If you are searching for a Product Liability Lawyer in Georgia, you may already know that something went wrong with a product you trusted to be safe.
The product may have malfunctioned. It may have been designed with a dangerous flaw. The manufacturer may have failed to provide an adequate warning. Or a problem may have occurred during manufacturing.
Product liability cases are different from ordinary accident claims because the product itself becomes a central part of the investigation.
Glass & Robson handles dangerous and defective product cases involving serious injuries and wrongful death. The firm has experience investigating defective products involving vehicles, medical devices, prescription drugs, children’s products, household products, and other consumer goods.
Product liability lawyer Georgia: What makes these cases different?
A typical accident investigation may focus on what a person did or failed to do.
A product liability investigation has another question:
What was wrong with the product?
That can lead to a much larger investigation.
Lawyers may need to examine the product itself, design documents, warnings, instructions, manufacturing records, testing, recalls, prior incidents, and industry standards.
The product may also need to be preserved.
That is one reason it is important not to throw away or alter the product after an incident if it can be safely preserved.
Three common types of product defects
Product liability claims can involve different types of defects.
Design defects
A design defect exists when the problem is built into the product’s design.
In other words, the product can be manufactured exactly as intended and still present an unreasonable danger because the design itself is flawed.
Manufacturing defects
A manufacturing defect occurs when something goes wrong during production.
The overall design may be safe, but an individual product or batch does not match that design.
For example, an improperly manufactured component may fail when it should not.
Failure to warn
Sometimes the problem is not the product’s physical design or manufacturing.
The issue may be that consumers were not adequately warned about a known danger or given appropriate instructions for safe use.
Glass & Robson identifies design defects, manufacturing defects, and failure-to-warn claims as three primary bases for product liability cases in Georgia.
Why preserving the product can matter
Imagine that a defective appliance causes a serious injury.
The appliance gets thrown away.
Now the lawyer may have photographs and medical records, but the actual product is gone.
That can make the investigation much harder.
The same issue can arise with a defective vehicle component, medical device, children’s product, or household item.
If you believe a product caused a serious injury, preserve the product and related materials if possible. Keep packaging, instructions, receipts, photographs, purchase records, and communications about the incident.
Do not try to conduct your own technical investigation.
Let experienced counsel determine what evidence matters.
These cases can involve major corporations
Product liability cases can put an injured person on the other side of a manufacturer, distributor, retailer, or other corporate defendant with significant resources.
That is one reason these cases require serious preparation.
Glass & Robson notes that its attorneys have handled dangerous and defective product cases involving large corporations and insurance companies and uses a team approach to investigate and develop these claims.
The goal is not simply to establish that an injury happened.
The case needs to establish why it happened and who should be held responsible.
What compensation may be available?
Depending on the facts of the case, damages can include medical expenses, lost wages, future medical care, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, and other losses associated with the injury.
Some product liability cases may also involve punitive damages, depending on the conduct involved and the requirements of Georgia law.
Every case is different.
The seriousness of the injury, the evidence surrounding the product, the parties involved, and the circumstances of the defect all matter.
Do not assume the manufacturer is automatically responsible
This is important.
A product being involved in an accident does not automatically mean the manufacturer is legally responsible.
The investigation has to establish the relevant facts and legal basis for the claim.
That is why these cases should be evaluated by an attorney who regularly handles product liability matters rather than treated like a standard accident claim.
If a product seriously injured you, investigate before you settle
A manufacturer or insurance company may have an interest in resolving a claim quickly.
You have an interest in understanding what actually happened.
Before signing away your rights, talk with a lawyer who understands product liability litigation.
If a defective or dangerous product caused serious injury to you or someone you love, contact Glass & Robson to schedule a free consultation.