It’s only natural to assume the products you use every day are safe. Many of laws that govern product development and distribution are aimed at preventing injuries to consumers, and no company wants to tarnish their reputation. Unfortunately, dangerous goods make it on the shelves all the time. If you or someone you love was hurt by a defective good, contact Long Beach product liability lawyer Michael D. Waks for legal advice.
Simply put, product liability refers to a party, usually the designer, manufacturer, or retailer of a good, being held legally responsible for damages caused by a product. There are a number of parties who could be liable in these cases, so a thorough investigation must take place before any claim is brought.
Michael D. Waks can review the facts of your case, help you determine who may be liable, and fight for the compensation you need to move on with life. For a free consultation, call (888) 394-1174.
How a Product Liability Lawyer Can Help
Almost any product can have a dangerous defect, and there are all sorts of injuries that can happen in these circumstances. It is important that you find a Long Beach product liability attorney who has the experience to provide effective representation in your particular circumstances.
The Law Office of Michael D. Waks employs the top medical, scientific and engineering experts necessary to identify the party or parties at fault and prove liability for injuries related to defective products.
In addition to identifying the liable party, Michael Waks can help you avoid critical mistakes such as providing a statement to the opposing party, mentioning your accident or case on social media, or ignoring doctor’s orders. He can explain exactly what you must do (and not do) to give your case the best chance of resulting in a fair settlement.
If you have a strong case but the defense declines to pay a reasonable settlement, Michael has the litigation experience to file a lawsuit and, if necessary, proceed all the way to trial. Fortunately, his reputation as a seasoned litigator often makes insurance companies think twice before launching unreasonable and unfounded disputes.
Important Terms to Know When Filing a Defective Product Injury Claim
Filing a defective product claim can be incredibly intimidating—especially when most of the legal jargon sounds like a foreign language. However, you won’t need to bury your nose in a legal textbook to make sense of the proceedings. Your Long Beach product liability attorney will not only handle the logistics of your claim, but will also be on hand to help decode this glossary of complex phrases.
However, it won’t hurt to have a better understanding of some of these terms. Here are a few phrases you may encounter:
- Causation: This is one of three elements that must be proven to succeed in a personal injury case. Causation is established by showing how the losses you suffered would not have happened if it were not for the tort in question. For instance, if your child was burned by a defective crockpot but had a broken arm before the incident, you would not be able to seek damages for the broken arm, unless the injury was aggravated or exacerbated by the crockpot defect.
- Duty of Care: This refers to the legal obligation of individuals or entities to act with reasonable care. To succeed in a negligence claim, you will have to show how a party breached their duty of care. In some product liability cases, however, you must only prove strict liability. That means you don’t have to show that the defendant (usually the product designer or manufacturer) failed to act with a reasonable degree of care. You must only prove that the defendant was involved in the manufacturing, sale, or distribution of the product; the product had a defect (such as a faulty design, manufacturing defect, inadequate instructions, or negligent warning label); and the defect or inadequate warning caused you harm.
- Maximum Medical Improvement: Often abbreviated as “MMI”, this term refers to the point in your treatment where your condition or injuries are unlikely to heal any further. In some cases, this may mean you’ve made a full recovery, or it could mean that you will be expected to live with ongoing complications and limitations for the rest of your life. Your product liability lawyer may suggest that you hold off on settlement negotiations until you have achieved MMI so that you have a clear idea of the full costs involved with treating your injuries.
- Negligence: In tort law, negligence refers to an individual or entity’s failure to take sufficient steps that someone of ordinary prudence would take under the same circumstances. A party that is found negligent may not have caused harm deliberately but could still be held liable for the damages sustained by other parties due to their recklessness or carelessness. Again, in some product liability cases, you do not need to prove negligence to impose fault since strict liability applies.
Types of Product Defects
Thousands of products have been recalled over the past decade due to harmful defects. The common categories of defective products that fall under product liability include:
- Consumer goods
- Medical devices
- Commercial and personal vehicles
- Aircraft
- Food
- Prescription drugs
The first hurdle in a product liability case is proving a product is defective. There are three types of defects that can cause the manufacturer or supplier of a product (or someone else on the development and distribution chain) to be liable:
- Design Defects – inherent in the product before manufacturing
- Manufacturing Defects – occur during construction so only a few units are defective
- Marketing Defects – improper instructions, negligent labeling, or failure to warn consumers of reasonably foreseeable dangers
If you believe that you or a loved one was injured by a defective product, keep the product and its packaging, and call a product liability attorney right away.
Michael D. Waks has over 30 years of experience representing and winning millions of dollars for personal injury victims in Long Beach and other cities in Southern California. Call (888) 394-1174 to put a tough-minded and caring attorney to work for you.
Contact a Product Liability Attorney in Long Beach, CA for a Free Consultation
Product liability attorney Michael D. Waks has more than 38 years of experience and an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the highest rating attainable by lawyers. Michael offers free, no-obligation consultations, so you won’t have to pay a cent to get the answers you need to make informed decisions about who should take on the representation of your case.
If you choose to hire Michael D. Waks, he will fight aggressively to get you the maximum compensation. Michael has a genuine passion for helping accident victims as demonstrated by his track record of successful results, which include numerous six- and seven-figure trial verdicts and settlements. To set up a free case review, contact Michael at (888) 394-1174.