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When manufacturers put their own profits ahead of the safety of consumers and someone gets hurt, the company can be held liable for the victim’s injuries. Although victims are entitled to receive compensation for injuries that are caused by dangerous products, few people file injury claims. Those who do take legal action find themselves facing powerful companies with teams of experienced lawyers who will stop at nothing to deny their claims. Hiring a Reno products liability lawyer levels the playing field, ensuring that your right are protected, negligent manufacturers are held liable, and you receive fair compensation for your injuries. Call today to get started working with a seasoned personal injury attorney.
Whenever you file a claim for defective product injuries or wrongful death, liability for your losses must be established. Nevada uses the theories of negligence and strict liability most often in products liability cases. Under the theory of negligence, anyone in the distribution chain can be held liable. Your Reno products liability attorney will simply need to show that the defendant owed you a duty of care, the defendant breached that duty, the breach caused your injuries, and that you suffered a loss. Under the theory of strict liability, only manufacturers can be held liable for injuries, but they can be held accountable even if they were not negligent. In Nevada, the following elements must be present for a claim under strict liability to be successful.
Your lawyer will need to show that the product was defective in some way. Flaws in materials used to create the product, mistakes in manufacturing, dangerous designs, and labeling defects are examples of how your lawyer might show a product was defective.
The defect must have been present when the product left the manufacturer’s possession. If the product was altered in any way after it left the possession of the defendant, the manufacturer cannot be held liable for injuries that resulted.
Your products liability claim also needs to include evidence that the defect caused your injury. Your products liability lawyer may use medical records with dates and times that corroborate the injury incident, or he or she may obtain an expert’s opinion stating that the defective product was likely the cause of your injury.
Misusing a product in a manner in which its designers did not intend, or that was not foreseeable, could hurt your case. Product liability claims are only generally valid if the consumer was using the product for the intended purpose.
No products liability claim with hold up in court without showing the dangerous or defective product caused you to suffer a serious injury. You cannot obtain a settlement for damages without showing that you suffered harm. Your attorney may use evidence like medical bills and lost wages to prove your claim.
There are generally three types of product defects that apply in products liability claims. It only takes one to enable you to pursue a claim. The three types of defective products cases Reno attorneys see involve defects in design, manufacturing, and marketing.
A design defect is one that from its inception results in dangerously defective products. Unfortunately, many design defects are not identified until products have been on store shelves for months and people start getting hurt. To show that a design was defective, your products liability lawyer might obtain testimony from a field expert who has knowledge of such products. The expert might discuss how the design is inherently defective and why the designers should have known about or anticipated the problem.
Even when designs are flawless, manufacturing defects can make products unsafe for consumers. When manufacturers use low-quality materials or poor workmanship to fabricate a product, children’s toys, vehicle parts, household appliances, tools, and even medications can become dangerous. In some cases, manufacturing defects occur when a product is contaminated with a harmful substance. These types of manufacturing defects can cause cancer, food poisoning, and other illnesses for consumers.
Another type of product defect occurs when an item is marketed incorrectly. A marketing defect might make promises that the product cannot fulfill, like perhaps curing cancer. A marketing defect might promote a product’s use by individuals in whose hands the product could be dangerous or otherwise misused in a dangerous manner. Failing to provide warning labels and providing users with the wrong instructions are examples of marketing defects that could lead to harm. A products liability lawsuit might cite the marketing defect as failing to warn against potential dangers or leading buyers to improperly use the product.
A products liability attorney in Reno may be able to help you recover damages for a variety of harms caused by defective products. Potential damage claims could include compensation for:
When the defendants’ actions are especially egregious and harmful, you may also be able to win punitive damages. Although punitive damages are intended to punish the defendant, the plaintiff receives the monetary award.
A products liability lawsuit could become a class action lawsuit whenever there is a clearly identifiable class of plaintiffs with a common defendant or group of defendants who are accused of doing generally the same thing. A legal class typically refers to any group of two or more people who suffered similar harm from the same unlawful act.
Using the same defective and dangerous products and suffering harm as a result could establish a readily defined class of plaintiffs. Your Reno products liability lawyer could initiate a class action lawsuit when there are numerous people filing similar products liability claims. Call today to get started.