Product Liability
Product Defect Lawyer in Orange County, California
Our health and wellbeing depend on safely designed and manufactured products, from the medicine we take to the toys we buy for our children to the cars we drive. Unfortunately, design or manufacturing defects sometimes make these products dangerous, harming us and our loved ones.
At Silverthorne Attorneys in Orange County, we hold companies responsible for the defective products they manufacture, distribute or sell. In every case, we work to maximize your results, and we are always available to answer any of your questions.
We offer a free consultation, and you pay no fees unless we recover money for you. For a free case review, call us now or use our online contact form.
What Is Product Liability?
Product liability means that those who produce and sell products may be held responsible when their products harm you. This liability can stem from making or distributing the product, including a defective design. Product liability also applies to a defective manufacturing process or a manufacturing error, as well as defects in product warnings.
- Defective design. A product’s design must meet any safety standards set out in the law. A product’s design may be considered defective when injuries occur even when the product was manufactured as intended and used as intended. Defective design affects all units of a product — not just one or two. Note that under California law, some products are not considered to have design defects even though they are inherently unsafe. Guns and ammunition and some drugs and medical devices fall into this category.
- Defective manufacturing. Defective manufacturing is another common type of product liability claim. In many cases, a product’s design is perfectly acceptable. The product is made unsafe by a manufacturing defect. For instance, a factory might accidentally use the wrong type of chemical in its product, making the product dangerous as a result.
- Failure to warn / inadequate warnings. Product liability may also be based on a product’s inadequate warnings or its lack of instructions. Under California law, companies must anticipate how consumers may use, or possibly misuse, products. Companies must warn users about possible dangers and provide clear instructions on the proper use. Companies may be held liable when a user is injured because of the failure to include those warnings or instructions.
If you have questions about how these different types of product liability may apply to an unsafe product in your case, talk with an Orange County product liability lawyer today.
How Our Attorneys Can Help With Your Product Liability Claim
We can help with your product liability claim in these ways:
- Case review. We can review your case and help you understand what happened. We’ll listen to you and work with you to uncover the truth. If needed, we can pull in experts who can examine the product and help you determine exactly how you were injured.
- Finding responsible parties. As part of a claim, we can help you determine who should be held responsible. In a product liability claim, many different parties may be involved. Design firms, manufacturing facilities, distributors, marketers and retailers may play a role. We will review your case and analyze it under the law, then discuss your options.
- Handling your claim. We can manage every aspect of your product liability claim. From pulling in experts and analyzing facts to negotiating with insurance companies and handling communications. When you work with us, we can handle your claim and do everything we can to keep the stress off you.
- Maximizing your claim’s value. We will work to maximize the value of your claim during negotiations. Preparation and knowledge are key in any unsafe product negotiations, and our team will work tirelessly for your claim.
- Taking your case to court. If your case needs to go to court, we can advocate for you and make a convincing case for the compensation that you deserve.
What to Do if You Have Been Harmed by a Dangerous or Defective Product
A dangerous or defective product can injure you without warning. If an unsafe product has injured you, take these steps to ensure the safety of you and your loved ones. Your health — and your claim — may depend on it.
If you have been harmed by a dangerous or defective product, seek medical help immediately. An evaluation can find hidden injuries that may show up long after your accident. As part of your evaluation, doctors will create medical records that could become a critical part of your claim.
Collect any important evidence from the accident, including the defective product. After an accident, take photos of the defective product, your injuries, and where the accident happened. Get the contact information of any witnesses to the accident. This information could also be very important to your claim.
Make sure that you keep the defective product as it was at the time of the accident. As part of your claim, an expert may need to examine it. If you tamper with the product after the accident, your claim may be more difficult to prove.
Contact a product liability law firm to discuss your injury. An experienced law firm can advise you on the best strategy for pursuing your claim. A product liability law firm can help hold the responsible parties accountable for your injuries.
Compensation for Your Injuries
Under California law, you may be entitled to these types of compensation:
- Pain and suffering caused by your injuries. Your product liability claim may include compensation for the physical and emotional injuries you have suffered.
- Lost earnings. Injuries can take you out of work and keep you from working well into the future. A claim can replace those lost wages and the harm to your future earnings.
- Costs of medical care now and in the future because of your injuries. Even a minor injury can result in major bills. A claim may cover the costs of medical treatment and therapy that you need after an accident.
- Property losses. Faulty products may cause substantial losses through house fires, car accidents and many other serious accidents.
- Enhanced injury damages in cases where a defective design increased injury. In some cases, an accident would have happened regardless of whether a product was designed poorly. But the design flaws may actually make an injury worse. In those cases, you may be able to seek compensation for the worsening of your injury.
- Punitive damages. Although rare, punitive damages are awarded where a company’s outrageous or malicious conduct played a role in your injuries.
Depending upon the facts of your product liability case, you may be entitled to these and other types of damages. Contact a product liability lawyer today to understand what compensation may be available.
Common Types of Product Liability Claims
Defects in these types of products have harmed users, resulting in product liability cases:
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Tools
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Furniture
If you have suffered an injury because of a defective product, a product liability lawyer in Orange County, CA can review your case and help you understand how to move forward.
Time Limit for Filing a Claim
Generally, California law gives you two years to file a product liability claim for your injuries. After an injury, do not wait to seek advice about your injuries and your recovery from an Orange County product liability attorney.
If you miss this two-year time limit, you may lose your ability to bring a claim. That’s why it is important to speak with a lawyer as soon as you can after your accident.
Steps in a Product Liability Lawsuit
A product liability lawsuit may involve these steps:
- Talking with a defective product lawyer. A lawyer can tell you what you need and the best strategy for proving your claim.
- Gathering key evidence. This evidence includes the defective item. It also includes photos of your injuries, medical reports and the packaging and instructions for the defective item. These items can build your claim and help connect your injuries to the defective product.
- Arranging for an expert review of the evidence. In some defective product cases, you will need an expert to examine the product. The expert can thoroughly examine the product and can help determine what happened, how you were injured, and who may be at fault.
- Determine who should be held responsible for your injuries. As part of a product liability claim, you will need to know who may be at fault for your injuries. It may be that a company designed an unsafe product, that a manufacturer made an error in production, or that the seller didn’t provide the warnings that could have prevented your injuries. A lawyer can let you know who may be responsible based on the evidence and the law.
- Filing your lawsuit in court. A lawsuit is a complex process that can involve multiple filings, a process of discovering evidence, and arguments before a judge and jury. Those steps take preparation and skill, but an Orange County product liability attorney can handle the process from start to finish.
Talk to a Product Liability Attorney in Orange County Now
If a defective product has injured you, speak with Silverthorne Attorneys today. A product liability case can lead to a detailed investigation, stressful negotiations with businesses and insurance companies, and a complex lawsuit before a judge. The talented team at Silverthorne Attorneys is ready to help you with your claim.
At Silverthorne Attorneys, you are always in control and you always decide what is fair. We’re available to talk and answer any of your questions. We fight to maximize your compensation. You pay no fees unless we recover money for you. After an injury, focus on healing and leave the rest to us.
For your free case consultation call us today or contact us online.
Defective Brake
Everyone who drives knows that brakes are the most basic safety systems on an automobile. Silverthorne Attorneys knows that any defects in a vehicle’s braking system can create conditions for a serious accident, possibly resulting in injury or death.
Silverthorne Attorneys routinely handles car accidents caused by defective brakes. Even with advanced technology and improvements, the experts at Silverthorne Attorneys handle dozens of cases where people are killed or injured every year in accidents attributed to defective brakes.
Defective Car Seat
Car seats are a requirement for new parents; so much so that some hospitals give them out when a baby is born. These car seats are designed to protect the most delicate lives, but most importantly they are designed to protect those that cannot protect themselves. Even though car seats are supposed to shield children from injuries that could result from car accidents, from March of 1998 until May of 2001, four major manufacturers of child safety seats announced five recalls involving nearly 10 million car seats.
Defective Crib
It is disconcerting to us at Silverthorne Attorneys that the Consumer Products Safety Commission reports “For the three -year period 2008–2010, CPSC staff has reports of 333 deaths – an annual average of 111 deaths – associated with, but not necessarily caused by, nursery products among children younger than age five.”
We estimate that about 1 Child Every Hour Is Taken to ER After Being Hurt Around a Crib, Playpen, or Bassinet. Most injuries were from falls in toddlers between ages 1 and 2 — generally old enough to attempt climbing out of a crib or playpen.
Defective Stove
Stove Tipping Dangers
The oven, stove, or range is one of the most common household items and it is also one of the most dangerous items in the kitchen. Due to defective designs ovens have injured many people(mostly children) by tipping over. Hundreds of children have been burned or crushed by our stoves according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. A small amount of pressure put on an open oven door, as from a climbing child, may result in enough leverage for a stove to pitch forward. There is still an estimated 45 million homes that have stoves without an anti-tip device. Some of those being entire apartment complex communities. Silverthorne Attorneys wants to put an end to this epidemic of people getting injured or killed by this common item. If you or someone you know has been injured by a defective oven, stove, or range, give us a call.
Defective Tire
Silverthorne Attorneys just points to the news: Michelin recalled 77,000 tires. Goodyear recalled 41,000 tires. Both of those are very recent. There are continuous recalls on tires from makers around the globe.
Yes, the tire companies cleverly toss off the responsibility, saying that the driving public has to care for their tires in half a dozen different ways. However, our product liability attorneys know that those tire company claims are aside from the faults inherent in their manufacture and production and design.
Pharmaceutical Litigation
Prescription drugs are at the forefront of news reports these days. Whether it’s due to prescription drug abuse, addiction or a defect in a specific drug we are constantly hit with a barrage of stories on the subject. The most shocking of these stories deals with drugs that are prescribed, used for their intended purpose and still injure the user. This is truly the gravest injustice of all. When pharmaceutical companies release these drugs that are supposed to give people back a quality of life and in some cases save lives and these drugs injure or kill instead, who is responsible?