Product liability lawsuits steming from the personal injury or wrongful death of people using defectively designed or manufactured products have become ever more common as victims grow to understand and defend their legal rights under product liability law.
The phrase "product liability" is used to describe situations in which a person or property is injured or damaged in some way due to defective products or services. Product liability is not a legal theory like
strict liability,
negligence, or
intentional torts. Rather, the phrase simply means that the supplier, manufacturer, seller, or provider of a product or service may be held liable for any
injury or damage caused by such product or service.
From the standpoint of a product liability lawyer, there are generally two scenarios that can create product liability. The first of these involves defective design and the second that of defective manufacture.
Product liability related to defective design occurs when the engineering process used by a company to design a product is faulty, resulting in a product that is unnecessarily dangerous. With design defects, all of the items that come off a company's assembly line have the same potentially dangerous defect.
On the other hand,
product liability related to defective manufacture occurs when a product is not manufactured as originally designed. While there may be nothing wrong with the product's original design, the manner in which it is assembled is flawed. With a manufacturing defect, the problem is usually not common to all of the items which roll off the company's assembly line, but rather with only a few.
Although voluntary
product recalls may involve either scenario, there often lurk behind that oft stated, altruistic motive of "consumer protection" goals more closely allied with corporate survival: that of managing the risk of
product liability, and that of keeping
product liability lawsuits to a minimum.
Needless to say however, that some types of product defects can cause catastrophic personal injury, unforeseen medical expenses, lost work, property damage, or the tragic loss of a loved one. All for which product designers or their manufacturers may be held accountable under
product liability law.
Over the past several decades, innovation and modern manufacturing processes have brought innumerable consumer products to make life easier, more productive, and even safer. Unfortunately, some defective and sometimes deadly ones have emerged at the same time.
For such reason,
product liability law has risen to the defense of injured consumers.
If you or a loved one has recently been seriously injured, or experienced a financial loss as the result of a defective or dangerous product, current
product liability law may grant you specific legal rights to compensation by the designer or manufacturer.
In such case, it could be very important for you to
contact a product liability lawyer who can help you claim your legal rights. Because each state has Statutes of Limitation that govern
time limits within which you must commence a product liability lawsuit, it is important to do this soon after the injury occurs.
Product liability lawyers associated with InjuryBoard.com will evaluate your case
free of charge. In addition, you will not pay any fees or costs unless your attorney recovers compensatory damages in your behalf. Please click on the free
Ask An Attorney button to take advantage of this valuable service.
Please visit links listed under Sub-Categories to learn more about recent
product recalls, consumer alerts, and current
product liability lawsuits that are more specific to your immediate needs.
See Also
- AMO Complete MoisturePlus Recall
- ALENTI Patient Lifts
- Auto Accidents Caused by Cell Phones & PDAs
- Automobiles & Other Vehicles
- Bausch & Lomb ReNu with MoistureLoc
- Beauty & Personal Hygene Products: Overview
- Bleachers
- Bungee Cords
- Children's Products
- Cigarettes & Tobacco
- Clothing: Overview
- defective-child-car-seats
- Electric Blankets
- Elevators
- Escalators
- Food Products & Restaurants
- Gas Cans
- Gas Station Static Electricity Fires
- Hospital Bed Fires
- Dangerous Household Products: Overview
- Ladders
- Medibo Minerva Patient Lift
- Minstrel Patient Lifts
- Miscellaneous Products: Overview
- Moving Solutions Patient Lifts
- Multi-Purpose Lighters
- Portable Generators
- Second Chance Body Armor Bulletproof Vests
- Sporting Goods: Overview
- Wired Glass
- Product Liability, Frequently Asked Questions