Who Is Liable For Defective Product Injuries?

We don’t always trust our products to work 100% as promised, but we generally trust them not to hurt us. When a defective product injures you or a loved one, it can be a jarring, upsetting, and expensive experience. It can be hard to know exactly who to hold accountable for the harm that they have suffered. If you have been injured in Florida by a defective product, a personal injury lawsuit can allow you to reclaim financial damages caused by the product defect. The law is on the consumer’s side in the case of defective products, and actually makes these claims easier to prove than other kinds of personal injury claims.

Strict Liability for Defective Products

In most kinds of personal injury cases, an injury is not enough to recover financially from another party. Instead, you must also be able to show that the injury was caused directly by the negligence of the other party. However, when it comes to defective product cases, strict liability applies. This means that you do not have to establish that the company was negligent in creating or causing the defect. Provided that you can show that the product was defective and that you were injured as a result, you will be able to recover financially and succeed in your defective product lawsuit.

Kinds of Product Defects

There are three kinds of product defects that can occur, and the kind of defect can correlate with the parties who may have contributed to causing it. First, there are design defects. These are defects inherent in the design. This means that even if the design is executed perfectly, the product will be defective. For example, a crib that has bars spaced wider apart than the width of a baby’s head. The crib might have been made exactly as it was designed, but the way that it was designed can cause serious injury to babies who can fall out of it. On the other end of the spectrum, manufacturing defects occur when the design is okay but an error was made in making it, such as leaving an edge very rough or forgetting a screw. Third, there are failure-to-warn defects. These occur when the company did not provide a proper warning that could have prevented a reasonably foreseeable harm. For example, if a company did not put a warning on a portable stove saying clearly that using it inside could cause carbon monoxide poisoning and death, this could result in liability if anyone then used the stove indoors and suffered injury or death.

Liable Parties in a Defective Product Case

Parties who can be held liable in a defective product case include the manufacturer, supplier, distributor, designer, retailer, and advertiser to name a few. As there are many companies who can be held potentially liable for an injury caused by a defective product, it is a good idea to consult with an experienced attorney who can review the facts of your case and determine all potentially liable parties as well as how best to move forward.

Contact the Leifer & Ramirez in Boca Raton, Florida

If you have been injured by a defective product, you do not have to navigate the process alone. Contact the experienced Boca Raton defective product attorneys at the Leifer & Ramirez to schedule a consultation today.