Injury and Accident Attorneys Serving St. Louis, Nearby Missouri, and Nearby Illinois
Defective products can cause serious injuries and even death. All too often, manufacturers choose to sell a product that can cause serious injuries, just so they can turn a larger profit.
Product liability is a type of claim that you can file against any party in the manufacturing chain for providing you with a defective product. There are many different parties that can be held responsible for your losses, including:
- Manufacturers
- Retailers
- Wholesalers
- Assemblers
Defective products and product liability claims do not apply to only products you purchase at the store. They can include:
- Real estate
- Documents (blueprints)
- Pets
- Intangible items (gas, electricity, water, etc.)
Choosing a Lawyer for a Defective Product Case
Product liability claims are very difficult to handle in the court system. Often, they involve many different clients who have been injured by similar products, many different witness testimonies, and require in-depth investigations.
Also, product liability claims are not simple legal proceedings; they may involve many different types of defects that could have caused the injury and several different types of product liability that may be applicable to your particular case.
In any product liability claim, there can be three different ways of holding the other party responsible:
- Strict Liability – Where negligence does not have to be shown, you must simply show that the product you used injured you.
- Negligence – Where one or more party was negligent in the manufacturing or selling of the defective product, which resulted in your injuries
- Breach of Warranty – If the defective product that injured you had a warranty, saying it would perform its given task, and it injured you, then it may be a breach of warranty.
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What Do I Do If I Was Injured By a Defective or a Recalled Product?
If you have been injured by a defective or recalled product, the most important thing to do first is to get medical help to prevent any injuries from worsening or becoming life-threatening. Call 911 immediately if you suffer from a serious injury.
Once your injuries are taken care of, you can focus on gathering evidence that will benefit you during your product liability lawsuit. When it comes to this type of lawsuit, you must prove that you were injured by the defective or recalled item. To prove your claim, you will need to show the following four items:
- Evidence you suffered injuries or experienced loss, such as a medical bill
- Proof the product was defective
- How the defectiveness caused your injury
- That the injury did not occur due to user error and you used the product as intended
Evidence you can use to prove these points may include the defective product itself, receipts of ownership, medical records, accident reports, photos of the injury, medical bills, and evidence the defendant knew about the defect.
Can I Still File for a Product Liability Case Even if I Did Not Own the Defective Product?
Yes. You do not have to be the sole owner of the product in order to sue for an injury. This situation can cover incidents where products are borrowed from friends or other family members, and an accident occurs while the product is in your possession. While you will not need to provide proof of ownership if you never owned the product, you will have to prove that you still used it as intended and still suffered from injury.
What Can a Defective Product Lawsuit Cover?
The damages that a successful product labially claim can cover can include the following:
- Medical expenses
- Loss of income, wages, or profits
- Mental anguish
- Cost of therapy or rehabilitation for injury
- Damage to surrounding property
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of consortium
If you have suffered an injury from a defective product, then you deserve to recover compensation for your losses. Contact the experienced product liability attorneys at Brown & Brown, LLP in St. Louis or Illinois today. Call the 3s for help in Missouri (314-333-3333 / 573-333-3333) or the 8s (618-888-8888) in Illinois.
