In the United States, companies and product marketers have a legal obligation to provide safe and reliable items for sale while disclosing all inherent risks and dangers associated with normal use. Furthermore, they are not legally allowed to make erroneous claims about the performance or results of the product, meaning that there are a lot of requirements built into the process of designing, manufacturing, distributing, and advertising a product that we all trust implicitly as we use different products in our lives each day. In most instances, we can use products as expected and advertised without an issue, but numerous product defects and failures lead to severe injuries through no fault of the victim.
If you or a loved one has been injured or killed while using a product as intended, you may be entitled to compensation through a personal injury claim. Trying to mount a claim against a major company can be intimidating, knowing that you are going up against a legal team representing a highly motivated company to keep any bad press from being widely distributed. If you are suffering from your injuries and trying to make sense of your life after this accident, a claim or lawsuit can seem downright impossible. Luckily, there are personal injury attorneys in Tallahassee that are ready to help you fight for the compensation you deserve while you focus on getting your life back on track.
Contact 1-800-Injured To Find a Tallahassee Personal Injury Attorney Today
1-800-Injured is an attorney and medical referral service. Instead of trying to find a reliable and proven attorney on your own, we will connect you with a lawyer who is ready to take your case. During your free consultation, you will be able to discuss the specifics of your accident, including the product you were using, the way you were using it, the way you expected it to function, and the way that it failed, leading to your accident. In addition, you will be able to talk about the way that your injuries have impacted your life up to this point, as well as any steps you have already taken for your legal rights.
Once the personal injury attorney understands your situation, they will be able to explain their process and the type of support you can expect while working with them. This free consultation is a great way to get a clearer understanding of your rights and options as a victim, and perhaps more importantly, you will know that you are not alone through this process.
Contact us as soon as possible to take the first step in getting the compensation you deserve.
What Is Product Liability?
Simply put, product liability is the legal liability that a company (or each company involved in a supply chain) has for a product that they are bringing to market. Depending on the company’s involvement in the production, advertising, and distribution of the product, they will have different degrees of liability, meaning that it can be challenging to determine which company is liable for damages you may suffer due to an injury.
Thanks to consumer protections in the United States through the Bureau of Consumer Protection, we are able to purchase and use products as advertised and directed without concern about the product failing to do what it claims to do. In the event of an accident stemming from many failures on behalf of the product companies, a victim can seek damages from the company for a range of impacts.
Types of Product Liability Accidents
The following are the general ways that a product may fail to perform as expected, leading to an accident. While all product liability cases are categorized as one of the following, the specifics of any accident are unique, meaning that your attorney will need to build a custom case to get you the compensation that you rightfully deserve.
Manufacturing Defects
Manufacturing defects can occur anywhere along the manufacturing process and with any ultimately assembled component to create the final product. Each step of a manufacturing process is guided by rigorous quality control, but this does not mean that a product defect does not make it through every once in a while. These defects can be due to several issues ranging from material instability to workmanship, and an accident caused by a manufacturing defect must be addressed by those responsible.
Trying to pinpoint the nature of a manufacturing defect can be difficult, and attorneys may partner with a product specialist to make complete sense of what went wrong. In other cases, though, there are widespread defects, or the failure is extremely clear.
Design Defects
Before a company even begins to consider the manufacturing logistics of a product, extensive research, development, and design work goes into the process. Design phases will go through multiple series where focus groups or beta testers will go through several scenarios and use cases in order to identify weak points or failures in the design. Still, this process is not guaranteed to capture all potential issues or flaws with a plan.
Once a product is launched, countless people will use it in ways that designers may not have considered at all. In some instances, these unintended uses lead to serious accidents not addressed in the marketing or instructions. Use cases aside, a design may simply have a fatal flaw that leads to accidents while using the product as intended.
Failure to Warn (Defective Marketing)
When considering a purchase or reading the instructions provided with a new product, a consumer has every right to expect that the information is comprehensive and truthful. False claims in advertising or failure to warn about inherent risks while using a product can lead to severe injuries and unintended outcomes based on the statements or guarantees made in advertising. In either of these instances, a victim may be entitled to compensation for either the cost of the product or, in the case of personal injury, the damages they have suffered as a result of this negligent marketing or failure to warn of serious risks.
Trying to make sense of whether or not your injury is a result of user error or due to misleading advertising or a failure to warn can be difficult, especially as you are trying to come to terms with the reality of your injuries, so working with a personal injury attorney In Tallahassee is one of the best ways to understand how you can move forward with your case while focusing on your recovery.