You’ve probably seen cases of faulty products causing injuries to consumers, but did you know you have legal recourse if this happens to you? Product liability laws mean manufacturers and sellers are responsible for selling faulty products, which includes any injuries or damages that may occur as a result of that.

How It Works

Product liability law was created to give consumers a legal stance to take when they are injured, or their property is damaged as a result of a faulty product. It used to be that you had to be the original purchaser of the product to have a case against the manufacturer or seller, but that’s no longer the case in most states.

There are a number of different parties who can be held responsible in a product liability lawsuit. The product manufacturer is one of the most common, but ultimately the fault may lie with a manufacturer of one of the components of the product. However, fault could also lie with the company that assembles or installs the product, the wholesaler that distributes it to retailers, or the retailer you purchased it from. This will depend on the specifics of your case.

Defects

A product liability lawsuit requires proof that the product was defective in some way. Under product liability law, three different types of defects can be used in a legal case:

• Design: These defects come as a result of the way the product was designed, and proper manufacturing and marketing wouldn’t have helped.
• Manufacturing: The product may have been designed correctly, but it wasn’t properly manufactured, and that was the cause of the defect.
• Marketing: The product itself doesn’t necessarily have any problems, but it was marketed improperly—e., lack of safety warnings or incorrect instructions.

Make Your Case

If you’ve recently been injured as a result of a faulty or malfunctioning product, you may have a legal case. To learn more about product liability law and speak with us about your case, give The Troutman Law Firm a call at (407) 647-5002 today.