Product Liability
Product liability lawsuits are a subset of personal injury lawsuits. While there are three specific kinds of faulty product cases, any lawsuit would fall into this category when a manufactured product causes harm. From a poorly designed blender to a car that is likely to flip over, if you were injured by a manufactured product, you will need a personal injury attorney to guide you through the litigation process.
As mentioned above, there are three categories of product liability — design flaw, manufacturing flaw, and instructional flaw. A design flaw comes in a product that was manufactured to specification, but is dangerous when used. For example, curling irons with a faulty automatic shut-off function have a design flaw. If the same curling iron is generally safe, but the one you bought was the only one with a faulty switch, then it’s a case of a manufacturing flaw. Lastly, if the curling iron is safe, but does not come with sufficient instructions as to how to avoid being burned, it’s a case of flawed instructions.
Because products sold in the US have some of the strictest product testing guidelines, you are not likely to find a lot of faulty products by major manufacturers. However, if you hired a small company to custom-make a product that proved faulty, it is easier to make a case for product liability. Small businesses that design furniture, build playground equipment, and create aftermarket auto parts are just a few examples of companies that have to face product liability lawsuits.
Generally, these kinds of small businesses will have insurance policies to cover faulty design and manufacturing. The insurance policy ensures that there will be sufficient money to cover any and all injuries and losses. However, as with all personal injury cases, insurance companies have teams of lawyers on their side fighting to keep as much money as possible. You will need a good personal injury lawyer on your side to recover what you’ve lost.
