Products that are put out on the market are not always safe for consumers. It is tough to prove that these products are put out for consumer usage purposefully. It is not until injuries from these products occur that Orange County product liability lawyers step in and help clients win their cases. In some instances, consumers never know that a product they use is dangerous until it is too late. Companies are not great at publicizing product recalls. TorkLaw understands the frustration of finding out something is defective and dangerous, and for that reason, they handle Orange County product liability cases aggressively.
What a Product Liability Case Looks Like
A product liability case is a liability attached to the designer, manufacturer, and distributor of products that are found to contain defects and are found to be dangerous. These products don’t have to cause harm to have a claim filed against them, and they can have the potential to cause harm as well. There is no end to the types of products that could be included in a product liability case in Orange County.
For the standard of negligence to be met in these cases, there have to be four elements present. An Orange County product liability lawyer will be compiling evidence based on these elements:
- There was a duty owed by the defendant to the plaintiff to act reasonably
- The duty that was owed by the defendant was breached
- Injury or damage to property as a result of that breach occurred
- The link can be defined between the breach of duty and the injuries sustained
In some cases, the negligence of product liability stems back to the design of the product. When a product is put under the microscope in a product liability case, every part from design to sale is under scrutiny. These cases are often formed from the omission or commission of product defects. Federal law requires that products that are defective be recalled and taken off of the market. Consumers have to be notified of the dangers posed by the products in question.
The Potential Negligent Parties of a Product Liability Case
Many hands touch products from the design of it to the retail sale of it. There are multiple parties that an Orange County product liability lawyer can draw suit against.
These parties are anyone who may have had a hand or knowledge in the defective product. Potential negligent parties include:
- The manufacturer who made the faulty product
- The company who made the parts for the product
- Anyone who was tasked with putting the product together
- Anyone who was tasked with distributing the product
- Wholesalers of the product
- Brick and mortar, retailers, or online outlets that sold the defective product with the knowledge of the defect
These types of cases do not apply to products that could be considered beneficial to society as a whole but have the inability to make them entirely safe. For example, prescription medicines and vaccinations cannot be included in a product liability case unless there is something additionally wrong with them.
How The Product Defects Create Liability
Manufacturers have a high potential of being sued and held accountable in a product liability case. The most common product liability claims include:
- Defects in the design of the product
- Before the manufacturing process, the defect exists in the design period. Despite the fact that the products may serve intended purposes, they remain extremely dangerous because of the flaw.
- In Orange County, the manufacturer has to prove that there was no design flaw.
- Defects in the manufacturing process
- Only a few products in the mass production end up with flaws if the manufacturing phase is to blame for the dangers. These get recalled via batch numbers but not entirely.
- Marketing defects
- When instructions are not transparent for the product and consumers are not aware of the potential dangers, then the liability occurs with the information.
Case Types Taken By Orange County Product Liability Lawyers
Many product liability cases can be handled outside of the courtroom with settlements paid by the company the case is brought against. The types of product liability cases handled by the Orange County offices of TorkLaw are:
- Auto and auto part product liability
- Brake malfunction
- Defects in airbags
- Engine or fuel tank defects
- Failure of the seatbelt to work correctly
- Software glitches in automobiles
- Defective tires
- Transmission trouble
- Medical devices and medications found to be defective
- Products for children that are faulty or unsafe
- Household products found to be defective
- Appliances
- Power tools
- Alarm systems
When a large company has multiple product liability lawsuits against them for one particular product, a lawyer will often take this on as a class action tort. A class-action tort is when a large company is sued for its product by multiple plaintiffs. The settlement or judgment received for the claim pays the lawyer’s contingency fees and then is split among the plaintiffs.
Why Orange County Product Liability Lawyer?
The law offices of TorkLaw in Irvine, California, offer their services to the entire Orange County area. These legal professionals have the experience and expertise to take on the large companies and those who are liable for injuries sustained due to a faulty or dangerous product.
Taking on a company for a faulty product can be an intimidating experience, but TorkLaw will not allow these companies to get away with their negligence. If you or a loved one are the victim of a defective or faulty product and suffered injuries or damages from them, hiring a product liability lawyer can help you get the compensation you require.
To obtain a free case consultation with the Orange County office of TorkLaw, call the toll-free number, 888.845.9696, and speak with a legal specialist about your product liability case. TorkLaw understands how it feels for a client to be unable to move past an injury and the bills that they can develop because of them, that is why TorkLaw cares about your case.