What Are The Different Types Of Product Liability Cases?
Consumers in and around Birmingham, Alabama should be able to purchase products without worrying about hazardous defects that pose serious personal injury risks. Yet consumer products are recalled with some regularity due to safety defects, and many products cause harm before they are even recalled. When a product intended for consumers causes a serious personal injury because it is defective, the injured consumer may be able to file a claim for financial compensation. The type of lawsuit that you may be able to file is a particular type of personal injury lawsuit known as a product liability claim. In product liability cases, the injured consumer can file a claim against the party who is liable for the product defect.
The Cornell Legal Information Institute (LII) explains that, in general, product liability cases fall into three types of defect categories: design, manufacturing, and marketing defects. Our Birmingham product liability lawyers want to provide you with more information about the different types of product liability cases you may be able to file.
Design Defect Claims
When the design of a product is defective, the injured consumer may be able to file a design defect claim. Design defects occur when the design of the consumer product itself, regardless of whether and how it was manufactured, is defective. No matter how carefully a product with a design defect is manufactured or marketed, it will still be defective. There is something inherently wrong with the product due to the defect in its design.
Manufacturing Defect Claims
Manufacturing defects happen during the process of making the product. A manufacturing defect can occur when one of the components of a product is being made, or when the product as a whole is being assembled. There is nothing inherently wrong with or dangerous about the product, but rather the defect occurred while the product was being manufactured.
Marketing Defects, or Failure to Warn Claims
Marketing defects are a bit more complex than design and manufacturing defects. There is nothing physically wrong with the product itself, but rather, there is something wrong with or defective about the way the product was marketed or sold. Typically a marketing defect means that the marketer or retailer of the product failed to warn consumers about known risks associated with using the product, thus the use of the term “failure to warn” in describing this type of defect.
Contact Our Birmingham Product Liability Attorneys
In an Alabama product liability lawsuit, the injured plaintiff does not have to prove that the designer, manufacturer, retailer, or any other party who may be liable for damages was negligent. Instead, most product liability lawsuits in Alabama can be brought under a theory of strict liability. In strict liability claims, the defendant can be held strictly liable for injuries simply by designing, manufacturing, or selling a product that ends up causing harm because of a defect. If you have questions about structuring your claim, you should seek advice from a Birmingham injury lawyer at our firm. Contact Goldasich, Vick & Fulk today to get started on your product defect claim.
Resource:
law.cornell.edu/wex/product_liability
