Despite consumer protection laws designed to safeguard the public, thousands of people are injured in the U.S. every year by dangerous products on the market. Individuals get hurt when manufactures place profit over safety. If you or your loved one has been injured by a dangerous product, contact the law firm of Hanson & Mouri in Riverside County, CA today. You may have a product liability claim for compensation.
Product liability is the legal liability a manufacturer or distributor incurs for producing or selling a defective product. The term refers to liability of any or all parties along the chain of manufacture of a product for damage caused by that product. Products that contain inherent defects that cause harm to consumers are the subject of product liability claims.
In Southern California, product liability lawsuits can be based on either of two main legal theories – negligence and strict liability.
A product liability civil action brought on the grounds of negligence requires the injured party to prove negligence of the defendant in the creation or manufacture of the product. Negligence can be defined as any failure to act that causes the individual or entity to breach its duties of care to consumers. The company may have been negligent in any of various areas, such as manufacturing regulations, safety protocols, or training procedures, which resulted in defective consumer products.
Under strict liability laws, an injured party can sue for damages without proving the manufacturer’s negligence. The defendant will be liable for damages caused by the defective product, regardless of negligence, if the product has one of the three main product defects.
The three main types of product defects are:
When a dangerous, defective product causes harm or wrongful death to consumers, the manufacturer and/or seller of the product should be held liable. In some product liability claims, it may be up to the manufacturer to prove that it was not negligent in producing the defective product. In strict product liability cases, it is only necessary to prove that the product was defective, not that the manufacturer or seller was negligent.
Manufacturers and sellers of dangerous products should be held accountable for the harm their products cause. If you have been injured by a defective product in Southern California, call the Riverside personal injury lawyers of the law firm of Hanson & Mouri as soon as possible to schedule a free consultation. Our legal team of Riverside accident lawyers can tell you if you have a defective product case and what damages you may be entitled to claim.