Product liability is an area of the law that addresses situations in which someone suffers injuries due to products they use. Responsibility for these injuries can be placed on manufacturers, distributors, retailers, suppliers, and anyone who makes these products accessible to the public. Although you may not know it, defective products cause thousands of injuries every year in this country alone.
If you have suffered an injury from a defective product, there are two ways in which you can bring a claim against the responsible party. This can be either through strict liability or negligence. The difference between them is that negligence requires that you prove that the defendant acted negligently while strict liability does not. To be successful, you would have to prove that one or more defects existed. These may be defects in the manufacturing of the product, in its design, or in the way it was marketed. Once this has been established, you would have to prove that it was this defect that caused your injuries.
These are the main types of product liability claims.
Manufacturing Defects
In this case, your claim is simply that you were injured because there was a specific problem with the way the product was manufactured. This could be a mistake while in the assembly line, which resulted in this product being different from others similar to it. An example could be a blow dryer in which the wires were not installed correctly, causing it to burst into flames when you turned it on.
Design Defects
In these cases, the issue was not related to how the product was manufactured but that whoever made the blueprints or drew out the specifications failed to consider any foreseeable risks. If this happened to you, you must prove that there were unsafe elements to the design and that the product could have been designed in a safer way.
Marketing Defects or Failures to Warn
Manufacturers must include instructions with their products as to how they are supposed to be used. This does not apply to obvious items such as warning users that a knife will be sharp. Most of these types of claims are related to pharmaceutical products that do not warn users of possible side effects or household products that fail to warn potential users of the chemicals that are included and the risks they may pose.
Breach of Warranty
Many products are accompanied by a written warranty. However, there are instances in which the product fails to live up to the specifications of the warranty. Claims related to breach of warranty may argue that the product was really not fit for the purpose for which it was marketed. These types of warranties sometimes depend on the interaction that the customer has with the vendor.
Get Legal Help for Your Injuries
If you have been injured by a product, you may be dealing with medical and financial issues with no end in sight. When you schedule an appointment with personal injury lawyers in Jacksonville, FL, you can have the opportunity to talk about your case. Your personal injury lawyer can then explain to you the legal options available to you in order to recover your damages. This way, you can focus your energy on recovering your health.
