TYPES OF CASES:

Product liability law gives consumers the ability to sue for and recover damages from manufacturers, distributors and vendors for injuries resulting from accidents caused by products. Virtually all products are subject to products liability law, not just items on the store shelves - products subject to the law run the spectrum from food, drugs, appliances, automobiles, medical devices, medical implants, blood, tobacco, writings, maps, and even commercial jets.

Products liability claims are tort-based claims that can arise from negligence, strict liability, or breach of warranty, though products liability is often focused on strict liability claims. Strict liability is the term used to describe situations in which a person can be held liable for damages caused to another person even without negligence or other fault. Strict liability means "liability without fault," therefore a person is liable whether or not they were negligent and whether or not they intended to do any harm.  Strict liability is also often imposed on manufactured products, under the law of product liability. A defendant in a product liability claim will be found liable for damages to a plaintiff if it is found that the product is defective, regardless of whether the manufacturer or supplier exercised great care when designing and manufacturing it. As such, a plaintiff does not have to demonstrate that the manufacturer or vendor was negligent or careless, only that:

	A defect in the product caused the accident
	He or she was using the product in a manner consistent with the way it was meant to be used
	The product was not substantially changed between the time it left the seller or manufacturer's hands and the time it reached the plaintiff

Even if you are not the original owner of the merchandise you can sue for product liability. For example, if a friend lends you a power saw that turns out to be defective and injures you, you can file a product liability claim against the manufacturer, distributor, wholesaler, and/or vendor of the item. Even a company that doesn't actually make a product, but merely puts its label on it, is liable for any injuries the item causes.

In a negligence claim, a plaintiff must show that a manufacturer, seller, wholesaler or other party involved in the distributive chain had a duty to exercise reasonable care in the process of manufacturing or selling a product and failed to fulfill that duty, resulting in injury to the plaintiff. Negligence consists of doing something that a person of ordinary prudence would not do under the same or similar circumstances; or failing to do something that a person of ordinary prudence would do under the same or similar circumstances. This can take the form of negligence in drawing up or reviewing plans for a product, negligence in maintaining the machines that make the component parts of the product, negligence in failure to anticipate probable uses of the product, negligence in failure to inspect or test the product adequately, negligence in issuing inadequate warnings or instructions regarding the use of the product, or any other aspect of the manufacturing or distribution process where due care is not used.
 
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Product Liability Frequently Asked Questions
 

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