Fulton Product Liability Lawyer
Hundreds of consumers file product liability claims every year. From vehicles with faulty starters to medications causing side effects without proper warnings, consumers can suffer numerous damages and injuries from defective products. Although manufacturers have a legal duty to provide safe products to consumers, mistakes can slip through the cracks. Sometimes, manufacturers purposefully hide those mistakes from the public, in this case a Fulton product liability attorney may be able to help.
Types of Product Liability Claims
“Product liability” is a blanket phrase that encompasses a variety of different claims. Product liability can take the form of defective pharmaceutical drugs, improperly manufactured consumer products, or dangerously designed children’s toys. Learning the three categories of product liability will help you understand where your case fits into the legal spectrum:
- Manufacturing defects. A product’s flaw is due to an error during its manufacture, such as human error on an assembly line or a problem at the parts factory. Examples include a fan with an improperly installed protective shield or a batch of livestock food contaminated with pesticides.
- Design flaws. A product’s design makes it inherently dangerous to use. Examples include a children’s toy that catches on fire when the battery pack gets too hot or a swing set that flips if two children swing at the same time.
- Failure to provide adequate warning. A manufacturer is aware of the potential dangers of a product, but fails to attach a proper warning label. A common example of this is in a pharmaceutical product liability case, where a drug manufacturer failed to warn the public of a known dangerous side effect.
The circumstances of your product liability injury will alter the trial process. Your personal injury attorney will have a different strategy to approach different categories. For example, if your claim falls under the category of a manufacturing defect, proving that the product is defective will typically be easy. If, however, you claim a design flaw caused your injury, your product liability attorney will have to demonstrate that the product’s design presents an unreasonable danger.
Proving Your Defective Product Claim
The rules of “strict liability” come into effect when dealing with product liability cases. Strict liability states that a plaintiff does not have to prove the manufacturers’ negligence in a product liability case – he or she only has to prove that a defect in the product caused an injury. This is a significant change from most personal injury cases, where proving negligence is the most important factor in deciding the outcome of the case.
Strict liability does not make a manufacturer, distributor, or retailer automatically liable in a defective products case. However, it goes a long way toward helping injured consumers obtain compensation. Prior to strict liability laws, consumers had a hard time finding recovery for their injuries because they had to prove the manufacturer acted negligent in some way and that this negligence caused the defect.
Today, injured consumers don’t have to investigate large manufacturing companies to prove a product liability case – as long as they used the product the way manufacturers intended and the product caused an injury, they have a solid case. If you believe you have a product liability case, hire a products liability attorney who specializes in this area of law for your best chance at recovering the costs of your medical bills, pain and suffering, and lost wages.
Experienced Product Liability Attorneys in Fulton, MD
If you’ve suffered because of a defective product you used, a product liability lawyer can help. Common defective products include automobiles, transvaginal meshes, defective DePuy hip implants, prescription medications, consumer goods, and consumable goods. If these or any other defective product caused your injury, the lawyers at Discepolo Firm will stand by your side during a settlement or trial. Call 410.296.0780 or email the firm at info@discepolofirm.com.