your rights and options.
Products liability claims are generally founded on claims of negligence, strict liability or breach of warranty of fitness. But in any case, a successful suit must prove that the product in question is defective, usually in one of three ways:
Types of Product Defects
Marketing Defects
These defects exist in the documentation provided along with the product, including improper instructions and failures to warn consumers of known dangers in the product.
Design Defects
These defects are inherent, existing before the product is physically made or manufactured. An item might do what it is intended to do perfectly well, but may also be unreasonably dangerous or harmful due to a design flaw.
Manufacturing Defects
These defects occur in the construction or fabrication of a product, meaning that just a few of many of the line of products may be flawed.
Defend Yourself in the Event of an Accident
Product liability offenses are ‘strict liability’ offenses. Strict liability means that proving liability does not depend on the degree of caution or carefulness by the defendant. In other words, a defendant is liable when it is proven that the product is defective, regardless of whether the manufacturer or supplier exercised care or caution. A defective product that causes harm means liability, period.
Product liability or defective product litigation often requires the use of expert witnesses, who can provide valuable, specific insight into the product, and whom can be a costly to employ. We at Garcia and Ochoa have both the connections and resources needed to find, hire and utilize the experts needed to build the best possible case.
Don’t entrust your product liability lawsuit to a lawyer or firm without the experience, history of success and resources needed to ensure that justice is served and you receive all the compensation to which you are entitled. Contact us today, and ask for a free consultation, so that we can review the details of your case and advise you on the best possible next step for you and your case.
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