Although the range of consumer products available offers most Americans an enviable level of comfort and convenience, sometimes those products are dangerous, even when they are used as directed. Some products become defective and the defects can result in injury to the consumer. A Board-certified personal injury attorney like David E. Gordon can help consumers get compensation for the injuries they suffer.
Any party responsible for introducing a product into the stream of commerce is potentially liable for injuries caused by a defect. If you believe a defect caused your injury, consult with a Cordova defective products lawyer right away. David can review the facts of your case and analyze whether seeking financial compensation on a product liability theory is the right way to proceed in your particular circumstance.
How Does Someone Prove Product Liability?
People who sell products to consumers have a responsibility to ensure the product is reasonably safe when used as intended. Manufacturers, distributors, and sellers of defective products could be strictly liable for any injuries the defective product causes. Strict liability means that there is no need to prove negligence. Instead, an injured person must show that the product was defective and the defect caused an injury. There are a few ways for a local defective products attorney to demonstrate a defect that triggers strict liability: design defect, manufacturing defect, or labeling defect.
Design Defect
A flaw in design makes a product potentially dangerous to all who use it. A lawyer must show that there was another design that would result in a less dangerous product.
Manufacturing Defect
Errors in manufacture make the particular product that the consumer used unsafe, even though the product may be reasonably safe when manufactured correctly. The plaintiff often must produce the product that malfunctioned as evidence unless the nature of the malfunction caused the product’s destruction.
Labeling Defect
Inadequate warnings or instructions for safe use could result in a defective label claim. The injured client must show that a reasonable person could not have anticipated the product failing in the specific manner it did, based on the information provided on the product’s label.
Damages Available in Defective Products Cases
Those who suffer injuries from a defective product are entitled to seek compensation for their losses from all the parties who might have contributed to the injury. An attorney can help them identify and document all the losses they experienced. These include financial losses, as well as intangible losses experienced through changes to lifestyle and relationships.
Compensation for quantifiable financial losses is called economic damages. Economic damages that a Cordova dangerous product lawyer can pursue might include:
- Medical expenses, including projected future cost of care
- Wages from when a person lost time from work, including the value of any sick days, personal days, or vacation time that the injured person used because of the injury
- Travel expenses associated with traveling to medical or rehabilitation appointments
- Mental health treatment stemming from the accident
- Rehabilitation and training costs to accommodate a permanent disability
- Loss of future income and earning opportunities if the injury impacts the claimant’s ability to work
- Costs of accommodating the injury, such as home renovations or an adapted vehicle
Injured clients can also seek compensation for intangible losses like pain and suffering, disfigurement, mental anguish and humiliation, and loss of enjoyment of life. Their family members could also seek damages for loss of support or consortium. These are called non-economic damages. Tennessee law limits an award of non-economic damages to $750,000 in most cases but those with catastrophic injuries could receive up to one million dollars.
Seek Justice with a Cordova Defective Products Attorney
Products liability cases are complicated. They can involve multiple defendants and different theories of liability. Because the stakes are so high for defendants in these cases, they often present a robust defense. The success of a product liability action depends on having a knowledgeable advocate like David E. Gordon. If you have been injured by a product that you believed to be unsafe, place a call to a Cordova defective products lawyer.