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When you buy a product, you may not be sure if it will work exactly as advertised, but you should at least be confident that it won’t cause you harm. Unfortunately, this happens more often than you may realize.
In 2018, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission warned the United Nations that injuries and deaths due to dangerous consumer products cost Americans about 1 trillion dollars a year. Of course, the UN was only considering the economic effects – the pain and suffering of each person harmed by a defective product are intense, and in some cases, the damage is permanent.
If you or a loved one have been harmed by a defective product, you may also be suffering the economic effects of medical bills, being out of work while dealing with your injuries, and any property damage that occurred in the same incident.
Again, these aren’t the only damages you might have suffered. You could also be dealing with both physical and mental pain, an inability to go to work or do your normal activities, and even permanent disability or scarring.
If this situation sounds familiar, you may be wondering how to get your life back on track.
How Will a Tennessee Defective Product Attorney Help Me?
The best way to start is to speak with a Tennessee defective product lawyer right away. We will answer your questions, ask about your accident, and explain your options for pursuing a claim.
By securing compensation, you will be able to pay for medical treatment, take care of outstanding bills and other financial difficulties arising from your injuries, and access any resources needed to further your recovery or move on with your life.
You may find the idea of a lawsuit daunting, but in many cases, it isn’t necessary. In some situations, your attorney may be able to negotiate with an insurance company or other liable party to secure compensation for your damages, and if not, they will do their best to simplify the lawsuit process and take as much stress from your shoulders as possible.
Ali Awad, the founder and managing attorney at the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm, is experienced in taking on insurance companies big and small for his clients. Known as “the CEO Lawyer,” Mr. Awad has grown a small law firm to an 8-figure firm in just three short years.
Not surprisingly, his firm was voted the fastest-growing law firm in the United States, beating out 499 others in 2021. The CEO Lawyer also finds time to give practical, down-to-earth legal advice to more than a million followers on social media.
If you or a loved one have been injured by a defective product, don’t hesitate to call Ali Awad for a no-obligation consultation of your case. The CEO lawyer and his team work on a contingency basis – that means they don’t get paid unless and until you do.
There is no risk in calling (423) 777-8888 to discuss the details of your case and learn your options. In the meantime, here are some common questions people have about defective product claims:
What Is Necessary to Prove Liability in My Defective Product Case?
In any personal injury claim, there are several elements you need to prove:
- The defendant had a duty of care. Companies are legally required to make their products safe for consumer use, so it is usually easy to prove they have a duty of care.
- The defendant failed in this duty. This step is often more difficult to prove for many reasons. The product manufacturer’s attorneys will likely argue that they did not fail in their duty and your accident was not caused by their product. Your lawyer will need to present evidence of exactly how the product failed. They will also probably need to refute the defense’s arguments about other possible causes of the accident or injury.
- This failure of duty led to you being harmed in some way and suffering damages as a result. Your lawyer will present medical records and other evidence of your injuries, as well as evidence pertaining to the incident itself – accident reports, video or photos of the scene, witness testimony, etc.
How Do I Know if a Product Was Defective or if This Was Just a Freak Accident?
This is a reasonable concern. We recommend you do two things:
- Document the accident and hang onto the defective product (or what’s left of it) if possible. Take pictures of the scene where the incident happened, as well as your injuries and what the product looked like right after (preferably without moving it). Try to get several different angles on the product.
- Talk to a Tennessee defective product lawyer as soon as you can. They can help determine if the product may have been the cause of your accident.
I Looked Online, and No One Else Has Reported a Problem With This Product. Does That Mean It’s Not Defective?
Not necessarily.
You may have been one of the first to receive a defective unit or one of the first to notice. It’s also possible the defect is only dangerous in situations that aren’t common, so few people will experience a problem.
Another thing to keep in mind is that there are two kinds of defective products: Design defects and manufacturing defects.
Design defects are inherent flaws present in every individual product. Again, this does not necessarily mean that every product will be obviously flawed or ever cause a problem.
You may have heard of the Ford Pinto recall of the 1970s – the Pintos tended to suffer rear-end explosions due to a design flaw in the gas tank. Sadly, this led to many car fires, more than 27 deaths, and even more injuries.
But this usually only happens if the car is in a rear-end crash. So you could drive a Pinto for years without having any problems as long as you didn’t get into an accident, but the design was still defective.
A manufacturing defect usually doesn’t affect all of a product line but only some items. The design itself is sound, but something goes wrong in the manufacturing process – it could be a human error or a flaw in an automated system.
This is another situation where only a small number of consumers may be affected, but again, that doesn’t mean a particular product isn’t defective.
Companies typically track their products using lot numbers so they can become aware if a particular lot is defective. This is why if you call a company to complain, even if it’s just to say that the product didn’t work as advertised, they will usually ask you for the lot number or a string of random numbers printed somewhere on the product package.
For this reason, it’s very important to save the package if it’s not already too late.
What if the Manufacturer Says the Accident Was My Fault for Using the Product Wrong?
This is a common defense against defective product claims, as there are some situations where user error or misuse causes the problem rather than a defective product. However, this isn’t always the case.
If you read and followed the instructions for the item to the best of your ability and something went wrong, there’s a good chance the issue lay with the product. Keep in mind that there may also be issues with how the instructions were worded, whether they were confusing to consumers or if anything important was left out.
If you’ve ever laughed at a warning label that seemed very obvious, that’s probably why – the company wanted to make sure there was no confusion about an important safety point.
What if you didn’t read or follow the directions? Well, it happens, and in fact, most product manufacturers know that many consumers will skip over the small print.
This is why the most important safety info will often have a brightly-colored caution symbol to draw your attention to it. The manufacturer can then claim that they did everything in their power to warn you about unsafe usage.
There may also be safety features built into the product design to reduce risk in situations where people don’t use the product as directed.
So, are you out of luck if you didn’t follow the manufacturer’s instructions? It depends on the situation, and your attorney can advise you on your specific case, but in general, the answer is not always.
If the product had a major design flaw that made it inherently dangerous, and your lawyer can demonstrate that your actions didn’t actually cause the accident, you may still have a claim. However, you will probably have a much stronger case if you use products as indicated.
In many situations, an experienced defective product lawyer can refute the manufacturer’s claims that the fault lies with you. If you’ve been hurt and believe a defective product was to blame, your next step should be speaking with an attorney.
Need Help? Choose Our Tennessee Defective Product Law Firm
Ali Awad, the CEO Lawyer, is an experienced negotiator who can help you seek compensation when you’ve been hurt due to another party’s negligence. More than twenty years of experience means the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm’s attorneys have a successful track record of over 99%.
If you have questions or concerns about your personal injury situation, contact the CEO Lawyer and his team now at (423) 777-8888 for a no-obligation consultation.