Product claims are, at least for the sake of legal classification, injury cases. There are, however, several elements of pursuing them that makes life a little different for a client and their product claim attorney. Here are four instances where advancing a claim will be different if it involves a product.
Strict Liability Applies
In American law, there are two forms of liability. One class involves cases with elements of negligence and intentional harm. These are cases where the plaintiff has to prove certain things about the defendant's conduct before they can obtain compensation. For example, someone suing a grocery store over a slip-and-fall incident would have to show the store's staff had sufficient time to clean a spill up yet didn't.
Strict liability is the second class of claims, and it is very different. When strict liability applies, it doesn't matter whether the defendant was negligent or out to harm someone. Instead, the core question is whether the harm occurred.
Reasonableness
As it applies to product liability claims, this standard assumes a degree of reasonable effort should go into ensuring products don't hurt people. This is why corporations invest heavily in product development and testing. To have any defense against a claim, they have to prove they took reasonable steps to verify that a product was safe.
Ongoing efforts also have to be made to monitor risks. Maybe a company sold a product that it was sure was safe, but reports start coming in over the years that show people are being hurt. If the company doesn't take action, there's a real risk that it will be found liable for injuries caused by the product.
Discovery
For a product claim attorney, most cases are heavy with discoverable materials. Suppose an auto manufacturer claimed that it has fully tested a seatbelt that had failed during a car accident. You would have the legal right to seek discovery all documentation that came from the testing process so your lawyer could look for problems.
In an injury case like the previous hypothetical about a slip-and-fall, discovery would involve a small amount of evidence, such as camera videos and maintenance logs. During a product claim, though, a company might dump pages of research, testing data, and reports on a lawyer.
Class Actions
Many claims are consolidated into class-action lawsuits. This means all the people who suffered similar injuries from a product may be asked to consolidate their claims into a single case.
If you need to connect with a product claim attorney, reach out to services like Labine Law Firm.
Share23 March 2020
When a person is involved in an accident that's caused by someone else, they may need to speak with an accident and personal injury attorney. Mounting costs of medical care and time off from work can cause money problems for people who are injured. Those who hire an attorney can often receive monetary compensation from the responsible party. We aren't involved in the legal profession, but we do understand the stress that injuries and medical bills can cause. We've researched legal information and written this blog to help those who are in this situation. We hope the articles on our site will answer the questions you have about accident and personal injury attorneys.