Product Liability Law

In California law, products liability is defined as the liability of all the responsible parties engaged in the sale, production or manufacture of certain goods for any harm or damaged brought about by the said products. The parties that may be held liable may be anywhere along the chain of commerce, from the design of the product to the manufacture and sale of the product and can include the producer of the component parts, the product assembler, the wholesaler and the product retailer. Usually, the products that contain a defect in the design, or manufacture without following the accepted standards can be subjected in a product liability lawsuit if it has caused harm to the customer, the end user or a bystander to the use of the product. Generally, products liability covers tangible things such as food, appliances and equipment. However, this has extended to include items you may not think of as products, such as plants and animals, structures that have bee built, and items that are written such as maps.
In California, products liability actions are based on negligent acts, strict liability or warranty violation.
To have a good products liability claim, the injured victims must be able to prove the product was defective or that the produce failed to meet the reasonable expectation of the consumer.
Defects that are inherent or present on the product even before it has been assembled are deemed design defects. For example, a hydraulic lift designed to specifications where the metal is too weak to support the pressure and weight of the items to be lifted would constitute a design defect. The same lift, which calls for the appropriate grade of metal, but where the manufacturer used an inferior material which was insufficient to do the job required would be a manufacturing defect.
Finally, marketing defects include the failure to warn as the the nature or extend of potential or likely hazards of the product or giving the customers incorrect instructions on how to use the item.
In California, "strict liability rule" applies in a products liability case. Here, the liability of the defendant does not rely on any negligence of the defendant or of safety or caution that they undertook, but rather on the dangerous nature of the product itself. So, if the product defect caused an injury, the defendant would be held liable.
The law regarding products liability is intricate and complicated. Most injured victims retain a product liability lawyer to represent them in pursuing their cases. An experienced attorney can increase the chances of obtaining favorable result and bigger amount of greater compensation.

Information provided on this website is general in nature. No legal opinion is expressed or implied on any specific case or claim. No representation of any person is provided, and cannot be provided without a signed retainer agreement. For legal advice on any specific legal matter, the Law Offices of John P. Rosenberg, A Professional Law Corporation must be retained, in writing. No legal advice is provided for any matter outside of the state of California. Any results portrayed were dependent on the facts of a particular legal matter and results vary from case to case.
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