New York City Product liability

Product liability deals with cases involving defective or dangerous products. Manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers of products can be held liable for damages arising from the use of dangerous products. Products covered by this area of law, include food, drugs, and real estate, as well as virtually all consumer products.

The user who is injured and seeks damages does not need to be the original purchaser of the product. Product liability is frequently a question of strict liability--if the product is defective and it caused injury, the injured user may sue for damages as long as the product was used as it was intended and not substantially changed from its original condition. It may not be possible to prove the injuries were caused by defects in the product if the injured user was using the product in a manner not intended by the manufacturer or retailer, or changed the product so that safety features were disabled.

If it can be proven that a company failed to test its product adequately or supply directions for its use, the injured party probably has grounds for filing suit on the basis of negligence. When an item is sold a manufacturer implies a warranty for fitness of use and freedom from defect. If the item proves to be defective or is unfit for the purpose intended, an injured user can file a product liability case. In a case of negligence, it is important that the plaintiff is able to show that the product was defective when it left the control of the party he is suing. It is not possible to hold someone responsible for a defect that occurred after that party had control over the product.

In product liability, there are various areas of defects that can occur. If a claim of strict liability is to be pursued, the injured party will need to show that the product was unreasonably dangerous for its intended use, due to a defect. There are generally three areas in which a product can be unreasonably dangerous:

The manufacturer or seller can fail to warn about dangers associated with the product's use.
Manufacturers and sellers are expected to give adequate warnings about possible dangers, and to provide clear and adequate instructions of use. Failure to do so can cause a useful product to become deadly. For instance, coolants used in automobiles are extremely toxic - failure to print warnings of this toxicity on the product labels could lead to an accidental poisoning and thus to a suit for damages.

The product may have a design defect.
This means that the product is manufactured with a defect, even if it is assembled perfectly. An example would be a car gasoline tank that is designed with weak walls such that an impact can rupture the tank and cause the car to catch on fire, even when the tank is correctly assembled and installed.

A manufacturing defect exists when an otherwise safe product is rendered dangerous because it is assembled improperly.
A car whose wheel is installed with missing or cross-threaded bolts may lose a wheel at high speed, injuring or killing the driver and passengers. If it is proved that the car was manufactured with that defect, the manufacturer will be liable.

In all cases of product liability, it is essential to the success of the case that the product is preserved and any paperwork showing the origin of the product is available. Receipts showing purchase, repair records, etc., can be vital to building a successful product liability case.

Additional Resources - refreshed on 03/10/2010

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