Have you been injured by a defective or dangerous product?
You may be able to hold the product manufacturer or designer liable for your injuries by filing a defective product lawsuit. If your lawsuit is successful, you may be able to recover compensation for medical bills, lost wages and other effects of your injuries.
There are many advantages to hiring a Savannah product liability lawyer to represent you. An attorney can investigate your case, collect evidence, file the complaint and other legal documents, and aggressively negotiate for fair compensation.
The class action attorneys at Roden Law understand what you are going through because of your injury and are prepared to fight for your rights. Schedule a free, no obligation legal consultation today so we can determine if we can help you. If you have a case and decide to move forward, you will not be charged for our services unless you receive compensation.
Fill out a Free Case Evaluation form right now or call 1-844-RESULTS.
Types of Defective Products
There are many types of products that can cause injuries to consumers, from defective drugs and defective medical devices to car parts and children’s toys.
Some common types of dangerous products include:
- Products for children – This includes car seats, cribs, strollers, toys, changing tables and playground equipment.
- Prescription medications – This could include medications for various chronic illnesses and medical conditions, such as diabetes or blood pressure.
- Household appliances – Common examples include dishwashers, water heaters, stoves, gas fireplaces and outdoor grills.
- Power tools – Examples include saws, drills, hammers and nail drivers.
- Poisonous substances – Common examples include pesticides, herbicides, insect repellents and household cleaners.
- Medical devices – Consumers can suffer injuries from surgical mesh, joint replacements, blood clot filters, pacemakers and heart valve replacements.
- Industrial equipment – Some examples are conveyor systems, tractors, bulldozers, cranes, forklifts and hoists.
- Recreational vehicles – Common examples include jet skis, motor boats, scuba gear, ATVs, motor scooters, mopeds and golf carts.
If you suffered an injury from one of these or any other type of defective product, contact Roden Law today to speak to one of our skilled Savannah product liability lawyers. We will carefully review your situation to determine all of your legal options.
Contact us today by calling 1-844-RESULTS.
Types of Product Defects
There are a variety of product defects that can cause injuries to consumers. However, these defects are usually divided into three main categories:
Design Defects
A design defect is a flaw in the original design of the product that makes it unreasonably dangerous. In other words, the risks created by the design of the product outweigh the benefit of the product being designed the way it is.
In a defective design case, the court will review the design of the product to determine if it could have been designed differently to be safer for consumers. Courts will take into account the cost to the manufacturer of creating a product with a different design. If the cost of creating the product with a different design was not unreasonable, the court may determine a different design should have been used.
There are many examples of design defects that put consumers at risk for injury. For example, if a container designed for toxic chemicals has a design flaw that allows the chemicals to leak out, anyone handling the container could suffer injuries from being exposed to the chemicals.
Manufacturing Defects
Sometimes there are problems during the manufacturing or assembly of a product that make it unreasonably dangerous for consumers. Unlike design defects, manufacturing defects only affect some units of a product instead of the entire line of products.
There are many causes of manufacturing defects. In some cases, broken components, faulty equipment or human error in the assembly line led to the defect.
A manufacturing defect could be a poorly assembled saw or power tool that makes it more prone to fall apart when it is used. This could expose the user to the risk of a variety of injuries.
Marketing Defects
Marketing defects are also known as failure to warn or instructional defects. In these cases, the product might have been safe for consumers if it included adequate warnings or instructions on how to use it safely and avoid an injury.
This includes warnings or instructions about foreseeable hazards for users. A common example of this is a coffee cup that warns people the coffee is hot. You may have also noticed warnings on plastic grocery bags saying they are choking hazards.
If you suffered a personal injury due to one of these defects, contact our Savannah product liability attorneys for a free, no obligation legal consultation. We can help you determine if you have grounds for a case and if it is in your best interest to pursue it.
Complete a Free Case Evaluation form or call 1-844-RESULTS.
Proving Your Case
There are a few different legal theories our product liability lawyers in Savannah may be able to use to hold a product designer or manufacturer liable for injuries caused by a product.
Strict Liability
According to Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.) 51-1-11, product manufacturers can be held liable for injuries to anyone who uses, consumes or is affected by a product if the product was not reasonably suited for its intended use and the condition when it was sold was the proximate cause of injury.
This means our Savannah product liability lawyers do not have to prove there was any negligence or carelessness on the part of the manufacturer in the design, manufacture or marketing of the product. We simply need to establish that the product caused you to suffer an injury.
Georgia law also says manufacturers can be liable even if the person injured lacks proof that he or she actually purchased the product that caused an injury.
Negligence
The theory of negligence has four elements our Savannah product liability attorneys must establish:
- Duty of care – We need to show there was a legal obligation for the manufacturer or designer to take reasonable steps to prevent a product from injuring you. Reasonable steps could include designing the product in a way that would help prevent it from causing injury if it was used as it was intended.
- Breach of duty of care – Our attorneys need to establish that the manufacturer or designer did not fulfill its duty to produce a safe product. For example, maybe the product did not contain sufficient warnings or instructions, or maybe it had a defective design that put consumers at unreasonable risk of injury.
- Causation – Our product liability attorneys in Savannah need to establish a link between the manufacturer’s breach of duty and your injury. This requires proof that your injury was caused by the manufacturer or designer’s actions not something else, like a preexisting medical condition or your misuse of the product.
- Damages – This could include medical expenses for treating your injuries, lost wages for missed time at work, or other effects of your injuries.
Breach of Warranty
Our product liability lawyers in Savannah can also file a case if there was a breach of a warranty on the product. There are two main types of warranties that can be breached with a consumer product:
Express warranty
These are warranties that are explicitly stated by the seller in marketing or labeling on the product. For instance, there could be a label on a power tool, like a table saw, saying it can cut through certain types of wood.
Implied warranty
All products have an implied warranty of merchantability, which indicates the product is safe to use as intended.
Under O.C.G.A. 11-2-314, the implied warranty of merchantability means goods must:
- Pass without any objections in the trade, according to the contract description
- Be of fair, average quality within the description
- Be fit for ordinary purposes goods are used for
- Run within the variations permitted by the agreement, of even kind, quality and quantity within each unit and among all units involved
- Be adequately contained, packaged and labeled as the agreement may require
- Conform to promises or affirmations of fact made on the container or label
In an implied warranty claim, a product liability lawyer in Savannah must establish privity, which means the victim of a personal injury or property damage purchased the product. However, there is an exception for anyone who is in the family or household of the buyer or who is a guest in the home and is reasonably expected to use the product.
When you meet with one of our Savannah product liability attorneys, he or she will carefully review your situation to determine what legal theories to apply to your case. We are committed to helping you pursue all of the compensation you deserve.
Contact Roden Law right now by calling 1-844-RESULTS.
Product Liability Statute of Limitations
Product liability cases are governed by a few statutes of limitations, which are deadlines for filing cases. If you miss the deadlines that apply to your case, you will lose the right to file a claim.
The main statute of limitations for these cases is two years from the date of your injury. This means once you suffer your injury, a two-year clock starts running. If time runs out you cannot pursue a case.
However, there is an exception to this statute for situations when the victim was not immediately aware that he or she had grounds for a lawsuit. When this happens, the statute of limitations does not start running until you discover you suffered an injury from a defective product and have grounds for a case.
These situations are also governed by a statute of repose, stated in O.C.G.A. 51-1-11. This says you cannot file a product liability lawsuit more than 10 years from the date the product was purchased, no matter when you discovered the injury. This means, if you discover you have grounds for a lawsuit nine years after purchasing the product, you have just one year left to bring a lawsuit.
Breach of warranty claims are governed by a four-year statute of limitations, according to O.C.G.A 11-2-725. However, in a breach of warranty case there is no exception for situations when you did not immediately discover the injury. You have four years from the date of injury to file a claim, regardless of when you discovered the injury.
Claims involving property damage are also governed by a four-year statute of limitations.
Our attorneys have detailed knowledge of these laws and can work to ensure your claim is filed before the applicable deadline passes.
Schedule a free legal consultation with an attorney right now.
Contact a Savannah Product Liability Lawyer Today
If you suffered an injury because of a defective product, you could be entitled compensation for the damages you suffered, from medical expenses and lost wages to pain and suffering.
However, pursuing a case is complicated, as you need to be familiar with numerous laws and regulations. That is why you should consider working with a Savannah product liability attorney on your case.
The attorneys at Roden Law have detailed knowledge of these cases and how people can be affected by dangerous products.