Whenever you buy something at a brick-and-mortar store or through an authorized online retailer, you enter an implicit contract with the company that made and sold that product. Under this contract, you are expected to use the product reasonably and for its intended purpose, and the manufacturer is expected to have provided you with a product that is reasonably safe and effective when used appropriately, along with instructions and warnings regarding safe operation.
If a product manufacturer broke this implicit contract and sold you something that later malfunctioned and injured you, you may have grounds for legal action, and a Merrillville product liability lawyer could help with this. Our dedicated personal injury attorneys at The Law Offices of David W. Holub could explain your legal rights, construct a strong claim for compensation, and avoid procedural obstacles throughout the civil recovery process.
Understanding Strict Liability for Dangerous Products
Most of the time, holding someone else civilly liable for a personal injury requires you to prove that they directly caused you to sustain that injury by acting in a specific negligent way. While it is possible to sue product manufacturers for traditional negligence in this way, any experienced Merrillville defective products attorney would tell you that it is generally more prudent to build this sort of claim around a theory of strict liability.
In brief, manufacturers are strictly liable for injuries caused by certain types of defects that existed in their product when that product left their direct control. As the injured party, you must be able to prove through a preponderance of the evidence that the product’s condition did not meaningfully change between when it left its maker’s control and when it caused you harm, and that you yourself were acting reasonably at the time of your injury.
What Defects Could Serve As Grounds for a Product Liability Claim?
There are three primary types of product defects that a Merrillville attorney may be able to help you build a product liability lawsuit around. First, a product can be defective in its core design, meaning that some element of its basic formulation or construction makes every unit ever produced dangerous in roughly the same way.
Second, defects can occur in products during manufacturing. An error or omission during the assembly process may render a particular unit or batch of a product dangerous when it would not have been otherwise due to its safe design. Third and finally, a product can be defective in its marketing, meaning that the manufacturer failed to provide sufficient instructions for safe use and warnings about possible hazards in the product’s packaging.
Work With a Product Liability Attorney in Merrillville Today
While not every consumer product is guaranteed to work precisely as advertised, you do have a legal right to expect that the products you buy will work reasonably well and will not put you in danger through normal use. Unfortunately, as demonstrated by the many recall notices federal authorities issue every year, manufacturers are not always as diligent in this regard as they should be.
If you were injured by an unreasonably defective product recently, a Merrillville product liability lawyer from The Law Offices of David W. Holub could help you proactively seek civil restitution. Contact us today for a consultation.