Defective Product Attorneys
Defective Products: Frequently Asked Questions
When it comes to the law and regulations surrounding defective products, we often see some familiar questions making themselves known time and time again. Rather than covering them individually, we thought it would provide a much better resource if we combined them into this FAQ guide. If you, or anybody you know, needs the answer to the questions we have today, feel free to share this guide and spread the knowledge!
Who is Liable After a Recalled Product Injures You?
Every year, many products around the United States are recalled due to safety concerns. For example, it could be that the regulatory bodies have found design faults, manufacturing errors, or that products contain a lack of warnings on the labels. Just because a product is recalled, however, this doesn’t automatically pull them from the homes of thousands of people.
Often, the product recall is too late for many. Consumers still have dangerous products in their homes, they don’t see the recall, and they experience injuries from the manufacturing error or faulty design.
What happens if you experienced a recalled product injury? We recommend contacting a personal injury attorney, and we can help at The Injury Firm.
Recalled Product Injury
In truth, there are many ways in which somebody can experience a recalled product injury. While some are hurt or injured by medicine, a motor vehicle, or an electronic device, others are harmed by packaging, foodstuff, or another product. Therefore, there’s no way that we can address every potential issue here today. However, what we can say is that you may be entitled to compensation if a recalled product has caused an injury (and led to damages!).
Depending on the extent of the case, you could have suffered from chemical burns, choking, TBI (traumatic brain injury), burns, broken bones, spinal cord damage, back injuries, or something else entirely. Whatever your injury, make sure you contact a personal injury attorney today.
Liability with Recalled Product Injuries
With this in mind, who is responsible if you’re injured by a recalled product? In Florida, strict liability laws ensure that consumers have protection when something goes wrong. For example, law 768.81 says that victims only need to prove that they used the product as suggested by the instructions. If this caused an injury, they’re entitled to compensation.
If you’re not based in Florida, we recommend researching your local state laws. For example, victims in Tennessee are required to do more to prove the defect and that the manufacturer acted unreasonably.
The law might be easier in Florida than in many other states, but this doesn’t mean that you should forgo legal representation. As you can imagine, very rarely do manufacturers and large brands admit to their errors. In a dream world, they would hold up their hands and pay compensation. In reality, they hire advanced legal teams and do everything they can to avoid paying compensation. If they can avoid compensation, they limit damage to their reputation.
The Injury Firm has extensive resources to help your case. Your personal injury attorney will assess your recalled product injury and discuss whether you’re entitled to compensation. If so, we’ll protect your legal rights, negotiate with the insurance company, collate all paperwork, and chase the compensation that you deserve. This may include medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life.
Contact The Injury Firm today!
What are the different kinds of defective product liability claims?
In truth, there is a whole manner of different defective product claims depending on the case in question. Assuming you have been injured as a result of a defective product, your first step should be to contact a professional and reliable attorney. From here, they’ll recommend the next steps and it could involve the following types of cases;
Defective Design - Firstly, did product liability arise from poor design? Did the manufacturer miss an important danger with their design? Could they have prevented injury by working on a better design where the same danger isn't present? If you were injured due to a defective design, it’s important to get the message out there because other consumers will be at risk.
If we look at a couple of examples, it could be an electric blanket that overheats and causes a fire hazard when turned up high. Elsewhere, it could be a car that stalls the engine every time you go at a certain speed or in a certain gear. With regards to your injury, it must have been a direct result of the defective design.
Defective Production - With product liability, this is perhaps the most common issue and it comes from a problem in the manufacturing process. Whether the machinery was to blame, human error, or even the way the material interacted with the machinery, injuries can result from these circumstances. For example, this could include a food product with a risk of containing plastic, a swing set with a weakened chain, or brake pads missing from a vehicle.
Once again, your injury must be a direct result of defective production. If we take the vehicle example, what would happen if you misjudged a corner and injured yourself after veering off the road? Well, you would have to prove, with the help of a professional, that the missing brake pads caused the accident as opposed to your mistake.
Lack of Instruction or Warning - Finally, to round off the three most common types of defective product liability claims, we have a company failing to meet the instructional or labeling demands placed on them. Did they let a kettle leave their factory without the instruction manual? Did the company not provide instructions for safe use with corrosive paint? As long as your injury was caused by the company’s negligence, you will have a case moving forward.
Once you get in contact and start working with a reliable attorney, you can decide on the right type of case for your lawsuit.
Who is to blame if I sustain an injury by a faulty product?
If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of a defective product or perhaps even a dangerous property, you could have a case against the manufacturer, retailer, or owner. Unfortunately, defective products and premises are both still huge issues and they certainly need addressing. If you need help, please contact a professional as soon as possible to get the compensation you deserve for lost wages, medical bills, pain and suffering, and more.
Defective Product - If we start with defective products, the manufacturers have a responsibility to provide end-users with a safe product. If there is an element of danger, such as the chemicals within the paint, the product needs to come with the appropriate warnings, labeling, and instructions. If you have been injured despite following the instructions and using the product as it was intended, you should have a case. Depending on the circumstance, you could file a defective design, defective manufacturing, or insufficient labeling/instructions case against the company.
Defective Premises - Alternatively, you could have been injured on the property of another individual or business. If this is the case, there are a couple of considerations to make before anything else. For example, did the owner have a duty to keep the premises safe? Were you invited to the property/did you have a right to be there? Were you using the property normally? As long as you were abiding by the law and not doing anything out of the ordinary, you may well have a lawsuit.
Who Is Responsible? - Starting with product liability, this can be anybody involved in getting the product from the factory to the hands of the customer. While the manufacturing company is normally responsible for design and production errors, some cases will also involve the retailer since they have a duty to check all products they sell. If you were using the product incorrectly or if you went against the instructions, you would be responsible.
With defective premises, these cases can be a little difficult since the occupier can be different to the owner. If so, finding liability depends on the role of both parties, what property it is, who had a duty, and more. With a rented apartment, the occupier generally takes responsibility for all movable items inside the apartment while the landlord has responsibility for all immovable objects and everything outside the apartment.
What must I prove in order to win my defective product liability lawsuit?
For you to win the lawsuit, there are a few things you need to prove;
Injury or Loss - Unfortunately, what ‘could have happened isn't good enough for a lawsuit so there needs to be some form of monetary loss or injury. Of course, the term ‘injury’ is all-encompassing and could include a whole manner of things from burns to broken bones.
Defective Product - From here, you must prove that the product that caused the injury is defective. Ultimately, the ease of doing this will depend on the product and the claim you’re making. While some can be incredibly tough, others can be simple like a clear fault in the design. Not only can the product that caused the injury be checked, all products that left the factory can be assessed for the design error.
Connection Between the Two - From here, there needs to be a distinct connection between your injury and the defective product. Once again, this can be tough or quite simple depending on the case in question. If there’s a fault in a vehicle but you also misjudged a corner, as we discussed earlier, it would be difficult to prove the defect as the main cause since your mistake may have also played a role.
Your Actions - If your attorney can prove the link, the next step will be to prove that you were using the product as it was designed and intended. For example, a kettle should be used to heat water (within the minimum and maximum lines) for drinks and cooking purposes. If you decide to pour boiling water into the wading pool for your children and there’s an accident, the case may not be valid.
Professional Help - As you can see, the process of gathering proof can be somewhat difficult which is why we always advise professional assistance. If you team up with a service that can offer experience and the right skills, they’ll investigate everything on your behalf and you can concentrate on getting healthy once again.
When Can You Sue a Manufacturer Because of a Defective Product?
Every year, consumers trust businesses to provide safe and reliable products. Think about the number of items you use daily including showerheads, cars, chairs, TVs, kettles, microwaves, hair straighteners, and more. Every single item has been manufactured by a company and we expect to enjoy a safe experience. We expect the microwave to cook food or warm up liquid safely, we expect chairs to hold our weight when used appropriately, and we expect cars to behave as designed (for example, braking when applying the brake pedal!).
Unfortunately, the many cases against manufacturers show that accidents still happen. Whether through faulty design or poor manufacturing, innocent consumers are hurt by malfunctioning products. The good news is that you may be able to claim compensation in this situation.
Contact a defective product attorney today to receive advice on how to proceed with a potential case.
Can You Sue a Manufacturer for a Defective Product?
Thanks to Florida product liability laws, consumers are protected against defective products. Manufacturers must meet certain standards and ensure that all products are safe for public consumption. Therefore, these same laws protect consumers when something goes wrong.
Ultimately, suing a manufacturer for a defective product is a difficult process, and this is why you need a personal injury attorney. The Injury Firm will help you to prove that you were using the product as intended and were harmed as a result. Naturally, you cannot claim compensation for a defective product if you weren’t following the instructions or directly went against the instructions.
If you weren’t to blame, you could claim compensation if you experienced damages because of the accident. For example, this could mean medical bills, long-term injuries, lost income, pain and suffering, and other economic and non-economic damages. If you were an innocent party, you shouldn’t have to deal with lasting financial implications and emotional distress.
As mentioned, Florida has strict liability rules, and this means that a defective product attorney doesn’t need to prove that the company was negligent. Instead, it’s important to prove that you were using the product correctly or that the company should have added risks/dangers to the packaging of the product.
In some cases, The Injury Firm has brought cases against manufacturers because they breached the product warranty. If this is the case in your position, feel free to get in contact today.
The Injury Firm
If a defective product has hurt you, make sure that the first step is to contact a personal injury attorney. The stronger the case, the more likely the manufacturer is to settle outside of court…but only if you have the right representation applying the right pressure. The Injury Firm has the experience, knowledge, and resources you need. If the insurance company doesn’t offer a fair settlement, we’ll pursue a lawsuit.
Don’t let an accident ruin the financial future of your family - allow The Injury Firm to protect your legal rights and help you recover compensation when you need it the most. You can sue a manufacturer because of a defective product if you were using the product correctly and it caused injuries and other damages. If you have any questions, reach out to the expert defective product attorneys at The Injury Firm!
How long do I have to file a defective product liability claim?
If you’re thinking of filing a lawsuit as a result of an injury caused by a defective product, you might be wondering exactly how long you have to take action after the incident has occurred. In legal terms, the time limit on cases is known as the ‘statute of limitations'. These days, each state will have its own statute of limitations and they’re specific to each case type which means that defective product liability claims will have their own time limit in your state.
Although we can’t list the 50 states here today, we can say that no state has a statute of limitations for defective product cases that lasts less than one year. While some offer two years, most extend this to three years and there is a handful that even offers four years. Essentially, this means that you have four years from the date of the incident to file a claim.
While on this question, it’s important to note that not every case will have the clock start on the day of the incident. If your injuries aren't discovered until a number of months later, such as the case with damage to the lungs after inhaling chemicals and dangerous fumes, you may be allowed to file a claim even after the statute of limitations for normal cases. In some states, the statute of limitations begins as soon as the injury is discovered and this allows for leeway for those who have injuries like those discussed previously.
If you’re not sure or have experienced an injury of any kind, we highly recommend enlisting the help of professionals as soon as possible. Rather than waiting, it’s always best to get the ball rolling not only so you don’t fall foul of the statute of limitations but also because it will allow your attorney to gather the evidence more efficiently. The longer you leave it, the harder it will be to gather evidence.
At The Injury Firm, we can help with our superb team and extensive experience with product liability claims. At 954-951-0000, you can get started with a free consultation!
