Product defects and design flaws can cause injuries to consumers. Unfortunately, some manufacturers keep a blind eye on their defective products to cut costs. If you have a product liability claim, let our product liability lawyers in San Diego help you. All you have to do is complete our online form so one of our attorneys can personally review your case. Personal Injury Lawyers San Diego regularly handles product liability lawsuits and we are happy to discuss your legal options with you.
Dangerous Products are everywhere
You may not realize it but dangerous products are all around us. According to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, an estimated 30 million people are injured by dangerous products annually.
Product liability lawsuits often involve:
- Home products, including smoke alarms, ovens, heaters and light bulbs
- Kids toys and products
- Medical products, including heart and blood products, metal hip replacements, etc.
- Pharmaceutical products
- Tools
- Industrial products
- Automobile products including brakes, tires, steering mechanisms, airbags, and more
Legal Theories for Recovery in a Product Liability Lawsuit
The kind of legal action to pursue will depend on the type of product as well as the date that it was created or designed. Some product liability cases may be pursued under a theory of strict liability while others may be based on a breach of warranty. Regardless of the approach that your lawyer goes with, the manufacturer (and other responsible parties such as the retailer that sold the product to you) may be responsible for the injury or death caused by their defective product.
Breach of Warranty in a Product Liability case
Under breach of warranty, there are 3 further classifications in the Uniform Commercial Code: express warranty, implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose, and implied warranty of merchantability.
Express warranty refers to the written or spoken guarantee by the seller that a product (or service) has certain quality standards. Implied warranty of merchantability, on the other hand, refers to the safety and quality concerns that are upheld by law, while implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose refers to the verbal or written assurance by the manufacturer that their product (or service) is suitable for a specific purpose.
Theory of Strict Liability
Product liability cases often use strict product liability in order to recover damages instead of using breach of warranty. That’s because with this legal theory, there’s no need to prove negligence. Rather, it relies on proof that the product was defective prior to its release and that it caused harm to the victim.
Product defects may be classified into:
- Manufacturing defects – Products with safety issues triggered by manufacturing mistakes. A common example is a business that has a production error. For example a business that the factory makes a mistake and the cups they created become sharp on one edge. This would be a major manufacturing defect.
- Design defects – With a design defect, all products have the same issue. For example, a power tool may not have a safety guard, putting the user at risk of injury.
- Failure to warn –Products that may be dangerous when used in a certain way should have clear and visible warnings. If, for example, a drug can trigger a life threatening side effect when taken in combination with another drug, the manufacturer should explicitly mention this in the label.
Choose a Product Liability Lawyer You Can Trust
Ozols Law Firm has represented dozens of clients who have suffered from injuries due to defective products. We are here to help you recover compensation and ensure that the party at fault is held accountable.
In a lot of product liability cases, a thorough investigation is needed in order to identify who’s at fault. To begin an investigation as soon as possible, we encourage you to talk to one of our product liability lawyers.