Victims who have been harmed by defective products often have special rules on their side with regard to recovering damages. Depending on the specific state’s law, a person may be able to seek compensation against the manufacturer or seller of the dangerous product based on three special theories – one of which is strict liability.
Typically, injured victims who have filed a product liability lawsuit must show another party’s negligence or carelessness led to their injuries. However, it would be very difficult for one person to show how a manufacturer or seller was careless in producing a product that was sold to the general public. To combat this issue, a special doctrine known as strict liability was developed in products liability law, which allows a person unexpectedly injured by a defective product to recover compensation from the manufacturer or regular seller of that product – without proving their negligence.
All three of the following conditions must exist for a person to assert strict liability:
- The product is unsafe because of a poorly designed feature or flawed manufactured feature which caused serious injury or death.
- The defect produced the injury while being used in a foreseeable manner.
- The product wasn’t substantially changed from its original condition.
Manufacturers and sellers sometimes have a defense against a person’s strict liability claim. If a defect became apparent to the product’s user before the injury and he or she voluntarily assumed the danger of the product, the victim may have given up the right to claim injury damages.
Contact Our Firm for Assistance
The products liability team at Anapol Weiss has decades of experience standing up to manufacturers and sellers of defective and dangerous products. They have successfully advocated for hundreds of injured people, and they continue to hold responsible parties accountable for letting people get hurt.
Contact our lawyers for assistance if you or a loved one was harmed by a defective product. We can investigate the situation and answer your questions.