Product Liability Lawyer
Serving West Virginia and Ohio
Product liability refers to the liability (responsibility) a manufacturer, retailer, supplier, or other provider of a product or service may have for injuries or damage caused by that product or service. For instance, if you buy a brand new microwave and the glass shatters while you are using that microwave, the manufacturer may be liable for any injuries you suffered due to a defect in the making of the microwave. In this case, you would need a product liability lawyer to help you recover any medical expenses you paid, lost wages from missing work, emotional damage from the event, etc.
Every year in the United States, thousands of preventable deaths, injuries and instances of property damage occur due to defective products. According to the Product Recall Research Group, there can be as many as 2-3,000 product recalls each year. Typically, recalled products are grouped into six categories:
- Children's products
- Motor vehicles
- Appliances and tools
- Perishables
- Furniture/computer
- Sports/recreation
Most of us are very familiar with recalls involving prescription drugs, automobiles, and children's toys. Sadly, some of the injuries and deaths due to these defective products occur after the recall is announced, and we are left with a catastrophic injury or death that could have been prevented had the manufacturer alerted the consumer more quickly.
What Makes Something Defective?
There are basically two kinds of defective products: those with design flaws and those that are improperly manufactured. A design defect occurs when a manufacturer uses a faulty engineering process to design a product that turns out to be dangerous. In a case such as this, every single product that came off that particular assembly line would have to be recalled as they would all have the same defect. A manufacturing defect takes place when the product is not made as designed. The design may be good, but the way in which the product was assembled is flawed. The problem may affect only some of the products that come off that assembly line. A product is also considered defective if it does not live up to its guarantees, or if it has incomplete, incorrect, or unclear guidelines/instructions for use.
Also, products may be tampered with, accidentally contaminated or even deemed dangerous because of new scientific information regarding a material ingredient of the product. Some recalls involve only a small number or model type of a product while other recalls may involve recalling products in the millions. In August 2000, Bridgestone/Firestone recalled six million tires due to a safety-related defect involving tire tread separation that was linked to hundreds of deaths. To date, over ten million tires, mostly equipped on SUVs, have been recalled.
Different states apply different product liability criteria, and this area of the law is very complex and difficult for most people to understand. For this reason, it is highly recommended that you seek legal advice from a product liability lawyer if you have been injured by a defective product.
If you or a loved one has been injured or killed by a defective product, please contact experienced product liability attorney Jim Leach. Our attorneys represent injured victims throughout West Virginia and Southern Ohio including the communities of Belpre, Marietta, Parkersburg, Wheeling, Athens, Jackson, Vienna, Morgantown, Charleston, Huntington, Ravenswood and Ripley.
1.866.janjim1