When a consumer purchases a product, whether for work or fun, they assume it will perform as promised. However, when an item is defective, it can cause more harm than good. That is where a Glastonbury, CT, product liability lawyer can help.
State laws provide legal means for consumers to recover compensation to offset the harm caused by defective items. An experienced personal injury attorney in Glastonbury will assist you with filing a claim and advocate on your behalf to reach a fair outcome.
Types of Defects in Defective Products Cases
Generally, three types of defects may be applicable in product liability cases. If an item’s core design is so flawed that it cannot work safely, even if manufactured perfectly, it suffers from a design defect.
Likewise, a manufacturing defect occurs when a properly designed item is incorrectly made or assembled.
Finally, marketing defects involve a lack of adequate warnings, improper instructions for use, and poor packaging. If an item’s packaging or accompanying instructions fail to warn about certain dangers, the manufacturer or distributor may be liable for any harm someone suffers.
Some of the most common items in a defective product case include the following:
- Medical devices
- Tools
- Medication
- Household appliances
- Baby products
- Cars
- Children’s toys
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How Defective Product Injuries Can Happen
Anything that is manufactured, bought, and sold has the potential to be a defective product. Every product that has a problem, though, can be defective in its own way. From airbags that send metal shards into a vehicle’s passenger compartment when they deploy to cell phone batteries that overheat and catch fire, the ways that a product can break or be defective are unfortunately limitless.
However, for the purposes of recovering civil compensation, it is critical to identify exactly what caused a product to be dangerously defective. In Glastonbury, there are three primary types of defects recognized as potential grounds for a civil case. If someone has further questions about whether their goods-related injury may constitute a defective products claim, they should contact a Glastonbury attorney.
Design Defects
In some situations, the problems with a defective product come from a fundamental flaw in the product’s design. Since this means the product was negligently designed, it also means that every incarnation of that product which was made under that design is likely to be a danger to whoever buys or uses it. As such, these types of defective product cases are often vast, because potentially thousands of individual products are implicated.
Manufacturing Defects
Manufacturing defects are more common but less wide-reaching. These cases involve just one or a small handful of individual products that were negligently manufactured based on a legitimate and safe design, usually due to a mistake during the manufacturing or assembly process.
Failure to Warn or Advertising Defect
Finally, there are products that use a safe design and are manufactured to the specifications of the design, but which are marketed inaccurately or sold without proper advisement of inherent risks related to use. In these cases, buyers or users of the product may get hurt because they are not warned of an unreasonably dangerous aspect of the product, or are not informed of how to use the product properly by that product’s packaging.
How Long do You Have to File a Product Liability Claim?
The Connecticut statute of limitations for product liability lawsuits requires you to file a claim within three years of the date you suffer injuries. However, even though you have time, you should collect evidence of the defect and file your claim as soon as possible.
In some cases, however, you’ll either have more or less time to file your claim, depending on the details of your case. To ensure you file your claim in time, one of our Glastonbury, CT, product liability attorneys can give you a case consultation and tell you exactly how long you have to file.
You could miss the deadline if you are unaware of how long you have to file. And once you miss the filing deadline, you will no longer be eligible to recover compensation for your losses.
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Proving Negligence in a Product Liability Case
Proving negligence in a product liability case is an important step when you’re seeking compensation for injuries or damages caused by a defective and dangerous product. To establish negligence, we must demonstrate the following elements:
- Duty of care: We must establish the defendant owed you a duty of care. In these cases, manufacturers, distributors, and sellers are legally obligated to ensure that their items are reasonably safe for their intended use.
- Breach of duty: We must show the defendant breached their duty of care by designing, manufacturing, or marketing a defective item. This could involve demonstrating a flaw in the item’s design, improper manufacturing processes, or a failure to provide adequate warnings or instructions.
- Causation: We must establish a causal link between the defendant’s breach of duty and the injuries or damages suffered. We must demonstrate that the item’s defect directly caused the harm they experienced.
- Damages: We must provide evidence of the injuries or damages you incurred from using the defective item. These damages include medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other losses.
Proving negligence in a product liability case requires gathering compelling evidence, expert testimony, and a thorough understanding of the relevant laws and regulations. Hiring an experienced product liability attorney in Glastonbury, CT, can significantly strengthen your case and improve your chances of obtaining a fair settlement or successful trial outcome.
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Different Theories of Recovery in a Product Liability Lawsuit
Connecticut law provides three ways a Glastonbury attorney could establish liability for a defective or dangerous item.
First, the Connecticut Products Liability Act, stated in Connecticut General Statutes § 52-572m, establishes the theory of strict product liability. This law allows consumers to hold manufacturers, distributors, and sellers liable for defects without having to prove legal negligence by any defendant.
It may also be possible to hold manufacturers, sellers, and others liable under the theory of negligence or breach of warranty. Negligence involves a failure to live up to common practices in providing safe items, and breach of warranty involves a violation of an express or implied promise that came with the item when it was purchased.
Potential Damages a Product Liability Attorney Can Recover for You
After you’ve suffered injuries due to a defective item, you have a legal right to recover financial and non-financial losses.
By recovering damages, you can ease the financial burden your injuries may cause. Our Glastonbury product liability attorneys can help you recover damages such as:
- Medical bills
- Loss of income
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of consortium
- Mental anguish
- Loss of companionship
- Loss of quality of life
You could be eligible to recover some or all of these damages. Our team of attorneys can help determine what damages you can recover.
How Much Is the Average Product Liability Settlement in Connecticut?
There is no average settlement amount for product liability because every case differs. However, three main factors can determine your settlement amount:
Severity of Injuries
How severe your injuries are significantly affects how much money you could receive for your settlement. You’ll likely recover a higher settlement if you have catastrophic injuries and require significant medical treatment.
Your settlement is supposed to cover all your medical costs and any other losses you’ve suffered. If it doesn’t, you’ll be left with out-of-pocket costs you’ll have to pay. But our team will make sure we fight to receive the maximum compensation.
Number of Liable Parties
The more parties at fault, the more compensation you can recover. For example, if a truck malfunctions and hit you, you could recover damages from the manufacturer, trucking company, and truck driver.
A Glastonbury, CT, truck accident lawyer can help you file separate lawsuits against each party and get the necessary compensation.
The Personal Injury Lawyer You Choose
After a defective item injures you, you need a personal injury attorney with strong negotiating power and experience. Negotiation affects your settlement immensely. Insurance companies always try to find a way to give you the least amount possible.
If you don’t negotiate, you’ll end up with a settlement that doesn’t cover your damages. But when you hire one of our Glastonbury, CT, product liability attorneys, you can be confident that you’ll get a settlement covering all your losses.
Recovering Damages in a Defective Product Case
Like other personal injury cases in Connecticut, defective products claims in Glastonbury abide by the state’s rules of comparative negligence. As its name implies, this principle compares the negligence of the makers of the product at issue with the negligence of the person who ended up getting hurt when the product broke. Any negligence on the part of the person who was hurt diminishes their maximum available recovery should their case be successful.
The implications of the comparative negligence rule can be very important in some cases. Additionally, defective products claims need to be filed within three years of the injury in order to comply with the state’s statute of limitations, which is outlined in Connecticut General Statutes §52-577a. Discussing a products liability case with a Glastonbury defective products attorney could help ensure that any comparative negligence problems are not unanticipated and those important time limitations are followed.
Speak with a Glastonbury Product Liability Attorney Today
A Glastonbury, CT, product liability lawyer can direct or assist with taking legal action and building the strongest possible case. We’re Claggett, Sykes & Garza, and we’re here to right wrongs.
Contact us today to schedule a consultation to learn whether you may be entitled to recover compensation for injuries or economic harm caused by a defective item.
