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Douglas & London, P.C.has years of experience dealing with products liability cases in
Product liability places responsibility on the manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, and vendors for damages caused by dangerous or defective products. Responsibility for a product defect that causes injury lies with all sellers of the product who are in the distribution chain. The potentially liable parties include the manufacturer, the manufacturer of component parts, the wholesaler, and the retail store that sold the product.
The goal of product liability laws is to help protect consumers from dangerous products, while holding manufacturers, distributors, and retailers responsible for putting into the marketplace products that they knew or should have known were dangerous or defective.
In the
Negligence: A basic negligence claim consists of proof of: (1) a duty owed, (2) a breach of that duty, (3) an injury, and (4) that the breach proximately caused the plaintiff's injury.
Strict Liability: Rather than focus on the behavior of the manufacturer (as in negligence), strict liability claims focus on the product itself. Under strict liability, the manufacturer is liable if the product is defective, even if the manufacturer was not negligent in making that product defective.
Three examples of strict liability product liability claims are:
Breach of Warranty: Breach of warranty-based product liability claims usually focus on one of three types: (1) breach of an express warranty, (2) breach of an implied warranty of merchantability, and (3) breach of an implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose.
Consumer Protection: In addition to the above common law claims, many states have enacted consumer protection statutes providing for specific remedies for a variety of product defects. Statutory remedies are often provided for defects which merely render the product unusable (and hence cause economic injury) but do not cause physical injury or damage to other property; the "economic loss rule" means that strict liability is generally unavailable for products that damage only themselves.
There are numerous areas that are taken into account with Products Liability. A few of the most common problems include design defects, manufacturing defects, and marketing defects.
Questions of negligence and breach of warranty are also grounds for a claim for damages under product liability. In the case of negligence, if it can be shown that a company was negligent in testing its product adequately or in supplying directions for its use, the injured party probably has grounds for filing suit. Similarly, a manufacturer issues a warranty for use promising the product free from defect. If the item proves to be defective, the user can file a product liability case. In a case of negligence, it is important that the plaintiff be able to show that the product was defective when it was received.
Types of Cases: Douglas & London, P.C.has successfully handled Products Liability cases for automobiles (air bags, crash worthiness, roof design, and more), table saws, meat grinders, fences, cigarettes, various medical devices, different pharmaceuticals, and more.