Product Liability

Defective or dangerous products are the cause of thousands of injuries every year in the U.S. “product liability law,” the legal rules concerning who is responsible for defective or dangerous products, is different from ordinary injury law, and this set of rules sometimes makes it easier for an injured person to recover damages. Product liability refers to a manufacturer or seller being held liable for placing a defective product into the hands of a consumer. Responsibility for a product defect that causes injury sometimes lies with all sellers of the product who are in the distribution chain. In general terms, the law requires that a product meet the ordinary expectations of the consumer. When a product has an unexpected defect or danger, the product cannot be said to meet the ordinary expectations of the consumer. Under any theory of liability, a plaintiff in a product liability case must prove that the product that caused injury was defective, and that the defect made the product unreasonably dangerous. There are three basic types of defects that might cause injury and give rise to manufacturer or supplier liability: Design Defects – Present in a product from the beginning, even before it is manufactured, in that something in the design of the product is inherently unsafe. Manufacturing Defects – Those that occur in the course of a product’s manufacture or assembly. Marketing Defects – Flaws in the way a product is marketed, such as improper labeling, insufficient instructions, or inadequate safety warnings.