Defective Product Lawyers Serving Clients Nationwide
The product liability attorneys at Burg Simpson can help if you or a member of your family suffered injury due to a product defect. Holding companies responsible for defective products can be difficult, which is why you need an experienced lawyer on your side.
Burg Simpson has obtained more than $1 billion in compensation for personal injury clients. We have the experience, knowledge, and resources to handle complex claims involving product liability.
You have a limited time to take legal action for injuries sustained due to a defective product. Call Burg Simpson right away at 888-895-2080 today for a FREE case evaluation. Our product liability attorneys serve clients nationwide, with offices located in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and Ohio.
What Is Product Liability?
Product liability is the area of law concerned with the legal responsibilities of parties that design, manufacture, supply, and sell defective products that injure consumers. Designers and manufacturers generally have a greater understanding and knowledge of their products than consumers do. As such, it falls on the designer, manufacturer, and/or other parties to assume financial responsibility for any injuries and damages a defect causes.
What Is a Defective Product?
A defective product is a product made unsafe due to an error in the design, manufacturing, marketing, or labeling of the product. Consumers can bring product liability claims if one of these errors causes them injury.
Just because a product fails does not mean that it is defective. Furthermore, consumers who modify a product or use the product in a way other than the manner intended will generally not have a viable product liability claim.
A product liability attorney will present evidence of how the defect caused your injuries. Your lawyer can also protect your rights by showing that you were using the product in an appropriate manner.
Types of Product Defects
Our product liability attorneys will inspect the product and consult expert witnesses to determine what caused your injuries and identify your options for bringing a claim. Defects that lead to injury in product liability claims generally fall into one of three different categories:
Design Defects
A design defect makes a product inherently dangerous. Generally, the product design stage is separate from the manufacturing process; the products are manufactured according to faulty design specifications, usually en masse.
Design errors and defects can make entire lots and even whole product lines hazardous to consumers. Although manufacturers and regulatory agencies might issue a recall for the defective products, this often comes after one or more consumers have already been injured.
Manufacturing Defects
Manufacturing defects are errors that arise when the product is being built, fabricated, or assembled. Sometimes only one or a handful of products are affected by a manufacturing error.
Failure to Warn
Manufacturers and sellers can also be held liable when they fail to warn buyers or consumers of the inherent dangers associated with their products. It is the manufacturer’s responsibility to anticipate (within reason) how a product may be used and take steps to prevent accidental injuries. This may include providing accurate instructions for the product and/or adding warning labels.
Warnings should be easy to find on the packaging and clearly communicate the potential risks. If these warnings are missing, if they do not cover foreseeable risks, and/or if they assume an unreasonable level of knowledge on the part of the consumer, the manufacturer and other parties can be held liable for injuries.
Who Can Be Sued for Product Liability?
Multiple parties are generally involved in the production, distribution, and sale of consumer goods. As such, multiple defendants may be named in a product liability lawsuit.
To establish liability, a defective product attorney will identify all of the parties involved in bringing the product to market. Potential defendants in your case may include:
- Designers: A single company may be responsible for designing and manufacturing the defective product, or the design process may be handled separately from manufacturing.
- Manufacturers: Depending on the complexity of the product, a single company may be held liable for a manufacturing defect or multiple entities can be held responsible for the manufacture of faulty component pieces.
- Wholesalers and distributors: These parties sell and transport large volumes of consumer products to retailers. Although they function as intermediaries, wholesalers can still be named in lawsuits when consumers suffer injury due to a defective product.
- Retailers: From big box stores to individual shops, sellers of all sizes can be held liable for injuries caused by the defective products they carry.
At Burg Simpson, we investigate thoroughly to determine all of the parties that can be held liable for defective product injuries. Our product liability attorneys have the skill and experience to represent you effectively in settlement negotiations and at trial (if necessary) against large and powerful corporations.
Product Liability Claims We Handle
Defective products come in many different forms. At Burg Simpson, we closely monitor product recalls and emerging litigation so we can represent our clients effectively. With 20 product liability attorneys handling claims throughout the nation, our firm is well-positioned to handle a wide range of defective product cases.
Common areas of litigation when it comes to product liability include:
- Defective Vehicles and Automotive Components
- Dangerous Drugs and Medical Devices
- Heavy Equipment, Power Tool, and Machinery Defects
- Defective Construction Materials
- Defective Electronic Devices and Appliances
- Food Poisoning and Foodborne Illnesses
- Defective Recreational Equipment
- Defective Toys and Other Children’s Products
Product liability cases are complicated and expensive endeavors. However, the team at Burg Simpson has handled thousands of cases involving defective products. Our experience and resources allow us to handle even the most complex product liability cases (including class actions) efficiently.
If you have been injured by any kind of defective or dangerous product, it is in your best interest to contact Burg Simpson today. An experienced, caring product liability attorney will review your case for free.
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Types of Product Liability Lawsuits
Multiple theories of liability exist in defective product cases. A product liability lawyer can assess your case and file a lawsuit based on one of the following theories of fault:
Strict Liability
Many defective product claims are founded on the theory of strict liability. Under the strict liability doctrine, manufacturers and other parties can be held liable for defective products regardless of whether the maker, distributor, or seller was negligent.
For strict liability to apply, your product liability attorney needs to prove the following:
- The product in question was defective.
- You suffered injury as a result of the product defect.
- You incurred damages due to your injuries.
It must also be shown that the product was purchased within the chain of commerce (i.e., bought new). Strict liability is nullified if the product is bought used or from a secondhand distributor.
Negligence
Product liability claims can also be brought on the grounds of negligence. For these cases to succeed, it must be shown that the designer, manufacturer, etc. was negligent in creating or selling the product.
The following elements must be proved for a product liability claim founded on negligence to succeed:
- The defendant(s) had a duty to design, manufacture, and/or sell a product that was safe.
- Negligence on the part of one or more defendants (e.g., a design or manufacturing error, failure to warn, etc.) created a defect that made the product unsafe. This constitutes a breach of the duty owed by the defendant(s) to the consumer.
- The consumer suffered injury because of the defect.
- Injuries from the defective product resulted in damages.
Negligence actions are typically more challenging to pursue. Proof is required of errors on the part of manufacturers and other parties, such as errors in design, failure to make products according to design specs, malfunctions in the manufacturing process, etc.
An experienced product liability attorney can determine if a lawsuit based on negligence is appropriate for your case.
Breach of Warranty
Products sold to consumers carry both an express warranty and an implied warranty. The express warranty explicitly guarantees the quality of the product and what consumers can expect in terms of longevity, performance, and more. An implied warranty, meanwhile, is a general, unspoken expectation that the product is safe to use.
Defects constitute a breach of warranty. This breach may be grounds for a product liability lawsuit.
Class Actions
Finally, it is important to note that defective products do not only injure individuals. Sometimes hundreds or even thousands of consumers may be seriously injured by a design defect or widespread manufacturing error.
In these extreme circumstances, multiple individual product liability claims against the same defendant(s) may be combined into a single class action lawsuit.
Class actions are extremely complicated. At Burg Simpson, we are often at the forefront of class action litigation where the interests of multiple consumers injured by a defective product are represented.
How Long Do I Have to File a Product Liability Lawsuit?
All product liability claims are time-limited. Each state has a statute of limitations for legal actions, including defective product claims. The statute of limitations begins on the date that the defective product causes the injury (or, in some cases, the date that the injury should have been reasonably discovered).
Burg Simpson is a national product liability law firm. We know the local laws concerning defective product cases, including how long you have to make a product liability claim in your state.
- 1-Year Statute of Limitations for Product Liability:
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- 2-Year Statute of Limitations for Product Liability:
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- California
- Colorado
- Delaware
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Utah
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- 3-Year Statute of Limitations for Product Liability:
- Arkansas
- Connecticut
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Montana
- New Hampshire
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Vermont
- Washington
- Washington, D.C.
- Wisconsin
- 4-Year Statute of Limitations for Product Liability:
- Florida
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- Wyoming
- 5-Year Statute of Limitations for Product Liability:
- Missouri
- 6-Year Statute of Limitations for Product Liability:
- Maine
- Tennessee
- 10-Year Statute of Limitations for Product Liability:
- North Dakota (limitation period begins on the date the product was purchased)
Many states have also enacted laws that bar product liability claims after a certain number of years have lapsed since the product was manufactured, distributed, and/or purchased. This is known as the statute of repose, and it can also play a major role in how long you have to take legal action after suffering injury due to a defective product.
Bottom line: You should seek legal counsel as soon as possible if you suspect a product defect caused you or a member of your family harm. At Burg Simpson, our product liability attorneys can evaluate your case for free and advise you whether you have time to bring a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit.
Compensation for Product Liability
Our product liability attorneys will pursue compensation for all of the damages you are entitled to for injuries caused by a defective product. We will review your medical records thoroughly, consult your doctors, and enlist experts to get a complete picture of how the injuries affect your life now and in the long term.
Potential damages our product liability lawyers may be able to recover on your behalf include:
- Current and future medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Damage to personal property (such as your home, vehicle, etc.)
- Loss of earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Permanent disability
- Loss of your quality and enjoyment of life
It may be possible to reach a favorable settlement without filing a lawsuit or going to court. Our product liability attorneys are seasoned strategists capable of managing negotiations with the company or companies that made the defective product, as well as their insurers.
Alternatively, if a fair settlement cannot be reached, the product liability lawyers at Burg Simpson can file a lawsuit on your behalf. If necessary, our attorneys can also take the case to trial.
Contact a Product Liability Attorney at Burg Simpson Today
When a consumer picks up a product from a store shelf and takes it home, there is an inherent assumption of safety. Consumers trust that the product will not hurt them if used as instructed. All too often, however, that trust is misplaced and consumers suffer serious injuries and even the loss of loved ones as a result.
When consumers get hurt by defective products, the responsible parties need to be held accountable. Defective and dangerous products cause thousands of injuries to people and property in the United States every year.
Product liability lawsuit cases are complicated and expensive endeavors. Collectively, the product liability lawyers at Burg Simpson have handled hundreds of these cases.
If you have been injured by a defective product, call Burg Simpson before it is too late at 888-895-2080 or complete our FREE case evaluation form. Our product liability attorneys have offices throughout the country serving clients nationwide.
