Every year thousands of Americans are injured by dangerous and defective products; these products range from kids toys to consumer electronics to the car you drive. Product liability laws are all based on the hypothesis that manufacturers and sellers have the responsibility and duty to protect consumers from hazards. Product liability lawyers in Cedar Rapids IA know from experience that the courts tend to uphold the premise that the manufacturer of the product has more knowledge about that which they make so it often falls to them to assume the responsibility for injuries or damage that their products cause.
What does the consumer expect?
The laws that govern product liability cases can vary somewhat from one jurisdiction to another and that the applicable laws are different from ordinary personal injury laws. Product liability laws have been enacted so that victims of injury or damage caused by a defective product have legal recourse for compensation.
All products are typically required to meet what can be described as the ordinary expectations of the consumer, obviously if the product is defective or dangerous it cannot be said that it meets these expectations.
Types of product defects:
There are three areas where defects may occur that give rise to liability, they are; defects in design, manufacturing defects and distribution/marketing defects. In the case of design defects, the defect is already present even before manufacture, the product is inherently unsafe. Defects in manufacturing occur during the manufacture and assembly of the product and marketing defects include such things as improper labeling, inadequate safety warnings and information and unsatisfactory operating instructions.
Product liability defense:
Product liability lawyers in Cedar Rapids IA area know that a typical defense that is raised in a product liability action is that the plaintiff, the lawyer’s client, has not sufficiently identified the supplier of the product in question. It is expected that the plaintiff can connect the defective product with the parties responsible for manufacturing and supply.
The defendant will often say that the plaintiff altered the product after it was outside the control of the supply chain and it was the alteration that was responsible for the accident.
Product liability actions can become very complex and without competent legal assistance and expert testimony it would be next to impossible to establish legal fault. As every state has unique laws that have an effect on a product liability action it is important to deal with a seasoned local lawyer.
