The law controlling dangerous and defective products, or products liability, is a little different from other areas of personal injury.  The main difference is that the plaintiff does not have to prove the defendant was negligent, and this makes it a little easier to recover. 

The concept of strict liability controls products liability law.  That means the plaintiff can recover against the maker or seller of the product without proving the maker or seller was actually negligent.

Typically, a plaintiff can recover under any of the following three reasons, the products had a defective design, or the product was manufactured defectively, or the product was marketed defectively.

Manufacturing defects occur during the making of the product i.e. the construction and production phases. This occurs even when all possible care is taken and the product departs from its intended design. In this case, usually a few products out of the many of the same type are defective.  The following is a proposed jury instruction with regard to a manufacturing defect:

Plaintiff claims that the product contains a manufacturing defect. A product is defective and unreasonably dangerous because of a manufacturing defect if it contains a condition which the manufacturer did not intend and, as a result, it fails to perform as safely as an ordinary consumer would expect when the product is used in a reasonably foreseeable manner.
 
The following is a proposed jury instruction with regard to a design defect:
 
Plaintiff claims that the product contains a design defect.  A product is defective and unreasonably dangerous because of a design defect if the harmful characteristics or consequences of its design outweigh the benefits of the design. A manufacturer or seller is presumed to have known at all relevant times the facts that this accident and this trial have revealed about the harmful characteristics or consequences of the product’s design, whether or not the manufacturer or seller actually knew those facts. If you find that it would not be reasonable for a manufacturer or seller, with such presumed knowledge, to have put this product on the market without changing the design, then the product is defective and unreasonably dangerous because of a design defect. A product is [also] defective and unreasonably dangerous because of a design defect if it fails to perform as safely as an ordinary consumer would expect when the product is used in a reasonably foreseeable manner.

Defects in marketing are when improper instructions are given and failure to warn the consumer of inherent dangers in the use of the product. This is when proper instructions or warnings that could have been reduced or eliminated the risk of harm are omitted. 

The requirements of a successful products liability claim varies from state to state and depends on whether the product was unreasonably dangerous, use of the product caused an injury, or an injury was caused by a defect in the product.

Besides the manufacturer, the store or seller may be liable if they do not take proper steps to check the safety of the product and any repairer of the product may also be liable.

If you or a loved one has been hurt by a dangerous product, please contact us today to get the help you deserve.