Consumer Product Liability Cases Come in Several Forms and Sizes
Each year, thousands of people are injured or killed by defective products. Just take a passing glance at the United states Consumer Product Safety Commission’s cache of injury statistics and you’ll quickly see the wide range of defective products that there are in this country. On a positive note, consumers have at least three types of product liability cases that they may file against companies who fail to do their due diligence.
Which Categories Do Product Liability Lawyers Use Most Often?
The type of product liability case that tends to be filed the most nowadays is what personal injury attorneys like to refer to as a substandard manufacturer claim. As you’ve likely assumed by now, the lawsuits have to do with the manufacturing process and not design. Poorly designed items comprise their own category of product liability claims and the same may be said for failure-to-warn cases.
How Hard is It to Prove One or More Product Liability Claims?
In each of those product liability cases, claimants must prove that they did nothing to contribute to their own injuries. They must also submit proof that they, or their property, were injured due to the product’s manufacturing or design. Clearly, proving these types of assertions are not always easy given the nature of some consumer products, patent and proprietary information related laws.
For example, let’s pretend that a person goes out and buys a, espresso coffee maker. While using the product for the first time, the cap comes off and causes second degree burns to the person. A logical person would ask at least some of the following questions:
- Did the person read the espresso coffee maker’s manual before trying to make coffee?
- Did the person follow all of the instructions in the espresso coffee maker’s manual to a tee?
- Did the person put the right type and amount of products in the espresso coffee maker?
If the answers are yes, it is likely that product liability attorneys will ask other probing questions about the manufacturing process. Some of the questions that come to our product liability lawyers’ minds are as follows:
- Are all of the espresso coffee maker’s parts made to today’s safety and quality standards?
- Have the espresso coffee makers been tested extensively and what where the test results?
- Did the company’s records show that management was aware of potential design or manufacturing flaws associated with the espresso coffee maker?
- Did the instruction manual that came with the espresso coffee machine contain enough accurate information about the potential for cap related, burn and scald related injuries?
- Are the victim’s injuries consistent with other accidents involving the same type or similar espresso machines?
Some of the answers to those questions will need to come from a review of espresso coffee maker’s design plans and product testing results. Obviously, companies are going to fight to keep that information private. This is particularly the case if product liability lawsuits may appear to be on the horizon. On a positive note, product liability lawyers can aid victims in getting access to those documents via the subpoena process. To find out what else product liability attorneys may do to help speed a person’s lawsuit along to a just resolution, please contact us.
