Huntsville Product Liability Lawyer

It is reasonable to expect that the products you buy and use on a regular basis are safe to use as intended. Sometimes consumers are surprised to learn that a product they trusted is actually the cause of injuries, often very serious ones. If you’ve been injured by a product, it may be helpful to learn about the legal process of pursuing a product liability claim. Contact the Huntsville product liability attorneys at Conchin, Cole, Jordan & Sherrod to see how we can help you get the compensation you deserve.

When Can You Pursue Compensation for Product Liability?

Whether it be consumer products, workplace machinery, or prescription drugs and medical devices, manufacturers should follow basic safety rules in the design, manufacture, and sale of their products. These safety rules provide a systematic way of identifying and protecting users from hazards that could result in injury or death.

The first step is to determine the product’s purpose, its reasonably foreseeable uses, and the environments in which the product will be used. Next, a reasonable manufacturer will identify the hazards associated with the product’s use. The starting point in any analysis is, “How can the product the manufacturer intends to sell hurt someone?” If the hazard carries a risk of serious injury or death, then a manufacturer should eliminate or reduce that risk through alternative designs, protective measures, or with clear warnings.

A product can be defective because of its design, because of some flaw in the manufacturing process, or because it fails to sufficiently warn users of the risk of injury or death. Product liability claims are usually very complicated, and generally require proof that:

Who Is Liable in a Product Liability Claim?

Determining responsibility in a product liability case is often complex. Many products are made of a combination of many parts that are manufactured by several different suppliers. A Huntsville product liability lawyer can hold any or all of these manufacturers liable for the injuries you suffered.

Additionally, in many cases, the store that sold you the product may be liable as well. In selling you the product, they take some responsibility for ensuring that the products they sell are safe for use by the consumer. Additionally, the distributors who purchase from the manufacturer directly and sell to that store can be liable under the same doctrine.

If you are awarded compensation for your injury, those manufacturers, distributors, and stores may fight between themselves over who must pay how much of the compensation, but each party in the suit is held to be liable for the total compensation due to you as well as individually liable. Even if one party is unable to pay the compensation owed, the rest must make up the full amount.

Who Can Sue for Compensation in a Product Liability Case?

While the typical case involves the person who bought the product and was using it at the time of the injury, you may also be eligible for compensation even if you did neither of those things. A person riding in a taxi or in a friend’s car who is injured due to a faulty airbag may seek compensation, even though they did not purchase the car. In the same way, a person walking on the sidewalk when a part falls off a vehicle and strikes them may be eligible for compensation even though they neither bought the defective vehicle nor were they using it at the time of their injury.

In almost all product liability cases, an attorney can help ensure that you receive the compensation you deserve. Schedule a free consultation with a product liability attorney in Huntsville from Conchin, Cole, Jordan & Sherrod to help determine if your case merits compensation and how much compensation you may be entitled to.