If you are injured while using a product, you may find yourself with expensive medical costs, lost income, long recovery times, or even a permanent disability. There is no need for you foot the bill on your own. Often, the company that produced the defective problem is responsible and they can be held accountable. The following guide can help you build your product liability case.
Is the company considered responsible for your injury?
Not every injury caused by a product is considered a fault of the product. First, you must have been using the product in the manner in which instructed by the manufacturer. Generally, your lawsuit must fall underneath one of the following categories:
Negligence – the manufacturer failed to fix or warn of a possible danger.
Breach of warranty – failure to uphold the warranty resulted in an injury.
Strict liability – The product was defective or unexpectedly dangerous, but negligence may not have been a factor.
A lawyer can help you determine which applies to your case.
Who do you sue?
Generally, the lawsuit is brought against the manufacturer of the product, but there may be others that also are responsible. These generally include the distributors or wholesalers and the retail outlet. This is especially applicable if there was failure along this chain of supply to pull a recalled product from the shelf or if they marketed the product to the wrong audience or for unsafe purposes. There generally aren't limits and you can name multiple entities in your case.
Can you sue foreign entities?
With more products manufactured overseas or developed by foreign companies, there is a good chance that the entity named on your lawsuit won't be US based. This should not be a problem, though. When a company decides to sell their product in the U.S., they agree to follow US laws. This means it is possible to take a foreign company to court for your injury.
What if you didn't purchase the product?
You won't need to a proof of purchase or anything else, simply because you don't have to be the purchaser. You can sue for product liability even if you were given the item as a gift or if you were borrowing it. You may even have a liability case if someone else was using the product when it malfunctioned and caused your injury.
For more help, contact a personal injury lawyer in your area.
Share10 March 2017
Too many single people assume they don't need to plan their estate. My brother fell into this category, and his unexpected passing left our entire family struggling to deal with his home, belongings, and financial accounts. It took nearly three years for the courts to set up a deal because he left no paperwork detailing how he wanted his estate divided. The situation immediately convinced me to work on my own estate, even though I'm still in my early 30's and don't have children or a spouse to worry about. Since it's a little harder to pick beneficiaries and estate managers when you're single, I collected the resources I used for making my own decisions and decided to publish them here on my blog. Use these resources before talking to an estate planning attorney so you're prepared for making hard decisions.