Each year thousands of people in the United States are injured by defective products and many are also killed. When this happens, it is important to identify who is responsible for the injuries or death caused by the defective product. There is a special area of the law known as Product Liability law. This is not the same as the law that covers other types of injuries. Product Liability Laws are designed for the victim in a defective product liability case to have an easier time obtaining fair compensation.
Contractual Relationship
In order for a product to have caused harm to someone, it must have been provided for sale in the marketplace. The supplier of the product, and the individual who became injured had a contractual relationship. This is known as the doctrine of privity of contract. It enables the victim of a defective product to recover for damage and injuries caused to them. In many states, a person injured by a product may not be required to have such a contractual relationship. Any individual who experienced damage from using a defective product can still obtain compensation for their injuries. The only requirement is often the product to have been sold to someone.
Chain Of Distribution
When the victim of a defective product tries to determine liability; it could be in one area of a product’s creation or distribution. The defects could have been caused by the product’s manufacturer as well as those who made the component parts to the product. The party who assembled the product or installed parts in the product could be held liable. Responsible parties could also be the wholesaler as well as the retail location that sold it to consumers and more.
Types Of Product Defects
Under Product Liability Law, the victim is required to prove their injuries were caused by a product that was defective. They must also show how the defect in the product made it unreasonably dangerous. There are three different types of defects under Product Liability Law.
*Design Defects – This is a defect in a product that occurs during the design process. The danger of a product’s design is ignored or not realized.
*Manufacturing Defects – This is when a product’s defect occurs as it is assembled or at some point during the manufacturing process. It could also involve using defective parts, materials and more.
*Marketing Defects – This involves defects in how a product is marketed. This could involve flaws in the labeling of the product. It also includes insufficient safety warnings as well as providing operating instructions that are wrong or inadequate and more.
Determining Defective Product Liability
In some cases, the burden of proof could be placed on the defendant. In occurs when there is an assumption that a defect in a product could not happen unless someone involved in its creation and marketing was negligent. In this situation, the defendant must show how they weren’t negligent. Liability can also be determined using the legal concept of strict liability. In this case, the victim of a defective product only must prove the product was defective. This eliminates the need to prove how manufacturing and more was at fault for the products defects.
Foreign Company
It is possible for people to be victims of a defective product manufactured and distributed from a foreign country. A victim in the United States is still able to obtain fair compensation for their injuries. One of the requirements of a foreign company doing business in the United States is to abide by the decisions of the courts that have jurisdiction in the place where it conducts business.
When a person is the victim of a defective product they should speak with an experienced attorney. They will know the value of a defective product liability case as well as how to identify and locate each liable defendant. A knowledgeable attorney will also know how to protect a victim’s rights and the best way they can obtain fair compensation.
