Product Liability Info for Petaluma
16. June 2015 Admin Compensation, Liability Issues, Personal Injury, Products Liability, Wrongful Death (0)
Attorneys at Sette Law in Petaluma feel it's important for the community to be better informed about many aspects of law, such as what happens when a product causes an injury. Our lawyers are well aware that the prospect of facing off in court against a corporation is daunting for any individual who has suffered a personal injury. Attorneys in our firm understand this is intimidating for anyone who is not a legal professional in Petaluma. Liability lawyers have extensive experience in the courtroom environment and help guide clients through the complex process of product liability. Our attorneys, however, want to equip the public with some basic information about product liability and this blog will cover items that just might clarify what it takes to file a lawsuit in Petaluma.
Injury attorneys outline requirements
Petaluma personal injury lawyers work within California statutes that define product liability, which may differ from state to state. In general, there are some key conditions that must be met to show a manufacturer's product is responsible for personal injury. Attorneys will first establish the fundamental fact that verifiable harm was done and that a plaintiff experienced financial losses because of the personal injury. A lawyer would not agree to accept a case in which someone was 'nearly' hurt because of a manufacturer's defect. Indeed, the condition of "real harm" would not be satisfied. Petaluma liability attorneys offer a hypothetical case: A family buys a glass table top. The manufacturer's sticker says the glass is tempered and therefore should not break into sharp shards that could cause very serious injury.
Lawyers would agree the sticker serves as evidence of the quality and type of the glass. Upon installing the glass on the table base, the purchaser drops it. The glass beaks into large, sharp chunks and one severs his little finger, causing medical urgency and verifiable injury. Attorneys have medical bills for emergency treatment, a sticker claiming the glass was tempered and a client who lost two weeks of work due to the personal injury. Lawyers know this scenario would likely rise to the level needed to satisfy the first criteria for liability and injury.
Attorneys then will investigate to determine how the glass was defective. Our Petaluma liability lawyers say this may not be as simple as it appears. A defect in a product can be traced to more than one source. Perhaps it happened in the design or the manufacturing process or even in the marketing of the product that caused the injury. Attorneys look carefully to identify the source that caused the Petaluma injury. Adept lawyers might consider the engineering of the glass or even the marketing company that assigned that 'tempered glass' sticker to the table top assuring consumers it would not break into life-threatening shards and lead to serious personal injury. Attorneys consider the entire chain of manufacture when assessing a claim for product liability.
Attorneys even look closely at product warnings and directions. These features are intended to further protect consumers from injury. Our Petaluma product liability lawyers know this as possible defective marketing that often plays a role in defective product law. In the former example of the table top, a marketing error could have led to the glass being mislabeled. Instead, installation directions and warnings should have indicated the danger of using un-tempered glass because mishandling can cause grievous injury.
Product Liability Law for Petaluma
Attorneys, however, also explain that manufacturers are protected from frivolous claims of personal injury. Our lawyers say that when a person uses an item for a task it wasn't intended for, claim of a defect may not be credible. Consider this: A woman comes to our Petaluma personal injury attorney and explains she has damaged her appearance after using hair color to color her eyebrows. She says she now looks like Groucho Marx and the hair dye burned her eyes so badly she had to see a doctor. The hair color instructions, however, specifically warn against using the product anywhere except on hair located on the head, her Petaluma injury lawyer tells her. She argues that hair is hair – no matter the location and the product was defective and caused her harm and financial injury. Her lawyer further learns she stopped going to work because she was embarrassed. She wants her Petaluma liability attorney to argue for medical reimbursement and lost wages. Sorry, our injury attorney says. The consumer was warned and paid no attention. Her case would not meet the criteria necessary to qualify as a defect injury.
But lawyers point out that cases are not always so black an,d white. As an example our Petaluma injury attorneys offer this scenario: A man uses a barbeque fork, designed for turning meat, to pierce a potato, and stabs his hand in the process. He punctures a vein and must get medical attention for his personal injury. Our attorney would initially suspect that no product defect caused the accident but, rather, the cook's poor judgment was responsible for the injury.
Lawyers delve closely into the details of product liability law. Our Petaluma personal injury attorneys understand that most people don't encounter defective product law until after suffering a personal injury. A lawyer's education, practice and interests can help people prepare to seek just compensation for losses suffered due to a product defect that's cause injury.
Our attorneys, for example, are closely monitoring the nation's current (and largest) product defect news involving automobile manufacturers and Takata, the maker of defective airbags that have allegedly cost deaths and injury. Our lawyers know the legal process may be lengthy and, almost certainly, very complicated. Petaluma personal injury attorneys are interested to see how many links in the manufacturing chain may be involved in upcoming legal actions and how the courts will treat individuals and families of those who suffered death or injury.
Our Petaluma injury lawyers believe that people suffering losses because of a manufacturing defect – physical, mental and/or financial losses – should be compensated by those responsible for their injury. Attorneys who specialize in defective product law facilitate and fight for justice within the often complex structure of the judicial and legal system.