Three Types of Defective Product Liability Claims

Defective product liability claims are a mouthful, for sure.  In light of any injury or suffering you may have experienced as a result of purchasing a defective product, it is a term worth learning.  If you wish to pursue a defective product liability claim, you must be certain that it is valid.  You must then have a strategy in presenting your case.  Luckily for you, attorneys who handle consumer law and personal injury law take these cases on a regular basis.  In the meantime, it helps to know the three types of claims you can make. 

DEFECTIVE DESIGN

If the flaw is in the design, the implications are more widespread.  After all, each of these products were manufactured according to a design.  If a flaw in the design of a line of sunglasses allows ultraviolet rays to penetrate the lenses, then the claim does not relate to a single pair of sunglasses.  Here, the key to your case is linking your injury to the flaw.  If your claim involves an electric blanket that electrocutes its user when turned on high, then you must be able to prove that you suffer from injuries inflicted by the electrocution.

DEFECTIVE MANUFACTURING

The design may be fine, in which case, your focus is on a manufacturing defect.  A vehicle missing brake pads or a swing set with a cracked chain are examples of errors in physical construction.  Another example is a tainted batch of cough syrup containing a poisonous substance.  The key task remains the same. There must be a clear link between the manufacturing defect and whatever injury or illness you sustained.  If you crash your car into a tree, the court needs to see proof that the cause was the missing brake pads and not something else, like texting and driving.

FAILURE TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE WARNING OR INSTRUCTIONS

Should there be no fault in the design or the manufacturing, the only other liability claim to be made is the failure to provide adequate warnings or instructions.  A feature of a product may do precisely what it is supposed to do, but if there is any potential danger to its function, there must be a warning printed in the instructions or on the product itself.  Have your ever seen or read a warning you could not believe anyone would need to be told?  Then, you realize that the warning’s very existence means that someone had to have done what you are being warned about.  Well, now you know how serious a claim an attorney can make on your behalf if some use of a product causes you harm that could have been avoided with a simple warning.

If you are harmed or injured by some product you purchased, you may have a product liability claim.  Of course, if you deliberately and knowingly misused a product, this may not be the case.  Remember, the test for determining whether you have a defective product liability claim is determining which of three types of claims you have on your hands: defective design, defective manufacturing or failure to provide adequate warning or instructions.  For more information regarding a potential product liability claim that you may have, contact the Law Office of H. Benjamin Sharlin LLC for a free consultation.

Please be advised that this blog is for informational purposes only, is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.