Product manufacturers and retailers have a legal obligation to deliver safe products to consumers. Unfortunately, some 34 million individuals are injured or killed every year due to defective product-related incidents, and the collective annual cost of these injuries is estimated at $12 billion. When a manufacturer releases a harmful product into the marketplace or a seller places a defective or dangerous product in the hands of an uninformed consumer, the possibility of large-scale harm becomes very real. For this reason, all entities along the manufacturing and distribution chain, from the product’s designer to the wholesale retailer who supplies the product to smaller merchants, could potentially be held liable in a product liability claim.
What constitutes a product liability?
Three types of defects can give rise to a product liability lawsuit, and they are distinguished by the point along the manufacturing and distribution chain at which they occur. Design defects are flaws in a product’s intentional design that render it potentially dangerous. An unstable high chair for an infant, for example, could cause serious injury if it tips over easily, or an automobile brake system constructed with components that wear too easily or break due to their positioning could potentially cause serious accidents that injure many. This type of defect affects a product from the very beginning, so if it is not detected before the product is released to the public, there is nothing anyone further down the manufacturing and supply chain could do to remedy it.
Manufacturing defects, on the other hand, occur when a product is not manufactured in exact accordance with the design specifications. Negligent manufacturing practices often give rise to these defects, so while tracing the defect back to its manufacture rather than design can be straightforward for both parties involved in a claim, the burden often falls on the manufacturer to prove that it was not negligent to escape liability.
The third type of defect happens when a product is labeled and packaged for use or consumption. Marketing defects most often take the form of omissions or representations. If the manufacturer of a particularly roll-prone SUV model fails to include a warning label in a noticeable location like the vehicle’s visor warning consumers of this danger, for instance, it might be held liable for injuries and wrongful deaths that occurred in rollover accidents involving that model.
Regardless of where along the manufacturing and supply chain a defect originated, it’s important for consumers who have been harmed by the defect to consult with a product liability attorney to determine how to go forward with their case. The Law Office of Joel A. Levine possesses the experience and resources necessary to hold well-represented manufacturers and suppliers accountable for the harm they have caused.
Enlist a Central Texas Product Liability Lawyer With the Resources and Experience to Fight for You
State statutes governing product liability claims tend to be both comprehensive and strict; in many cases, simply proving that the product is defective and potentially dangerous is all that is required regardless of the manufacturer’s knowledge of the defect. While this means that Central Texas individuals and families harmed by dangerous products will have an easier time finding legal grounds for their product liability lawsuit than other types of personal injury claims, defendants in these matters are often well represented and have extensive resources at their disposal. Product liability claims against national or international manufacturers may take the form of class actions and involve multiple lawyers, or a single successful claim might spur other consumers to come forward and file claims.
At the Law Office of Joel A. Levine, Personal Injury Lawyer in Austin TX, we take dangerous products seriously. We know that they can have a devastating impact on you and your family, and we believe that product manufacturers and suppliers should be held accountable for the harm they’ve caused as well as for breaching the trust of the consumers they depend on to stay in business. Product liability lawyer Joel A. Levine is a versatile and astute advocate for injured consumers who has six years of experience in a broad range of personal injury, business and commercial law, estate planning, tax law, consumer fraud and international trade law matters. A capable defective product lawyer is ideally well versed in multiple practice areas since product liability cases can be complex and draw from business law, trade law and other practice areas depending on the scale of the matter and where along the manufacturing and supply chain the defect lies.
Despite his big-firm talents and superb litigation credentials, Joel remains committed to his principles of honesty, integrity and transparency. At every step of your case, he and our support staff will keep you informed of your rights and options. While other product liability attorneys might take on a large volume of cases and promise big results, we carefully vet the cases we take to ensure that we can give every case the diligence and attention it deserves. Whether your case goes to trial or is quietly resolved at the settlement table, our Austin TX product liability lawyer will work to restore your dignity and quality of life.
External sources:
- http://injury.findlaw.com/product-liability/what-is-product-liability.html
- http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v4n1/pay.html
- http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/products_liability
