Product liability law requires manufacturers to make products that are safe to use. When you or someone in your family gets hurt because of a defective product, the manufacturer could be responsible for your injuries.
A Houston defective products lawyer with Roberts Markland LLP could prove a manufacturer sold you an unreasonably dangerous product and is responsible for your injuries. Additionally, one of our knowledgeable personal injury attorneys could obtain an insurance settlement or court verdict that compensates you for your medical costs, property damage, lost income, and pain and emotional suffering.
Thousands of deaths and injuries are directly attributable to dangerous and defective products sold in the United States. Despite all the work done by groups like the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Food and Drug Administration to ensure manufacturing of these products are safe for consumers, if the design isn’t engineered well to keep users safe, people are still exposed to potentially dangerous and fatal products that fail to meet even the most basic government safety standards. Some common examples of design defects our attorneys frequently see include:
Design defect lawsuits can become very complicated, all the reason why having a dedicated lawyer to guide you through the process is the best choice you can make. To discuss your design liability case, contact us today.
Product defects play a role in many accidents leading to significant injuries, even when the inappropriate use of an item causes the injuries. For example, if you fall asleep while smoking and cause a fire in an apartment—but the building’s sprinkler system did not operate effectively—the sprinkler manufacturer could be held responsible. Similarly, if you drive a car recklessly—but a mechanical defect, which is common in cars and other motor vehicles, leads to a collision—the car manufacturer could bear responsibility.
When a skilled attorney in Houston takes on a flawed product case, they can investigate to determine whether the item contributed to the incident. If the lawyer determines the manufacturer was responsible, they could pursue a claim against it and hold it accountable.
People who suffer losses because an unsafe product did not perform as expected could hold the manufacturer “strictly liable”; this means proving the manufacturer was careless, reckless, or intentionally sold a dangerous product. A hardworking lawyer in Houston with Roberts Markland LLP could prove strict liability by showing the design of a product was defective, that a manufacturing error occurred, or that the product’s label was inadequate.
Common examples of products with design defects include toys that are inherently dangerous yet are still meant for children (such as those with pieces small enough to choke on) and medical devices that break or disintegrate inside a patient’s body. To prove strict liability due to a design defect, you must show the manufacturer could have used a safer design.
Sometimes an error during production or packaging makes a product unsafe. Common examples of strict liability due to a manufacturing defect include when food, medication, or personal care products become contaminated in the factory.
When a label is defective, the product is also faulty. Common examples of strict liability due to labeling or warranty defects include when a manufacturer fails to provide sufficient warning of a product’s risks, offer adequate instructions for using a product safely, or create an accurate expectation of how a product will perform.
Most people with a personal injury claim in Texas must file within two years of being injured. When they are under 18, they have until two years after their 18th birthday; in such situations, their parent or guardian could bring a lawsuit on their behalf.
If a person does not know immediately that a defective product caused them harm, they have until two years after discovering their injury to file a lawsuit; this can happen when materials commonly used in homes—such as water pipes made of toxic materials or carpets that emit harmful gases—create health problems.
Special limitations apply to product liability actions. For example, Texas Civil Practice Law and Rules § 16.008(b) prevents anyone from bringing a lawsuit against a manufacturer if the allegedly defective product left the factory more than 15 years before filing. A Houston attorney could explain during a private consultation how this law impacts a faulty product claim.
When a product causes you to experience an injury, the manufacturer must compensate you. Since defective product lawsuits can be complicated, the best choice you can make is to have a capable Houston defective products lawyer with Roberts Markland LLP to guide you through the process. Call today.