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Thousands of product liability claims are filed every year in the US, and many of them come from Illinois. After all, defective products cause over 6,000 injuries every year. Not only that, many individuals even lose their lives due to faulty products. So, it is natural that when someone gets injured or faces some other kind of loss due to a defective product, they tend to file for a product liability lawsuit.
However, it is pertinent to mention that filing a product liability lawsuit and successfully securing the claim requires expertise. Therefore, it is advisable to hire an Illinois personal injury attorney who can help you with your case.
Who can be held liable for a defective product?
The onus of product safety may lie with one or all of the following parties: Therefore, in case of a personal injury due to a defective product, you can sue one or all of the following parties.
- The designer(s) of the product.
- The manufacturer of the product or its parts.
- The assembly plant puts all the parts of the product together.
- A Distributor that sells the product to end user
- A retailer who stores the product
Common defects that may lead to product liability
A product can fail due to various reasons and lead to damage to a person or property. However, these reasons can broadly be divided into the following three categories.
- Design defect: The product may fail due to a design defect, which can be due to defects in the fundamentals of product creation.
- Manufacturing defect: Sometimes, a product with a foolproof design could also fail due to a manufacturing defect. A manufacturing defect can be proven when the product differs from other units from the same production line.
- Marketing defect: A marketing defect occurs when a company manufactures and promotes a product but fails to inform consumers about the potential harm of the product through a warning label.
Elements that can help you establish the liability
To establish that a defective product led to the injuries to the plaintiff, the plaintiff must prove before the law that either the designer, manufacturer, retailer, or seller acted negligently and caused them the injury. Here’s how you can establish it.
- Prove that the defendant has violated a law.
- The law was intended to protect the plaintiff in specific ways.
- Violation of law by the defendant has caused your injuries.
In some cases, the plaintiff injured by a defective product can pursue a product liability claim without establishing the defendant’s negligence or wrongdoing, which is called strict product liability.
Filing a product liability claim
Following are the steps that one must follow to file a product liability claim.
- Seek medical attention and document the details of the injury, such as medical prescription and diagnosis reports.
- Contact a good personal injury lawyer to help you pursue the lawsuit.
- Ensure that you are filing the claim within the statute of limitations.
- Gather sufficient evidence and witnesses to support your claim.