Product Liability Law
Millions of people are injured each year in accidents caused by defective products. Sellers, manufacturers and designers of products that cause injuries and deaths may be held liable and forced to compensate victims and their families. The complex nature of state and federal laws pertaining to product defect claims require the services of personal injury lawyers knowledgeable and skilled in product liability law. The attorneys at the Law Offices of John W. Lee, P.C., have more than 70 years of collective experience representing victims of defective products, tainted or contaminated foods, and other types of product liability claims.
What Is a Defective Product?
Products sold in Virginia Beach and other communities throughout Virginia must be reasonably safe when used as they were intended. For example, a toaster might emit smoke if a slice of bread is left in it for too long, but it should not burst into flames as soon as it is turned on.
Types of Product Defects
There are three types of product defects:
- Design
- Manufacture
- Failure to warn
The type of lawsuit an injured person may bring and the parties who can be held responsible depend up the type of defect.
Design defects are flaws in a product originating before the manufacturing process. The danger associated with a product’s use originates from a flaw in its design that will exist regardless of what takes place during the manufacturing process. Lawsuits for damages caused by design defects are based upon the following:
- The design flaw made the product unreasonably dangerous.
- It was foreseeable that the flaw could cause harm to the user.
- A better design option was available and economically feasible.
Manufacturer defects originate at the production stage and exist at the time the product leaves for distribution to consumers. The flaw could be the result of errors in the assembly of the product, in the materials used to produce it or in any process occurring during the production stage.
Defects related to a failure to warn consumers of potential hazards and risks are usually related to one of the following:
- Instructions accompanying the product
- Warning labels
- Advertising and marketing
Some products are inherently dangerous. For example, a lawnmower has the potential to cause serious injuries if used incorrectly. Manufacturers are responsible for warning consumers of the risks and instructing them on how to safely use the product. The instructions accompanying a lawnmower and the labels affixed to it warning against placing hands or feet under it while the blade is turning is an example of a manufacturer fulfilling its duty to warn consumers of known risks.
Product Liability Lawsuits in Virginia
Some states permit an injured person to sue the designer, manufacturer or seller of a defective product on the legal theory of strict liability. Injured parties need only prove the existence of a defect and an injury resulting from the product’s use. Even if the utmost care and caution was used at every stage in the design, production and marketing of the product, the manufacturer could still be held liable under a strict liability theory.
Virginia law does not recognize strict liability in defective products cases. Instead, it relies upon negligence law and requires that parties injured by manufacturer defects, design defects or a failure to warn prove negligence or fault.
The attorneys for someone seeking compensation against the designer, producer or distributor of a…
Defective Products are those that have flaws making them dangerous to use as they were designed. These happen when the manufacturer fails to do proper testing for quality control and fails to meet its own standards.