Product Liability
Companies that design and manufacture products have a responsibility to ensure those products are reasonably safe for consumers to use. If companies fail to do so, they may be liable. These types of cases are collectively referred to as “product liability” cases. There are different types of product liability cases in Texas, just as there are in much of the country. A few of the most common types of product liability cases are discussed below.
Manufacturing Defect
A product can be defectively manufactured. This means that the product was manufactured in a way that deviated from the intended design and rendered the product unreasonably dangerous. An “unreasonably dangerous” product is dangerous to an extent beyond what an average consumer would expect. Basically, this type of product liability case occurs when a specific product is manufactured defectively and unsafely, even though the product is usually manufactured safely.
Design Defect
A design defect is basically the opposite of a manufacturing defect. In a design defect case, the product is manufactured in accordance with specifications, but those specifications render the product unreasonably dangerous. For a design defect to exist, there must have been a safer alternative design which the company could have used but chose not to. Whether there is a “safer alternative design” is frequently disputed, but it basically requires showing that, without negatively impacting the utility of the product, an economically and technologically feasible alternative existed.
Defective Warnings / Instructions
Companies generally must provide consumers adequate warnings about the dangers of their products, and companies must also provide adequate instructions for how to operate their products. More specifically, companies must give consumers warnings/instructions that would be noticed by an average consumer, and those warnings/instructions must also be comprehensible to an average consumer. Failure to do so, coupled with a consumer being hurt, may result in a claim for defective warnings or defective instructions.
This is not an exhaustive list of the various types of product liability cases, but these are some of the most common legal issues we encounter in these types of cases. Cronauer Law aggressively advocates for the rights of our clients who have been injured by defective products. We guide clients through the stressful and difficult task of rebuilding their lives after being unjustly injured. Contact Cronauer Law today for a free consultation.
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