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Injuries from defective products occur more frequently than most people think. Many products in the marketplace are inadequately engineered, improperly tested, or poorly fabricated. These dangerous products cause thousands of deaths and catastrophic injuries every year.
The experienced lawyers of Martinez, Manglardi, Diez-Arguelles & Tejedor, P.A. have won significant recoveries in a wide variety of defective products cases. Insurance companies know of our strong, 15-year trial record, and our ability to fully fund complex defective product cases. We have a well-earned reputation for providing aggressive and high quality representation to our clients.
We know the laws regarding products and the manufacturers’ and distributors’ responsibilities to ensure their products are safe. Our attorneys are also familiar with the physical, emotional and financial damage a defective product can cause. If you have been injured or lost someone because of a dangerous product, you have the right to file a claim against the supplier or manufacturer of the product.
In the course of our daily lives, we use a number of products. When used as directed, we rightly assume that the products we use are safe and reliable. Unfortunately, thousands of people are injured or die each year because of dangerous products - from automobiles to insulation to medical devices to pharmaceutical drugs and supplements.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission reports over 22,000 deaths and 29 million injuries related to consumer products each year. Annually, consumer products cause more than $500 billion in deaths, injuries and property. We frequently hear of product recalls because of safety and design issues in motorcycles, ATVs, snowmobiles, children’s toys and pajamas - even the food we eat. For example, in August 2004, Sylvania issued a recall for 5.6 million light bulbs, a product present in one form or another in every single home and business across the United States.
You may feel helpless or hopeless if you are one of the innocent people who has been injured, suffered property damage or tragically lost someone because of a hazardous product. However, you do have some control. Victims injured by faulty products have the right to seek compensation, including economic damages (lost wages or medical expenses), non-economic damages (pain and suffering) and punitive damages (to punish reckless behavior). In addition to the monetary considerations of a favorable verdict, if you win your case you may find solace in the fact that those responsible for your situation will be brought to justice. Moreover, you will contribute to the public safety by making manufacturers accountable for safer and more dependable products.
Degrees of Liability
When you file a product liability claim, you are suing the makers or sellers of injurious products. Anyone in the supply chain can be held responsible for damages, including the manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer. When their product was brought to market, the manufacturers and distributors became legally obligated to provide a well-designed product that is reasonably safe when used as intended. “Strict liability” claims are the most common types of product liability suits and are designed to enable a person injured by a defective or unpredictably dangerous product to recover compensation without proving that the manufacturer or seller was actually negligent. To win a strict liability case, your attorney must demonstrate that:
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The product had an "unreasonably dangerous" defect that caused your injury, and that the defect occurred in the product’s design, during its manufacture, or during shipping or handling.
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The defect caused your injury even though you were using the product in the way the manufacturer said that it was intended to be used.
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The product that caused damage had not changed “substantially” from its original sales condition.
Other forms of product
liability claims are negligence (carelessness, recklessness
or malice) or breach of warranty of fitness (damage directly
resulting from inadequate product warning). Each of these
types of suits has its advantages and disadvantages, and
your attorney will recognize and recommend the avenue that
offers the greatest chance of recompense. In some cases,
your lawyer may opt to use a combination of the three. While
product liability provisions vary greatly from state to
state, every jurisdiction requires proof that the product
was defective. Your attorney will present one or more of the
three types of defects that demonstrate liability:
If you believe that you may
have a defective product claim, it is important to seek the
counsel of an attorney experienced in recovering damages
from those responsible for a defective product. Time is of
the essence because defective product suits are subject to a
Statute of Limitations which specifies that a claim must be
filed within a restricted timeframe. A successful verdict
will help improve your quality of life as well as compel
suppliers and manufacturers to improve the quality of their
materials, increase product safety features, and provide
thorough cautions regarding a product's potential dangers.
Martinez, Manglardi, Diez-Arguelles & Tejedor, P.A. is on
your side. If you need the advice or the assistance of a
legal professional in your defective products suit, please
contact Martinez, Manglardi, Diez-Arguelles & Tejedor, P.A. today via our online contact
form, or call our Orlando office at (407) 381-4123, or
our Kissimmee office at (407) 846-2240.
Product Liability Questions & Answers
1. Who can bring a Product Liability suit?
2. Who can be held accountable in a product liability case?
3. What types of damages may be sought in a product liability lawsuit?
4. What is product liability?
5. How do I prove a product is defective?
6. Do I need a lawyer in a product liability case?
7. If I am seriously injured by an appliance or some other type of mechanical apparatus that is more than two years old, does that mean that the product is too old to have a lawsuit for product liability?
8. Our brand-new power mower backfired and injured me. From whom may I recover damages?
9. Can I bring a product liability against a manufacturer for incorrect product labeling?
10. Is there a Federal product liability law?
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