Many injuries, illnesses and deaths arising from defective and dangerous products can be avoided by simple quality control steps and procedures being put in place to assure consumer safety. When they aren't, people are injured or made ill. Some can even die because of a defective or dangerous product. As a result, victims or their survivors turn to experienced defective products lawyers like David Finn to get them the compensation they need and deserve.

What can be considered a Defective Products Claim?

Defective products law deals with the liability of any party or all parties involved with the manufacture of a product for damages caused by it. Defective products claims can be based on negligence, strict liability, or breach of warranty of fitness depending on where the claim originates. Most of the time, defective product liability is considered a strict liability offense. This means that the plaintiff only has to prove that there is a defect in the product. Then, the manufacturer or supplier causing the damages is considered to be 100% responsible regardless of any degree of carefulness on their part or any lack of care by the consumer, nullifying any possibility of comparative or contributory negligence.

What is a product defect?

There are three types of product defects that can incur liability for manufacturers and suppliers: design defects, manufacturing defects, and defects in marketing. Design defects are inherent defects that exist before the product is manufactured. Manufacturing defects occur during the construction or production of the product, and defects in marketing involve improper instructions for safe use or operation of the product and/or failures to warn consumers of latent dangers in the product. Products defects not only cover tangible products, like an automobile, but also intangibles (e.g., gas, asbestos or other chemical substance), naturals (e.g., pets), real estate (e.g., house or land) and writings (e.g., navigation charts).

How much time do I have to file a claim?

Each state has a specified period of time in which you have to file your suit. This time period is called a statute of limitation. The statute of limitation typically begins on the date the injury occurred. However, some states have a clause, called a delayed discovery, where the statute of limitation doesn't begin until you've discovered the injury. This is an important protection because in some cases you won't know about an injury for months or even years. A couple of examples would the development of cancer or other illness due to exposure to asbestos, toxic mold or some other toxic substance.