Atlanta Product Liability Lawyers
Manufacturers are strictly liable to consumers who get hurt by their defective products, and with good reason. Consumers have no way of knowing that a product they purchased is defective until it fails and the damage is already done. Companies are obligated to design, build and test their products to make sure they are safe before putting them on the market. Too often, though, corporations put their profit motive above all else and don’t bother to take simple steps that would ensure consumer safety.
The Atlanta product liability lawyers at Shiver Hamilton Campbell have the experience you need if you or a loved one has been injured or killed by a defective product. Our lawyers have gone up against corporate defendants of all sizes and have achieved significant results that hold manufacturers accountable for the harm they have caused. If you or a family member has suffered a product defect injury in Atlanta, call Shiver Hamilton Campbell to get the help you need.
Types of Product Defects
In the field of product liability law, product defects fall into three categories: design defects, manufacturing defects, and marketing defects, also known as “failure to warn” defects.
Design Defects
When a product is defectively designed, every unit that comes off the assembly line contains that defect and has the potential to injure a consumer. Examples of design defects include space heaters and irons that don’t automatically shut off if they tip over or are left on for too long, power tools and machinery designed without safety guards, or automobiles that are prone to rollover or explode in a crash because of the way they were designed.
Design defects can be the most costly defects to the manufacturer because of the potential for widespread injury and the fact that they may have to recall all their products and redesign them. Proving a defective design can require the use of expert engineers to testify how the design is defective and how a safer design could have and should have been used. These factors combine to make design defect cases challenging to win, and they require the use of highly skilled and experienced litigators to bring a successful case.
Manufacturing Defects
There may be nothing wrong with a product’s design, but the way it is built inserts a defect somewhere in the manufacturing process. Manufacturing defects can occur because of human error, computer error, or malfunctioning machinery, or the company might have used substandard components or cheaper materials than the design called for. A product that is defectively manufactured might break, fail, explode, or simply stop working at a critical moment, causing severe injury or death.
Depending on the reason for the manufacturing defect, the error might be present in just one unit or thousands. Challenges in these product liability cases include proving that the product was defective when it left the manufacturer’s control and was not altered down the line by the consumer or others, and that the product failure was not due to normal wear and tear or other factors outside of a product defect.
Marketing Defects
Even if a product is designed and built correctly, it might contain defects in the way it is marketed. For instance, household cleaners and industrial solvents need to contain clear warnings if the user needs to wear gloves or eye protection or only use the product in a well-ventilated area. Pharmaceutical products should warn of the dangers of mixing certain drugs or side effects that could affect a person’s mental or motor functioning. All products should contain instructions about how they are to be used safely, along with warnings against foreseeable misuse.
Manufacturers can be held liable for failing to include adequate instructions and clear and conspicuous warnings on product packaging and the product itself. Plaintiffs face a challenge proving that they used the product the way it was intended or could reasonably foreseeably be used; manufacturers will try to claim the person misused the product in some way and is responsible for the injury that followed. Our experienced and dedicated team knows how to build a strong case and present it to the jury to prove the facts of what actually happened.
Georgia Product Liability Law
In any of these situations, product makers can be held strictly liable for injuries caused by their product defects. The basis of a product defect claim include proving the following:
- The customer bought a defective product.
- The product was defective when it left the manufacturer’s control.
- The customer was injured by the product because of the defect.
Notice that injured plaintiffs don’t have to prove that the manufacturer was negligent in the way it designed, built or marketed the product. This is because product makers are strictly liable for injuries caused by their defective products. Still, proving the elements of a product liability claim can be challenging. Large corporate manufacturers fight hard to avoid liability for product defects, knowing the cost such liability could expose them to. Corporations like these hire teams of lawyers and sometimes go to great lengths to cover up the fact that their products were defective.
Get the Help You Need From A Atlanta Product Liability Lawyers
It might seem like David versus Goliath when the party on the other side is a giant corporation, but when you have a skilled and dedicated legal team on your side, you are armed with all the ammunition you need to take down the giants and hold them accountable for the harm their defective product caused. If you or a loved one has been hurt by a product defect, call the Atlanta personal injury lawyers at Shiver Hamilton Campbell for a free consultation. We take on cases involving the most serious catastrophic injury or wrongful death, and we fight to secure significant compensation for our clients who were hurt because of another’s negligence or wrongful conduct.
