As humans, we buy countless of these products every day, and they are throughout our homes and businesses. The reality is – products are actually responsible for many injuries and even deaths day-to-day, and compensation may be available for what can be catastrophic injuries. The United States Consumer Products Safety Commission even states that “product liability cases have second-highest median damage awards in all personal injury cases.”
As your prospective product liability lawyer in Anderson, SC, there are some aspects of liability that you should know. While, in theory, products should be designed, manufactured, and handled correctly, appropriately, and safely at all levels, this is not always the case.
If you pay attention to the news, you’ll actually see headlines attached to product liability issues all the time with consumers claiming that products were manufactured and released to the general public knowing there were risk issues.
When you need a defective product lawyer or run into a manufacturing error, there are three main areas regarding product liability:
- Negligence – This is where a product injury lawyer is invaluable. Anyone involved in the design, manufacturing, and release of a product has the responsibility to the general public to act reasonably in the manufacture, testing, warnings, instructions, and/or sale of said product. In a court of law, negligence relates to the “failure to use reasonable care, resulting in damage or injury to another,” and when an entity in the distribution chain fails to do so, there may be a negligence claim available.
- Strict Liability – Under a strict liability case, negligence does not even need to be proven. If a product is defectively designed, manufactured, or contains defective warnings or instructions, and has caused an injury or death, it falls into this category, and anyone in the chain of distribution may be strictly liable, including but not limited to the manufacturer, broker, seller, or anyone else responsible for manufacturing or selling the product.
- Breach of Warranty – A product’s warranty is a statement made by the manufacturer about a product regarding quality and/or performance standards. It’s also a guarantee that upon a defect, the product will be repaired and/or replaced by the manufacturer. A breach of warranty involves a situation in which a product should work a certain way as outlined in the actual warranty or said product, but it does not.
At White Davis & White Law Firm, we are here to do everything in our power to help you if you or a loved one are the victim of a personal injury caused by a defective product.
Whether you need a lemon product lawyer or any other legal counsel, you can trust that we have the experience and knowledge needed to hold manufacturers, distributors, and retailers accountable.