If you have sustained an injury because of a defective product, you may be able to file a claim against the manufacturer, wholesaler, or designer of the product. These entities share a duty to protect the general public from harmful products or ineffective designs that could lead to injury.
Ali Awad and his team of attorneys are experienced in product liability law and can help you understand your rights and fight for compensation if you have been injured. Ali Awad, also known as the CEO Lawyer, has a success rate of over 99.5% and has a proven record of success working on behalf of his clients, whether negotiating with big insurance companies in the boardroom or fighting for top-dollar settlements in the courtroom.
At the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm, our injury and accident attorneys have the experience of navigating the laws that protect consumers from the harm caused by defective products. Call us now for a no-obligation consultation of your case at (833)254-2923.
Why Do I Need a Product Liability Attorney?
A product liability lawyer can help you better understand the law and your rights when it comes to defective product personal injury cases. Lawyers who specialize in injuries caused by defective products understand how to deal with big companies and the skilled attorneys that represent them.
An experienced product liability lawyer can advise you whether to try to resolve your case outside of court or file a lawsuit. This is a critical point because if you do take your case to court and the judge does not find fault with the company, you will not receive any compensation. However, if the judge rules in your favor, the company will have to pay damages and may even face criminal charges.
Ali Awad works on a contingency basis, which means he doesn’t get paid unless you get paid. Unlike other attorneys that work by the hour, if the CEO Lawyer takes your case, you can feel confident that you have a solid claim against the manufacturer, wholesaler, or designer of the defective product.
What Type of Damages Can a Defective Product Attorney Recover?
Most of us do not have legal training or experience negotiating with insurance companies. Many injured individuals who attempt to negotiate with insurance companies themselves don’t know what they are entitled to ask for.
Your attorney will seek both actual and general compensatory damages in a defective product claim. If your case rises to the level of criminal activity, the attorney may also seek punitive damages.
- Compensatory damages are designed to replace what was lost in an accident. There are two types of compensatory damages: actual and general.
- Actual damages are typically awarded in civil cases to replace what was lost or damaged in an accident. Examples of actual damages include medical bills or treatments, damage to property, lost wages, or loss of earning capacity.
- General damages refer to non-economic losses that still should be compensated for after an accident. Examples of general damages include pain and suffering, mental anguish, future loss of earning capacity, loss of enjoyment of life, among others.
- Punitive damages are awarded in criminal court and are meant to provide compensation above and beyond what would be awarded in a civil case to deter the company or manufacturer from repeating the act that caused the injury or damage.
What are the Elements of a Successful Product Liability Claim?
For your defective product claim to be successful, you or your attorney must be able to prove certain facts to sue the manufacturer, wholesaler, or designer.
- To have a successful claim, you must be able to prove that an injury occurred. You cannot bring a claim against a company if there is not a definite injury or damage.
- You must be able to prove that the defective product is the cause of the injury or damage. You or your attorney must be able to prove that the product had a defect that was known to the manufacturer or should have been known to the manufacturer, and they failed to warn the public of this danger.
- The defect was the actual or proximate cause of the injury. You cannot file a product liability claim if some other act or action intervened and caused your injury.
- Finally, it must be proven that the injured party was using the product as it was intended. If you were injured using the product in some other way than it was designed, you do not have grounds for a product liability claim.
Types of Product Liability Cases
In general, there are three types of product liability cases. Parties typically sue for negligence, under strict liability, or due to a breach of warranty.
- In a negligence claim, the injured party must prove that carelessness in the design or manufacturing of the product was the cause of the injury. In order to prove negligence, your lawyer or an expert will review product design plans and inspect the machines responsible for creating the product. They will also inquire about inspection or product testing procedures.
- Most product liability cases are brought on the basis of strict liability. This legal theory states that one may be legally liable for injuries or damages, even if they did not act negligently.
- A breach of warranty is actually a breach of contract between the warrantor and the buyer or user of the product. When you purchase a product, there is either an explicit or implied expectation or assurance that the product will work as intended when used properly. If it does not, or if the buyer or user was deliberately misrepresented, a claim for breach of warranty may be pursued.
How are Product Liability Claims Classified?
Your product liability claim may fall under four categories or types of defects:
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- Manufacturing Defect: These types of defects refer to errors in product assembly. Typically, these defects are not found in all products but only a small percentage of what is sold. In order to prove a manufacturing defect, the plaintiff must prove that the product was damaged or defective before it left the manufacturing facility.
- Design Defect: A design defect refers to a flaw in the product’s design. Unlike a manufacturing defect, a design defect will affect all products manufactured. Your attorney will determine that you have a design defect claim by asking if the product was unreasonably dangerous before it was produced. In other words, they will attempt to prove the design itself was dangerous, not just the execution of the design. They will also ask whether or not it was foreseeable that the design was potentially dangerous to the public. Finally, they will ask if a better design could have been used in order to avoid the dangerous defect in the design.
- Failure to Warn: The manufacturer or any party in the chain of production and distribution has a duty to warn the public if there is a potential risk of harm. The warning can be in the form of a product label or written in the instructions.
Warning Labels in Product Liability Cases
Many defective product claims are filed because a product was not properly labeled with a warning that could have prevented harm. In 2002, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) revised the safety guidelines for warning labels in order to make them easier to read. ANSI is a national nonprofit that works in close collaboration with industry to ensure uniform standards when it comes to safety labeling. They now also include pictures and offer fuller descriptions of the warnings. According to these revised standards, warning labels have four primary purposes:
- They must inform of potential hazards;
- Explain the severity of the risk;
- Inform of the effects of the potential hazard;
- Provide instructions for avoiding the hazard.
Warning labels must be of an appropriate size, clearly visible, and placed close to the area of the potential danger. To help consumers identify the level of risk associated with the hazardous product, ANSI developed a three-color system.
- Red means that the danger or hazardous event associated with the product will end in serious injury or death.
- Orange means that there is a potential that the danger associated with the product could end in serious injury or death.
- Yellow means that the potential hazard could end in moderate or slight injury.
What Will a Defective Product Lawyer Do?
Product liability lawsuits or defective product lawsuits can be complicated because there can be more than one injured party and more than one at-fault party. A defective product lawyer has the knowledge and skill set needed to understand who can be held liable for your injury and whether or not it is worth your time and energy to pursue a lawsuit.
In many cases, your defective product claim can become part of a class-action lawsuit. Class action lawsuits are filed when a product injures a large number of people in exactly the same way. Class action suits are also appropriate when the amount of compensation each plaintiff in the suit receives would be insignificant or if the value of an individual lawsuit is not enough to cover legal costs.
Your defective product lawyer will first determine who is liable for your injury and build a case from there. Your attorney will prove that you were injured and suffered a loss due to using the defective product. They will also prove that it was the product that was defective, not misuse of the product. In a product liability suit, you can seek compensation from more than one liable party, including manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers. Your lawyer understands that you don’t have to choose one or the other. Any and all parties involved can be held accountable in a defective product lawsuit.
Who Can Be Held Responsible in a Defective Product Suit?
As mentioned above, many parties can be held responsible for your injury if you are injured due to a defective product.
- Manufacturer: The manufacturer of a product can be held liable if the danger or injury resulted from a flaw in the design or marketing of the product. Depending upon the product, you can even hold different manufacturers accountable if the product was assembled from defective parts made by different companies.
- Retailer: The retailer of a product has a responsibility to ensure that the products they sell are safe. When suing a retailer, you don’t have to be the one that bought the defective product or the one who used the defective product, as long as you can prove an injury occurred and they should have known about the potential danger.
- Wholesaler: The wholesaler, or the “middleman” between the manufacturer and retailer, can also be held liable for injuries or losses caused by a defective product.
The CEO Lawyer and Attorneys are the Defective Product Law Firm You Need On Your Side
When we purchase items, we have certain expectations of safety. In defective product cases, there are many parties that should have been aware of the potential hazard of a defective product. Ali Awad, the CEO Lawyer, is here to help you recover damages if you or a loved one has been injured because of a defective lawyer.
The CEO Lawyer has over a million followers on social media who look to him for free legal advice. You know you can count on him to have your interests in mind as he takes on liable manufacturers, retailers, or wholesalers responsible for putting the public at risk. The CEO Lawyer knows how to talk to insurance companies to receive top settlements for his clients, but he isn’t afraid to take a case to trial if his client isn’t getting the top settlement offer to which they are entitled. This is how he took a small firm to an eight-figure company in just three short years.
The CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm is one of the fastest-growing law firms in the U.S., with a success rate of over 99.5%. If you have questions about a product liability case or defective product, call now at (833)254-2923 or fill out this online form for a no-obligation consultation of your case.
