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Philadelphia Products liability refers to all actions involving harm caused by defective or dangerous products. There are two prerequisites to products liability. First, the plaintiff must show that the product is defective. This can be done two ways, by showing there is either a manufacturing defect or that there is a design defect. A manufacturing defect means that the product is different from the others in a way that makes it more dangerous. A design defect means that the product was made exactly as was intended, but another design would have made the product more safe. The cost of the other design would not have been prohibitive and would not adversely alter the product. The second prerequisite is the plaintiff must prove that the defect must have existed when it left the defendant’s control. |
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Products liability claims can be based on negligence, strict liability, or breach of warranty of fitness depending on the jurisdiction within which the claim is based.
In a negligence claim, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant had a duty of care, which he breached that duty, which breach caused the injury and the plaintiff suffered damages as a result.
Most negligence actions involve manufacturers, and rarely wholesalers or retailers. If wholesalers or retailers are negligent, it is usually negligent failure to inspect the product. |
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| Contact InjuryLawLitigators.com for an attorney in your area to review the facts of your case. He or she will protect and defend your rights under the law. |
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In a strict liability claim, the main requirement is the defective condition of the product must have made it unreasonably dangerous. If this requirement is satisfied, then every defendant is liable: manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers.
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- Any person within the foreseeable zone of risk can sue, including bystanders.
- The product must be used in a reasonably foreseeable manner.
- If the plaintiff knows what the risk is and goes ahead and deliberately commits the action, the defendant will be protected from strict liability. A warning, adequately communicated to the plaintiff, will relieve the defendant of strict liability.
- Strict liability exists only for the sale or commercial lease of a product, not for supplying a service.
- The defendant must be a merchant for there to be strict liability, not just a casual seller.
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Contact InjuryLawLitigators.com for an attorney in your area to review the facts of your case. He or she will be able to advise you if you have a strict liability claim.
Warranty claims in most states are governed by the Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code. The most important products liability sections are the implied and express warranties of merchantability in the sales of goods. |
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| An implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose says: “Where the seller at the time of contracting has reason to know any particular purpose for which the goods are required and that the buyer is relying on the seller’s skill or judgment to select or furnish suitable goods, there is, unless modified, a implied warranty that such goods shall be fit for such purpose.” |
- The seller must have reason to know the buyer’s particular purpose.
- The seller must have reason to know that the buyer is relying on the seller’s skill or judgment to furnish or select appropriate goods.
- The buyer’s must, in fact, rely upon the seller’s skill and judgment.
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| An implied warranty of merchantability or usage of trade says: “Unless excluded or modified, a warranty that the goods shall be merchantable is implied in a contract for their sale if the seller is a merchant with respect to goods of that kind.” |
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- The goods being sold are fit for the ordinary purposes for which goods of that description are use.
- The goods pass without objection in the trade under the contract description.
- They are not dangerous.
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Contact InjuryLawLitigators.com for an attorney in your area to review the facts of your case. He or she will be able to advise you if you have a warranty claim.
Note, in a personal injury claim based on warranty, bystanders can sue because there is no requirement of contract privity in warranty. Also, there is no requirement of fault with warranty liability since conduct is irrelevant with warranty liability, just as with strict liability in a personal injury for products liability.
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Damages:
If a manufacturer, wholesaler or store that produced or sold the product is found at fault, a court can order them to pay damages (money) to compensate for injuries caused by the defective product. The court can also order the payment of additional money to punish the responsible parties for the defective product. This type of an award is called punitive damages.
Once a product has been proven defective in a lawsuit, the injured person is usually entitled to damages. In product liability cases, damages are called "compensatory damages." |
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There are two types of compensatory damages: |
- Damages awarded for economic losses;
- Damages awarded for non-economic losses.
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Economic losses due to an injury can usually be easily calculated. Past and future medical bills, prescription costs, lost wages and lost earning capacity are some examples of economic losses.
Examples of non-economic loss are "pain and suffering" and loss of consortium associated with injuries suffered from the defective product. Damages awarded for non-economic losses are generally monies determined to compensate for the pain, suffering and inconvenience caused by the defective product.
In addition to compensatory damages, the court can also order the payment of additional money to punish the defendants responsible for the defective product. This type of an award is called punitive damages.
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