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Product Liability

Product liability is an area of law concerning dangerous or defective products. Although manufacturers are supposed to ensure the safety of their products, many people in the United States are harmed by these types of products each year. If you were injured or lost a loved one due to a dangerous or defective product, contact an experienced South Jersey product liability lawyer at the D’Amato Law Firm. We can help you obtain the compensation you deserve.

Defective Products

At the D’Amato Law Firm, our South Jersey product liability lawyers have seen many types of defective products. Product liability claims in New Jersey are commonly based on:

  • Auto defects: Car manufacturers are required to meet government safety requirements. However, sometimes a car’s individual components, such as the air bags, brakes and accelerators, can cause catastrophic injuries or even fatalities if they are defective.
  • Dangerous drugs: Pharmaceutical companies must provide consumers with safe and effective drugs. Unfortunately, defective products are sometimes manufactured, sold, and recalled.
  • Medical Devices: Defective medical devices are often the result of insufficient test trials and are recalled by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Defective medical devices that were recently the subject of defective product liability claims include orthopedic products, hip implants, and transvaginal mesh implants.
  • Tools and appliances: Tools such as saws or nail guns are hazardous, especially when they lack sufficient guarding or other safety protocols. Home appliances can also cause serious injuries, including electrocution, burns, or even fatalities if wired improperly or otherwise defective.
  • Toys: Defective toys can cause asphyxiation, burns, cuts, choking, or permanent hearing damage.

Types of Product Liability Claims

There are three types of product liability claims consisting of defective manufacture, defective design, and failure to warn. Which type you will pursue depends on the nature of the product and the circumstances surrounding your injury.

  • Defective design: A defective design claim is based on an error that occurred during the design phase, before the product was even manufactured. Unlike in defective manufacture claims, the product was designed as originally intended. However, the inherently flawed design plan caused the product to be unreasonably dangerous.
  • Defective manufacture: A defective manufacture claim arises when a product causes injury because it was not designed as originally intended. This type of claim is based on strict liability and does not require the claimant to prove that the manufacturer was negligent. You must show that there was a manufacturing error and that you were injured as a result.
  • Failure to warn: A failure to warn claim requires claimants to show that they were injured because of inadequate warnings or instructions regarding the product’s proper use. These dangers must have been non-obvious and unpredictable, such as a medicine that does not include a warning on its label explaining potentially dangerous side effects if taken with other commonly used drugs.

Proving Your Claim

To prove your product liability claim, you must show that you suffered injury or loss because of the product’s defect in manufacture, design, or warnings. To do so, you must show that the product is defective, that it caused your injury, and that you were using it as intended.

It is not enough to show that you were injured while using the product. Rather, you must show that the product, and not something else such as your own negligence or recklessness, caused your injury. You must also have been using the product in an intended or foreseeable manner. Deviating from the manufacturer’s intended use of a product in a way that they could not have foreseen may affect the success of your claim.

It is important to contact a qualified attorney who can help you with your claim as soon as possible. In New Jersey, there is a two-year statute of limitations for product liability claims, meaning you have two years from the date of your injury to file a claim or you may lose your right to compensation.

South Jersey Product Liability Lawyers at the D’Amato Law Firm Handle All Types of Product Liability Claims

If you or a loved one was injured by a defective product, you may be entitled to compensation. Contact a South Jersey product liability lawyer at the D’Amato Law Firm to discuss your case. We proudly represent clients throughout southern New Jersey from our office in Egg Harbor Township. To discuss your case, call us at 609-926-3300 or contact us online.