If you purchased a faulty product, you might have suffered bodily injury and financial loss. Fortunately, a skilled injury attorney may be able to help you hold the manufacturing company accountable. A Prosper defective products lawyer could guide you through the litigation process and help you seek financial compensation for your losses.
Individuals can file a defective product lawsuit if a company makes a product that fails to provide users with a reasonable degree of safety. There are several ways a product could be defective.
For example, a person may argue that the design is defective. Per Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code 82.005, individuals who file a design defect claim must be able to show that a safer design for the product could have been used.
The safer design must considerably decrease the risk of injury or death. Also, the proposed design must have been economically and technically possible when the product was produced and sold.
Other arguments could be that a product did not possess appropriate labeling to alert buyers to a potential issue. Sometimes, consumers could have decreased their risk of injury if a warning statement was included in the packaging of the product. Insufficient warnings could lead to a product liability suit.
Another issue is manufacturing defects. An individual may be able to point to an issue with a product to show that quality control efforts are insufficient. A defective products attorney in Prosper could analyze the evidence to determine which argument applies to a victim’s case.
Prosper victims pursuing product liability claims should be aware of two important deadlines: the statute of limitations and the statute of repose. The statute of limitations generally gives victims just two years from the date of injury in which to file their claim. This deadline may be extended if the injury was not immediately apparent.
The statute of repose requires consumers who are injured by a malfunctioning good to file their civil suit within 15 years of the purchase of the item. This deadline can also be extended under certain circumstances.
Per T.C.P.R.C. 16.012, the statute of repose may be extended based on extended warranties offered by the producer. For example, a vacuum cleaner with a 20-year warranty may be the subject of a defective products lawsuit up to 20 years after the original purchase.
Once a formal claim is filed in court, the attorney will need to be able to prove to the court that the manufacturer is proximately responsible for the injuries outlined in the claim. A product liability attorney may be able to demonstrate that the manufacturer’s error directly caused the Prosper victim’s injuries.
Per T.C.P.R.C. 82.002, retailers generally cannot be held liable for selling defective products unless they modified the items. However, the retailer might be responsible for defective product injuries in rare cases.
For example, if an appliance store sells a brand name dryer and installs the product into the buyer’s home, the retailer might be responsible for damages if the product was hooked up incorrectly. This may be especially true if the installation team modifies the product before installing it.
Another factor that could affect recovery is if the product is considered inherently unsafe. Under T.C.P.R.C 82.004, certain goods are considered off-limits for defective product suits, including sugar, alcohol, tobacco, oysters, and other items that are known to carry risk to a consumer.
Personal injury lawsuits are subject to strict deadlines, so you do not delay contacting a lawyer. The process of researching a claim and issuing possible subpoenas can be lengthy. Call a Prosper defective products lawyer immediately for a comprehensive review of your case.
McCraw Law Group