Madden Tufano Law

Products Liability

Products liability law involves injuries that occur as a result of a defective product and often involves some of the most serious injuries. Products liability cases arise when the injuries occur because of a defective design, or where the product is manufactured, repaired, or maintained in a defective manner. For example, if a company designs a hair dryer that overheats to such an extent that it causes fires, the laws of products liability apply to the injuries that may be sustained. Products liability law is considered strict liability in that it imposes liability on the manufacturer and/or distributor solely on the finding that the product is defective. In short, if the product is defective or in other words, unreasonably dangerous for its intended use, the manufacturer and/or distributor is liable regardless of any efforts that they may have undertaken to prevent the defect.

Products liability is a complicated area of the law that requires the involvement of experts, who must be able to examine the product. Therefore, if you are injured by a defective product, keep the product and do not allow anyone to take the product from you. If you do not have the product and it is in the possession of someone else, immediately contact an attorney so that he or she can take the necessary step to preserve the product. If, however, the product is lost or destroyed and neither your experts nor the company’s experts are able to examine the product for defects, then you may not be able to prove your case. Keep in mind that it is your burden to prove that the product was defective.

Products liability cases are typically very expensive to pursue because of the need for expert engineers to testify and render opinions regarding the defect in the product. Because of this expense, unless the injuries are significant, it will often be difficult to find an attorney who will take the case or at least one who is capable to do so. Moreover, the large corporations that design, produce and/or manufacture the product have far greater resources and will utilize those resources against you. Therefore, the attorney that you retain must have the experience and resources to contend with these corporate attorneys.