Product Liability
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Strict liability is the term used to describe situations in which a person can be held liable for damages caused to another person without negligence or other fault. The law imposes strict liability on inherently or abnormally dangerous activities, or activities that are likely to cause particular kinds of harm. Explosives are a good example. If injury results from the use of explosives, regardless of the purpose for which they are used and the care exercised, the operator of the explosives is liable to those damaged by their use.
Strict liability is also often used with manufactured products. A defendant will be found liable if the product is found defective, regardless of whether the manufacturer or supplier exercised great care when designing and manufacturing it. As such, a plaintiff does not have to demonstrate that the manufacturer or vendor was negligent or careless, only that:
- a defect in the product caused the accident;
- he or she was using the product in a manner consistent with the way it was meant to be used; and
- the product was not substantially changed between the time it left the seller or manufacturer's hands and the time it reached the plaintiff
Product liability may also arise with negligence. In a negligence claim, a plaintiff must show that a party involved in the distributive chain had a duty to exercise reasonable care in the process of manufacturing or selling a product and failed to fulfill that duty, resulting in injury to the plaintiff. Negligence consists of doing something that a person of ordinary prudence would not do under the same or similar circumstances; or failing to do something that a person of ordinary prudence would do under the same or similar circumstances. Negligence can happen in any aspect of the maufacturing or distrbution process, and some examples include negligence in maintaining the machines that make the component parts of the product, negligence in failure to anticipate probable uses of the product, or negligence in failure to inspect or test the product adequately.
Breach of warranty is the last area product liability claims can arise. The law of contracts sometimes imposes "implied warranties" on the sale of goods, including warranty of merchantability and warranty of fitness for a particular purpose. These warranties are called implied warranties because the law assumes that they apply even if they are not expressly stated. If a product does not meet these standards, the purchaser may have the right to return it and get back the purchase price, or sometimes even receive monetary damages.
In product liability cases it is essential that measures be taken promptly to preserve evidence, document the chain of custody of the product in question, and to enable engineers or other expert witnesses to thoroughly evaluate the product and your injuries. If you or a loved one has been injured by a product of any kind, call Blackman Legal Group now at 1-800-444-5602 or CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONNAIRE FOR A FREE CASE EVALUATION. Don’t delay! You may have a valid claim and be entitled to compensation for your injuries, but a lawsuit must be filed before the statute of limitations expires.