PRODUCT LIABILITY

Product Liability has benefitted billions of people
– but few people know what it is.

Product Liability is the enforcer of safety in our commercial world.

If you have been injured, product liability is an important method of getting compensation for the harm already caused to you and of preventing similar injury from happening to another person in the future.

• Car accident cases are usually based on negligence, but can (or should) include claims of product liability when a fire starts after the collision or the brakes, steering or accelerator suddenly stop working so as to cause a collision.
• Premises liability cases can (or should) include claims of product liability when things like scaffolding, flooring, shelving or cabinets collapse, or when windows or roofs leak.
• Medical malpractice cases can (or should) include claims of product liability when implanted electrodes corrode, fixation screws break, or lotions burn.
• Workers compensation cases can (or should) include claims of product liability when fingers are lost in unguarded machines or equipment falls over and crushes workers.
• Common Carrier cases (i.e., transportation cases) can (or should) include product liability cases when signals break, charts are wrong, elevators fall, seat backs fail, or any of a myriad of things go wrong that can go wrong.
• Construction site cases can (or should) include product liability cases when, as frequently occurs, the construction equipment used on the site is involved in producing the injury. Construction sites are dangerous places with multi-employer rules.

You should consult with a good products liability attorney to review your case from a product liability perspective.

Unfortunately, many attorneys who are good at workers compensation cases, car accident cases, or personal injury cases, etc., are not good at recognizing potential product liability cases.

Here are some ideas to consider in thinking about a products liability case for your injury:

• Accidents can have several causes at the same time. For example, a careless driver combines with a bad fuel system to cause a car fire.
• Causes of accidents tend to fall into three categories: (1) people factors; (2) environmental factors; (3) product factors. Think about how each of these type of factors may have contributed to the accident and identify the harm attributable to each.
• Product defects can cause ordinary accidents to become more harmful, such as when a 25 MPH collision turns deadly because a seatbelt fails, so that the defective product is the cause of the increased injuries.
• Product defects can be of three types: (1) design defect where the product has a bad design; (2) manufacturing defect where the product was somehow made incorrectly; (3) failure to warn where instructions or warnings to prevent a foreseeable injury from the product use were not provided.
• Proof or evidence of product defect causing injury can be: (1) by circumstantial evidence where the product is unavailable; (2) by direct evidence where the product is available for testing and analysis; and (3) by presumption where the product is already subject to recall.
• A product can be dangerous by location, such as where an unguarded conveyor belt is placed next to a low wall where workers can stand to reach the belt, or where a gas water heater is placed on the floor where gas can accumulated to reach the pilot light and explode.
• Product liability can be based on theories of crashworthiness, foreseeable misuse, and even subsequent modifications.
• Things as diverse as electricity and real estate can be products that are defective. Everything from computer code to sledge hammers, or from medical drugs to airplanes, can be a defective product.

ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS FOR PRODUCT LIABILITY CASES:

Additional questions for analyzing a potential product liability case, include:

• Product liability cases can be expensive to get ready for trial. Do the injuries justify a products liability case in a financial sense?
• Are there any class actions or coordinated actions already pending for this product?
• What industry or government standards apply to the product?
• Is there a recall on the product or on related products?
• What is the injury history and lawsuit history for the product?
• Has the design on the product been modified over time?
• Has there been any public discussion about the dangers of the product?
• What product alternatives would have prevented the failure in this case?
• Is there a patent for the product with claims made?

CHECK FOR PRODUCT RECALLS:

Recalls have become commonplace in industry today. Some manufacturers and distributors now seem to even treat recalls as marketing and sales opportunities for them.

One website called Recalls collects the recall information from the several different government agencies that monitor recalls. Check here first to see if your product is subject to a recall.

PRESERVING EVIDENCE FOR A PRODUCT LIABILITY CASE:

WARNING! In a product liability case, it is important to preserve the product. Do not dispose of the product. Do not take apart or disassemble the product. Take pictures of the product. Keep all packaging for the product, as well as instructions and papers that came with the product. Write down all numbers and names that appear on the product even if you do not know what they mean. Keep all receipts for the product and any documentation that shows its chain of distribution.

WHERE TO FILE A LAWSUIT FOR PRODUCT LIABILITY:

Because the defective product is usually connected with many different states or countries, many more options exist for where a product liability lawsuit must be filed than for most other lawsuits.

Many product liability cases can be filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, even when the injury occurred in other states or countries. Read about the Los Angeles Superior Court and about the factors determining when a case can be filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court

Read Kasel v. Remington Arms Co. (1972), 24 Cal.App.3d 711, for a twisted story with the manufacturer and distributor of the product, the place of sale, the place injury, and the residence of the injured party all being in different states or countries, from New York and Connecticut to Mexico, with the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles with California product liability law applied.

REPORT INJURIES FROM DEFECTIVE PRODUCTS:

If you decide not to file a lawsuit or retain an attorney for your products liability case, at least report the dangerous product so it shows up in the data base.

Reporting injuries from defective products helps others in the future, and becomes a warning of the potential hazards of the product that pressures manufacturers to change and improve the product.

Report injuries from cars, medicine, implants, and consumer products.

DISCUSS YOUR CASE WITH A GOOD PRODUCT LIABILITY ATTORNEY:

Most Important! Talk to a good products liability attorney abut your case. You must do that. Product liability is complicated, subtle and powerful. Do not rely on what you think you have learned about products liability.

This website, and there are others that provide information about products liability, does not give you the many years of experience of working with product liability cases, to see a product or defect that others overlook, and to know what experts, courts, manufacturers and juries frequently think about possible issues in your case.

Use any information you gather about products liability, to become smarter in talking with an attorney and not to make decisions about your rights without talking with an experienced product liability attorney. Do not make decisions about your case without speaking with a good product liability attorney.

As you can tell from this website, we enjoy working on product liability cases. We are willing to discuss your case with you. If you do not speak with us, then speak with another good products liability attorney.