Imagine the first thing you did when you woke up this morning. You likely used a consumer product, and throughout the first hour of your day, you probably came into contact with countless others.
Many people in South Carolina suffer injuries every year due to defective products. Manufacturers and distributors are responsible for ensuring their products are safe or providing adequate warnings about potential dangers.
Unfortunately, they sometimes fail in this duty.
When a defective product causes serious injuries, the situation can be overwhelming. Medical bills can quickly accumulate, and the injured person may be unable to work, causing financial strain on the family.
During these challenging times, the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm is here to help. Don’t hesitate to contact our experienced Greenville Defective Products Lawyer, who can fight for the compensation you deserve.
How Can Our Greenville Defective Product Attorneys Serve You?
Manufacturers must uphold strict duties and standards to ensure that their products do not risk injury or wrongful death.
Facing negligent manufacturers can be intimidating, especially on your own. With a personal injury lawyer from our team, you will have the resources you need to seek justice.
When you hire the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm to represent you, you can expect:
- A Thorough Investigation: We will comprehensively investigate your case to gather all pertinent information.
- Evidence Collection: We will collect evidence and witness accounts to build a strong case on your behalf.
- Detailed Accounting of Injuries: We will meticulously document your injuries and their impact on your life.
- Communication Handling: We will manage all communication with the liable parties, insurers, and attorneys to relieve you of this burden.
- Attention to Your Needs: We will listen carefully to your requests and address your concerns.
- Aggressive Negotiation: We will negotiate tenaciously to secure a fair settlement for you.
We understand that you may be dealing with the mental, emotional, and physical aftermath of a defective product accident. Our goal is to assist you in seeking an optimal recovery.
While compensation for your injuries and losses cannot remedy the loss of life or permanent damage to your health, it can alleviate some of the financial burdens resulting from the incident.
How Our Greenville Defective Product Law Firm Makes Legal Help Accessible to Everyone?
At the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm, we are committed to being your loyal advocate in your time of need, regardless of your financial situation. You deserve our representation if you’ve suffered injuries or lost a loved one due to a defective product.
Our fee structure ensures that anyone with a valid case can access legal help.
When you choose the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm:
- Pay nothing upfront
- Don’t pay for any case-related resources or bear any case-related fees
- Don’t owe us anything unless we secure a financial recovery for you
- If we secure a judgment or settlement, our fee will come from that recovery. You will owe us nothing if we fail to obtain a recovery – which we strive to avoid. You’ll pay us nothing.
We aim to make our legal help an asset, not another financial burden. Our contingency fee structure ensures this.
What Are the Common Types of Product Defects?
Product defects can vary widely depending on the type of product in question. However, they generally fall into three main categories:
Design Defects
Design defects occur when a product’s design is inherently unsafe. Because the flaw exists in the blueprint, the entire line of products will be affected.
A common example is car recalls due to design issues. If your car is recalled, it indicates that the design flaw affects every vehicle in that production run.
Manufacturing Defects
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), manufacturing defects happen during production, leading to flaws in specific products or batches. An example is contamination in food production, where an unsafe substance enters a batch of food.
Another example is when a crucial component is missing from a tool or equipment, rendering it defective.
Labeling Defects
Labeling defects arise when vital information is omitted from a product’s label, making it unsafe. For instance, a tool without proper usage instructions on its label can be dangerous.
Another example is a food product that fails to list ingredients that could cause allergic reactions or other adverse effects.
How Can a Defective Product Hurt You?
The way a defective product can injure you depends on the product itself. Here is an example to illustrate how a product defect can lead to harm:
Imagine you purchase a bottle of painkillers from a drugstore in Greenville; the label indicates that it is a brand of ibuprofen. You follow the instructions, which advise taking two pills every four hours.
After taking the medicine, you become extremely ill and need to see a doctor. You undergo medical treatment and must stay in the hospital for three days to recover.
Later, you discover that the pills were not painkillers but were mistakenly packaged in the wrong bottle during manufacturing. As a result, you have incurred medical expenses and missed work due to this issue.
This example shows just one way a defective product can cause serious injury. Thankfully, a Greenville defective product attorney can investigate the cause of your injury and pursue the responsible party.
Here are some additional examples of products or situations that can lead to harm:
- Toxic chemicals
- Incorrect labeling
- Lack of warnings
- Defective or broken products
- Products that do not work as intended
- Poor marketing
- Poor design
Recoverable Damages in a Greenville Product Liability Case
The damages you can recover in a product liability case vary depending on your situation. Our team will conduct thorough interviews with you and your doctor and investigate your losses to assess your recoverable damages comprehensively.
Here are some common types of recoverable damages in a Greenville product liability case:
Healthcare Costs
Most victims of defective products who seek compensation have suffered injuries or lost a loved one due to fatal injuries. Medical costs are a significant factor in these cases.
You may receive compensation for medical imaging, emergency care, hospitalization, and other healthcare expenses.
Pain and Suffering
Compensation for pain and suffering may include any physical pain, emotional anguish, reduced quality of life, sleep disturbances, or loss of cognitive or physical abilities. You may also receive coverage for treatments to address your pain and suffering.
Professional Losses
Professional losses typically involve financial harm. You may experience lost wages, reduced earning capacity, lost bonuses, lost retirement contributions, and a declining standing with your employer.
We will account for any professional damages caused by a defective product.
Property Damage
If a defective product caused harm to your property (for example, if your vehicle was totaled due to defective brakes), you should receive fair compensation for the damage.
Wrongful Death Effects
In wrongful death cases, recoverable damages may include funeral expenses, lost companionship, parental guidance, financial support, medical costs, and the loss of the decedent’s contributions to the household.
Who Is Responsible for a Defective Product Injury?
Individuals injured by defective products might automatically think the manufacturer is to blame. However, this is not always the case.
Several parties can be responsible for a defective product injury:
Manufacturer
Manufacturers are often the primary party blamed for product defects. However, it’s important to note that more than one manufacturer may be responsible for injuries.
For example, if your phone’s battery catches fire, the phone manufacturer and the battery manufacturer could be held liable.
Quality Control Team
The quality control team is responsible for testing the product to ensure its safety before release. If they fail to conduct proper testing, they may be held liable for any resulting damages.
Designer
If a design defect makes a product unsafe, the designer might be responsible for compensating the victim.
Retailer
Even though retailers are not directly at fault for the injuries, you can still sue them for selling a defective product.
Wholesaler or Distributor
Anyone involved in the product’s supply chain, including wholesalers or distributors, can be sued if a faulty product injures them.
It’s important to remember that you may be able to pursue claims against multiple parties for your defective product injuries. Additionally, consider the following:
- You don’t have to be the product’s buyer or user to sue. You may have a case if the product injured you while in use.
- You may be able to collect damages even if a used product caused the injury.
Demonstrating Liability in Defective Product Cases
To pursue compensation for injuries caused by a defective product, you must demonstrate that negligence occurred during the manufacturing process, contributing to your injury.
This process, however, can be complicated and expensive as it involves pinpointing the exact moment of the manufacturer’s negligence. When filing a claim against a distributor or retailer, it is necessary to show that they failed to properly inspect the products before distribution. However, it’s acknowledged that testing every single product could be more practical.
In such cases, strict liability laws come into play, allowing you to sue a retailer, distributor, or manufacturer without proving negligence, provided the product was used as intended and remained in its original condition.
Under these laws, the essential criteria include proving the product was unaltered, used correctly, and had a dangerous defect that caused harm. Despite these conditions potentially simplifying the process, navigating a product liability claim can still be challenging.
Getting the assistance of our experienced product liability attorneys can be crucial in thoroughly examining the evidence, identifying liable parties, and ensuring you secure sufficient compensation for your injuries.
Common Injuries Resulting From Dangerous or Defective Products
Using a defective product can lead to various injuries, ranging from minor to severe. Some of the most common injuries include:
- Burns
- Catastrophic injuries
- Choking injuries
- Hand injuries
- Heart, liver, and kidney failure
- Cardiac arrest
- Lung problems
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
- Permanent disability
- Death
Injuries caused by dangerous products can be devastating, leading to significant physical, emotional, and financial stress. Whether the product is a vape pen, prescription drug, or medical device, you are entitled to compensation for the losses you may have suffered due to a defective product.
You can claim these damages through a product liability lawsuit.
How Long Do You Have to File a Defective Product Lawsuit?
Under South Carolina law, you typically have three years from the date a defective product injured you to file a lawsuit against its manufacturer. This three-year deadline is known as the statute of limitations.
However, patients may not immediately realize that a defective product has harmed them. The complications or injuries may not appear for months or even years after the patient uses the product. Consequently, the statute of limitations may be paused until the patient discovers or should reasonably have discovered the injury. In no case can a defective product lawsuit be filed more than 12 years after the product was purchased.
Why Are Product Liability Cases More Challenging?
Product liability cases are often more complex than most personal injury claims because they require proving a product’s defectiveness and directly linking that defect to the injury.
These cases frequently demand technical expertise to scrutinize the intricacies of a product’s design or manufacturing process. Additionally, defendants in product liability cases are often large corporations with vast resources and legal teams, making the litigation process more adversarial and prolonged than typical personal injury claims.
Establishing liability often involves navigating complex supply chains to identify the responsible party. The at-fault entity could be the manufacturer, distributor, retailer, or a combination.
Our attorney can build your case and gather the evidence needed to prove liability. With our team, you can hold major companies accountable and seek the compensation you deserve.
Call Our Competent Defective Product Attorney in Greenville, South Carolina, Now!
Product manufacturers and distributors are legally required to ensure their products are reasonably safe and will not cause injury or illness when used as intended. Unfortunately, designers and manufacturers have the resources to contest every claim brought against them.
Pursuing a fair settlement may require an uphill legal battle, and a single error could jeopardize your entire claim.
The product liability attorneys at the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm in Greenville have the experience to help you or your loved one obtain compensation for your losses and medical expenses. Contact us right away to assist you in recovering from significant and life-changing personal injuries.
Our law firm also offers immigration and worker’s compensation services. If you or any of your loved ones require legal assistance in these areas, we are here to help.
To discover how the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm can assist you, call our law firm today at (864) 664-3865 for help.
FAQs:
- What is a defective product?
A defective product is unreasonably dangerous when used as intended due to a design, manufacturing, or labeling flaw. This can include anything from consumer electronics to medical devices and pharmaceuticals.
- What should you do if you are injured by a defective product?
If a defective product injures you, seek medical attention immediately. Document your injuries, keep the product and any packaging or instructions, and contact a defective product lawyer to discuss your legal options.
- What types of compensation can you receive in a defective product lawsuit?
In a defective product lawsuit, you may be entitled to compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other damages related to your injury. An experienced defective product lawyer can help you understand the types of compensation available in your case.
