When you buy anything from a retail store or wholesaler, you expect it to be safe to use. However, thousands of Americans are the victims of dangerous or defective products every year. Manufacturers have a duty to make reliable and safe commodities that don’t cause any harm to consumers.
When a manufacturer breaches this duty, they can be held accountable for any injury that results from the defective product. If you or somebody close to you has been harmed by a defective product, you may have legal grounds to file a lawsuit against the product’s distributor, wholesaler, or manufacturer.
At The Herro Law Firm, our Gwinnett product liability lawyers are familiar with the laws in Georgia. We will aggressively fight to defend your rights as the consumer and ensure you receive the compensation you deserve. Our attorneys have expansive experience seeking justice for victims of defective products from negligent companies.
Once you get in touch with us, we’ll work to ensure that the responsible party is held accountable for the substandard product that has caused you harm. We provide our legal expertise on a contingency basis, which means we don’t charge any upfront cost and you only pay us after winning the case.
Please contact our Gwinnett personal injury lawyers at (404) 433-6876 to book a no-obligation and no-cost initial consultation today!
Georgia Laws for Product Liability Cases
Georgia Code Section 51-1-11 comprehensively outlines the product liability regulations in Georgia. It says that victims don’t need evidence they bought the product (referred to as privity) to pursue a claim against the manufacturer. You can still pursue a claim for injuries suffered while you were using the borrowed product of a friend even if you didn’t directly buy the item.
For your product liability case to be successful in Gwinnett, GA, the claimant will need to definitively prove these key four elements in court:
- The victim sustained an injury or has suffered financial loss due to the flawed product.
- The product had a manufacturing or design defect, or there was not enough warning about the risks and dangers of the product.
- The defect was the direct cause of the victim’s injury. To put it differently, no injury would have occurred had there not been a flaw.
- The product was used correctly. The plaintiff used the product exactly how the manufacturer intended or instructed.
It is highly advised that you enlist a well-versed Gwinnett product liability attorney to navigate you through Georgia product liability laws and help you to prove the aforementioned elements.
Common Causes for Legal Action
Product liability cases generally deal with three types of defects.
Defective Design
These defects refer to unsafe traits existent in the product even before the manufacturing process begins. This means that the design defect would still cause harm even if properly used, advertised, and assembled correctly. It encompasses the whole product line.
Manufacturing Defects
These defects come about during the assembly or creation of the product. This means that the manufacturing was done in a flimsy or unreliable manner and the product would have otherwise been safe to use if manufactured correctly. This type of defect is usually limited to a certain batch or product.
Labeling Defects
Manufacturers are obliged to warn clients of likely side effects, dangers, and risks associated with using a product. A product can be said to have a labeling defect when some of its instructions are unclear or wrong, or its dangers are intentionally excluded. Labeling defects also apply when a label or safety warnings aren’t visible or accessible, and when instructions aren’t outlined in detail.
How Is Liability Determined?
In cases like these, it will be in your best interest to understand how liability works in Gwinnett, GA. The seller, distributor, and manufacturer of a product can be held responsible for injuries that occur because a product is flawed in its marketing, manufacture, and design.
Once our Gwinnett product liability attorneys at The Herro Law Firm establish the kind of defect that resulted in your injury, we will formulate a strategy to prove that the defendant is liable.
There are three legal grounds for proving liability in a defective product case.
Strict Liability
Georgia follows a statute that renders manufacturers ‘strictly liable’ when consumers suffer harm due to the defects of the product. The law essentially enables injured consumers to pursue compensation without needing to prove that the manufacturer was negligent. You only need to show that the product was faulty and that you sustained an injury as a result.
Even if the manufacturer practiced care and caution during the design and manufacturing process of the product, so long as you can definitively prove the product is flawed, you can still hold the manufacturer strictly liable.
Nevertheless, for a strict liability claim to be considered feasible, you must have bought the commodity in the distribution chain of the company, be it a wholesaler or retailer. However, if you acquired the commodity from a second-hand source, like garage sales or thrift stores, you can’t pursue a strict liability claim.
Negligence
This is the most common ground used to hold a certain party liable. The concept used here is that the careless actions of somebody resulted in the injury. Our Gwinnett product liability lawyers at The Herro Law Firm will evaluate the substandard product to establish whether the manufacturer behaved negligently when making it available to the market.
To prove this, we’ll have to prove the carelessness of the manufacturer in creating or designing the product that caused you harm. This means that our legal team will have to prove these elements for the negligence claim to be successful:
- The maker has a responsibility of care to sell a reliable and safe commodity.
- The maker breached that duty of care and sold a flawed product.
- The negligence of the maker directly resulted in your injury.
- The negligence of the maker resulted in you suffering damages.
Failure to Warn
The State of Georgia has stringent warning obligations for product labeling. This implies that any commodity that’s a safety risk will have to mention this on the labeling. A consumer shouldn’t have to decipher this all alone.
There’s a wide range of products that fall under this category and it’s best to identify this info to the best of your ability. The more you’re able to determine where the problem with the labeling is, the more chances your case will be successful. And that’s where our attorneys come into play.
We can review these details thoroughly with you at our offices and explain what applies to your specific situation and what we think would be the best course of action for your liability case. We understand the elaborate nuances of each of these liability grounds and will do our own investigations to determine how best to seek your deserved reimbursement.
Who Can Be Held Liable for My Damages?
When it comes to product liability, every case is unique and has its own set of particulars. The specifics of your case will determine which party/parties can be held responsible for your injury.
Parties who may be responsible for your damages include:
Manufacturer
Manufacturers range from big international corporations to SMEs. Any institution associated with the creation, design, or promotion of a product may be included in this group. If various entities make the product, every defective component’s maker may be mentioned as a defendant in the claim.
Wholesaler
Usually, there’s a middle person who facilitates matters between the retailer and manufacturer. The wholesaler normally has salespeople whose role is to meet with retailers to receive orders and make necessary plans for the delivery of the product.
Retailer
The retailer makes the products available to the market. When promoting an item directly to consumers, the retailer gives off a basic understanding that the product they are selling is safe to use. If a consumer suffers any harm from the substandard product, they can hold the retailer liable for damages.
Hospitals, Medical Clinics, and Doctors
In the case of medical products and drugs, two other groups can be held liable. Any hospital or medical facility that was part of the defective product distribution chain can be held liable for your injury or illness.
Any doctor who recommended medicine or medical product that resulted in harm and failed to warn you about the potential risks and dangers or did not provide enough instructions regarding the proper use of the product can also be held liable for damages.
Enlist a Trusted Gwinnett Product Liability Lawyer Today!
We know the devastating effects a faulty product may have on unsuspecting consumers. We believe you shouldn’t have to suffer after using a product you’ve spent your hard-earned money purchasing. So if a dangerous or defective product has resulted in an injury or death of a loved one, you have grounds to pursue legal redress against the at-fault party in the distribution chain.
The product liability attorneys at The Herro Law Firm are committed to defending the rights of consumers and will aggressively seek maximum compensation for our clients. We prepare the case in such a manner that if settlement negotiations fail, we’ll head to court.
We advise that you save the remainder of the product in question plus any packaging or wrapping that has come with the item if possible. It is crucial evidence that can give a strong footing when building your case.
If you or somebody close to you has been hurt by a defective product in Gwinnett, GA, please don’t hesitate to contact us at (404) 433-6876 for a FREE consultation!