Product liability claims seek to hold manufacturers, suppliers, and sellers responsible when their products injure people. These claims are based on the concept of strict liability. If you are pursuing such a claim, it’s important to understand that product liability prosecution aims to ensure that those responsible for unsafe products are held accountable.
For example, a manufacturer can be held liable for injuries caused by a power tool that backfires. This is because the product did not meet the ordinary expectations of a consumer.
Manufacturing Defects
Many products people use regularly at home or at work can cause significant injury and even wrongful death when they are defective. Such products include window coverings, appliances, electronics, toys, automobile tires, power tools, ladders, construction equipment, sports equipment, e-cigarettes and other consumer goods. Manufacturing defects are errors that occur during the production process and can affect a single item or an entire line of products.
Design defects, on the other hand, involve flaws in a product’s original design that render it unreasonably dangerous for consumers. Proving these cases often requires demonstrating that a safer alternative design was feasible and could have been produced without sacrificing the product’s functionality or cost.
Defining the nature of the defect and how it caused the plaintiff’s harm is also crucial. This typically involves gathering comprehensive medical records and expert testimony to establish causation. A jury must understand how the defect directly led to the victim’s injury and losses.
Design Defects
A product’s design is crucial to its safety. Unlike manufacturing defects, which may affect only one or more products, a design defect can impact an entire line of manufactured goods.
Manufacturers are legally required to produce safe products, and a product may be considered defectively designed if it poses an unreasonably dangerous risk of injury to consumers. For example, if a vehicle’s inherently unstable design makes it prone to rollover accidents that result in severe injuries or death, a lawsuit could be filed.
Some jurisdictions apply a risk-utility test to determine whether or not a product is defective. This test requires plaintiffs to prove that an alternative safer design exists and that it is feasible for the manufacturer to implement without excessively sacrificing product functionality.
A Detroit, Grand Rapids & Traverse City product liability attorney can help victims recover damages in cases involving manufacturing problems or design defects. Your lawyer will conduct a thorough investigation of your case, including reviewing any available documentation and analyzing expert opinions to establish the merits of your claim.
Marketing Defects
While it is easy to imagine that defective products are created by greedy corporate executives who cut corners in order to turn a quick profit, the truth is that corporations can also be responsible for dangerous items even when they don’t set out with any sort of evil intent. In these cases, the defective item is actually a result of poor design or marketing.
A product’s design flaws exist before any manufacturing occurs and can create foreseeable risks for consumers. These claims are most often filed against the company that designed the product. Examples include recalled or dangerous pharmaceuticals, recreational equipment, power tools and more.
A claim can be filed against anyone in the chain of distribution who sells the item. This includes the manufacturer, wholesalers and retailers. Generally, the injured party must be able to prove that they suffered injury because of either a manufacturing defect, design flaw or a failure to warn. This can be a challenge because manufacturers will often argue that the injury victim failed to use their product as intended.
Failure to Warn
When a product comes with inadequate instructions or warnings, it is a violation of consumer protection laws. This type of lawsuit can help victims recover damages for their medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, and more. Lawyers who are familiar with failure-to-warn cases can evaluate the product, its packaging, and your injury to identify any foreseeable risks that could have been avoided with appropriate labeling or instructions.
Manufacturers are required to include clear and obvious warnings about any foreseeable dangers that a product poses. For example, electric power tools should have warnings about potential electrical hazards and flammability.
To win a claim for failure-to-warn, plaintiffs must prove that the defendant knew about the risk and did not take adequate measures to inform consumers. This may require showing that the risk was not open and obvious, or that it should have been reasonably foreseeable to the defendant through testing, research, or industry standards. A successful case also requires establishing that the lack of proper warnings caused the victim’s injuries.