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Consumer Law
By Patricia Woloch
In today’s busy world of double income households, increased commutes, and multi-tasking madness, we’re always in a rush. We’ve become more dependent on convenience items and make a lot of our decisions through the media. We don’t have the time or luxury as our predecessors did, to spend hours or days making decisions on important and everyday tasks. Whether it’s work-related, family decisions, or big investments, we count on the companies who provide our goods and services to provide safe, quality products to satisfy our busy lives.
But many times we’re the victims of someone else’s neglect. Examples of neglect include dangerous side effects from pharmaceuticals or a defective product causing a serious injury.
Many people aren’t aware that when they’re injured, disabled or have had some other trauma in their life due to someone else’s unreasonable or unsafe action, there are legal options granted to them by our country’s constitution and the laws within their state to protect them. An experienced law firm can fight for your rights and get monetary compensation for damages incurred for medical care, loss of earnings and pain or suffering.
Defective Products Defendants
Product liability can range from seafood illness to defective sports utility vehicles. The following can be found liable for injury due to a defective product or service:
- The manufacturer
- The importer
- The supplier or wholesale
- The vendor or retailer licensed to sell the product
The products can be tangible or intangible. Gas, real estate, and writings – such as a navigational chart are examples of intangible products.
There are three types of product defects that manufacturers and suppliers can be liable for:
- Design defects
- Manufacturing defects
- Marketing defects
Defective Product Defined
A consumer should always expect a product to be safe. A clear definition of what safety means involves a number of factors and is determined on a case-by-case basis.
A court will take the following into account: