Have you been injured by a defective product?
If your injury was the fault of the manufacturer, or in some cases the business that sold you the defective item, then you may have a legal claim for compensation under federal or state product liability laws.
At Stone Rose Law, we represent people who have been harmed by products that are defective in design, or manufacture, or in other ways are unreasonably dangerous to use for their intended purposes.
If you have been injured by a faulty product, please call Stone Rose Law at (480) 631-3025 to speak with a Phoenix product liability lawyer.
Those who sell and distribute products have a legal responsibility to ensure that they are reasonably safe to use.
When they fail to uphold this responsibility and harm results, these companies may be subject to possible product liability claims for compensation.
For product liability purposes, a defective product is one that is inherently unsafe as it is designed or made, or is inherently unsafe to use as instructed, or is mislabeled or deceptively marketed in such a way that harm can result to buyers.
Products can become unreasonably unsafe to use under a variety of legal theories. These include:
Most products can be defective for a product liability claim if it meets one or more of the criteria above. Here are some examples of products that have been the basis for successful product liability claims:
Sometimes a product can be defective, but not give rise to a legal claim for product liability:
One feature of product liability law is that it is not confined to those who design and make unreasonably unsafe products.
In many cases, anyone in the chain of distribution between the maker of the product and you as the end user can also be liable under product liability. This includes:
There are several grounds for a product liability claim in Arizona. They include negligence, strict liability, and breaches of warranties.
Product liability negligence often involves a defect in a product’s design or manufacture that the designer or manufacturer knew or should have known created an unreasonable risk of harm to end users.
For example, if a car maker makes a car that has a defective fuel tank that it knows or should know poses an unreasonable risk of exploding in a rear-end collision, and the manufacturer fails to correct this defective design, then it arguably was negligent for any resulting harm to drivers or passengers who are injured by exploding fuel tanks in that car model.
This is perhaps the most well-known form of product liability, and is based on federal law.
If a product, as it is designed or built, is inherently dangerous even when used as intended, then it may not be necessary to prove that the designer, maker, or anyone in the distribution and sales chain was negligent to hold them liable for injuries or property damage caused by the inherently unsafe defect.
This can make it easier to prove a product liability claim. Once the product defect is proven to have caused the injury, it is not necessary to prove negligence by establishing a duty to the plaintiff and a breach of that duty.
For example, if we return to the defective car fuel tank design above, an alternative case for liability can be based on strict liability as well as negligence. Product liability lawsuits often allege both negligence and strict liability as alternative claims.
Product manufacturers provide express and in some cases implied warranties that their products will work as fit for their intended purpose and are safe to use as intended.
Many manufacturers will disclaim any implied warranties, but a breach of an express warranty that results in harm can be grounds for what is effectively a product liability claim.
For example, if a tire manufacturer warrants that its tires are good for 40,000 miles, but a tire blows out because of a manufacturing defect after only 10,000 miles and results in an injury-causing accident, this failure of the tire warranty can be the basis of a product liability claim.
Federal and state consumer safety laws, like the Consumer Protection Act of 2019, have provisions to protect product consumers against design and manufacturing defects, breaches of express warranties, inadequate instructions or warnings, or marketing defects like improper labeling.
Although these consumer protection laws are not specifically product liability laws, violations of these laws can have the same effect of holding product manufacturers responsible for bad product designs, poor manufacturing quality, bad user instructions, or misleading claims.
If a defective product has harmed you, you have the legal right to seek compensation.
The kinds of compensation you can recover for a product liability claim are the same as for a personal injury claim, because product liability typically involves direct damages for physical injuries and non-economic damages like emotional distress and mental suffering.
Here are some common kinds of harm you can seek to recover for in settlement of a personal injury claim or in a civil lawsuit:
In most product liability cases, the insurance company of the company at fault for your injuries will pay your compensation in an out-of-court settlement.
In cases where your harm is especially serious, or if you lose a loved one because of a defective product and have to file a wrongful death claim to recover the compensation you deserve, this might exceed the at-fault party’s insurance liability coverage limits, and you may need to seek damages in a lawsuit.
To learn more about the kinds of harm you may be able to recover from a product liability claim, see our Personal Injury Calculator.
A product liability-related serious injury can be devastating to your wellbeing and your livelihood. Because there are many ways a product liability litigation can arise from defective and dangerous products, and more than one party may be held responsible, these cases can be challenging and complex to prepare for settlement or trial.
Let a skilled Phoenix product liability attorney at Stone Rose Law help you fight for the fair compensation you deserve and help you seek the support and medical treatment you need, starting with a free case evaluation.
Call Stone Rose Law at (480) 631-3025 or contact us online so you can schedule a free consultation with a Phoenix product liability attorney.
