Defective Products

People buy products with the expectation they’re safe and work as advertised. Unfortunately, products don’t always do what they’re supposed to, and defective products can result in injury or even death. A good example can be seen in the recent influx of exploding e-cigarette litigation.

• The product is in your client’s possession. Your client must be in possession of the product in order to proceed with a case. 

• Injury or damages are substantial enough to warrant compensation. Substantial injuries may include hospitalization, permanent injury, long-lasting impact or limb loss. 

• There are other similar incidents (OSIs). Finding OSIs helps prove that the injury was caused by a defective product and not user error. OSIs can be found through searching Google, consumer reports and Consumer Product Safety Commission documents. The more OSIs are found, the stronger the case will be and so finding additional OSIs only help strengthen your client’s claim against the defendant.

• There is causation. The product defect must be the cause of the injury in order to hold the manufacturers liable.

Two areas that deserve special scrutiny are existing case inventory and international manufacturers.

• Product liability claims are often hidden within other case types. For example, a brake failure may have caused an automobile accident case, and a defective medical product may have caused a medical malpractice case. If a product caused the injury, it may have a product liability element. 

• Don’t write off defective products manufactured by overseas companies. We have successfully resolved cases against foreign manufacturers and held them subject to the jurisdiction of American courts.