The average person encounters hundreds of products daily, ranging from food items to vehicle parts. When dangerous consumer products cause preventable injuries or even wrongful death, victims may have a right to pursue compensation through a product liability lawsuit. Obtaining the compensation you deserve can be challenging, however, especially if you’re going up against a large corporation.
The Central New York & Syracuse product liability attorneys at CDH Law, PLLC know how to bring corporations to justice for injuries caused by their products. Corporations are legally obligated to ensure their products are reasonably safe for consumers and aren’t defective. You may be entitled to compensation if a defective product has seriously injured you or your loved one. Contact CDH Law to learn more about how we can advocate for you.
Types of Product Liability Cases We Handle
For the most part, consumer products work safely, as intended. However, defective designs, manufacturing errors, and a lack of warning can result in serious injuries. Consumers shouldn’t need to worry that the prescription drugs they’re taking or the toys they’re purchasing for their children will cause injuries. At CDH Law PLLC, we are ready to help consumers who have been injured by defective or dangerous products. Our product liability attorneys have successfully handled a wide range of product liability cases, including, but not limited to, the following:
- Medical devices
- Dangerous prescription medications
- Toys and children’s products
- Vehicles, safety equipment, and airbags
- Machinery
- Tools
- Safety gear defects
- Construction Equipment
- Batteries
- Electronic products
Debilitating Injuries Caused by Defective Products
Injuries caused by defective products range from minor to catastrophic. Facing an unexpected injury can be overwhelming. If you cannot come into our Syracuse law office to discuss your case, one of our attorneys can arrange a time to visit you. Catastrophic injuries can result in significant medical expenses. Working with a skilled attorney can help ensure that you continue to receive the medical care and rehabilitative treatment you need. Some of the injuries caused by defective products include:
- Severe burns
- Broken bones
- Head injuries
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Neck and back injuries
- Crushing injuries
- Internal organ damage
- Spinal cord damage
- Lost limbs
- Paralysis
- Wrongful death
Design Defects
Products with design defects are inherently dangerous due to how the product has been designed. If a company knows or should know about a product’s dangerous condition, the company should find another safer way to design the product. When designing a different product isn’t possible, the company must add a safeguard or disclose the product’s dangers to consumers.
When a hazard that may cause injury or death to the consumer has been identified, the design engineer has to follow an accepted design protocol to minimize the hazardous condition associated with the product. An example of an inherently dangerous design would be a children’s toy with a 12-inch long pull string marketed for children under 5. The string could reasonably pose a strangulation hazard.
Manufacturing Defects
Sometimes a product is dangerous because of a flaw in the manufacturing process. Defects in the manufacturing process can affect one product on an assembly line or an entire batch of products. Manufacturing defects occur when a product has been safely designed but is dangerous due to how the product was assembled or built. These types of product liability claims frequently involve cases in which a part malfunctioned because of the use of cheaper material on the assembly line.
Failure to Warn Customers of Potential Risks
When a company knows or should have known about dangers associated with the proper use of a product, it has a legal obligation to warn customers. When a company fails to warn consumers about the risks associated with their product or continues to market a product without warnings knowing it’s dangerous, the company can be liable for resulting injuries.
Proving Liability in Product Liability Cases
Under New York State law, victims of dangerous products have the right to bring forth a product liability claim against the responsible party. Victims can recoup compensation for the damages they’ve sustained. When a defective product causes a victim’s death, the surviving family members of the deceased victim can bring a product liability claim against the responsible party. When pursuing a product liability claim, the plaintiff must prove that the product’s defective nature was caused by a design error, manufacturing error, and/or an improper warning about the dangers associated with using the product.
Holding Negligent Manufacturers Accountable
Depending on the facts in your case, you may have to prove the legal theory of negligence. Manufacturers are negligent when they fail to use the care that a reasonable manufacturer would in designing and manufacturing or warning of dangers associated with using their product.
Other cases involve a breach of express or implied warranty. In these cases, the manufacturer warranted that its product would perform in a specific way. When a product fails to perform in that way and causes injuries to the purchaser or a foreseeable user, the victim can hold the manufacturer and retailers liable.
In other product liability cases, victims can hold manufacturers strictly liable for injuries caused by their product. When proving strict liability, the plaintiff doesn’t have to prove the defendant was at fault. Instead, they must prove the threat of the product itself. Establishing strict liability requires the plaintiff to prove that the defendant sold a product in a defective condition, making it unreasonably dangerous. Finally, the plaintiff must show that the product hadn’t been altered when sold to the consumer.
Contact a Central New York Product Liability Attorney
If you have been seriously injured by a product you purchased and used as intended, you may be entitled to economic and non-economic damages. The product liability attorneys at CDH Law PLLC have a proven track record of holding companies accountable when their defective or dangerously designed products cause consumer injuries. Contact CDH Law PLLC to schedule a complimentary, no-obligation case evaluation and learn more about how we can advocate for you.