A defective product causes injury or harm because of a flaw or defect in the product. Maybe the product was defectively designed or maybe the manufacturer used a faulty part in the product. A product is also defective if the manufacturer failed to warn of its dangers. You may be able to recover damages if a defective product caused injury to you or your property. Products liability law covers personal injuries and property damage from defective products. There are three theories of products liability: strict liability, negligence, and breach of warranty. This article covers a manufacturer's liability for negligence in producing defective products.

Negligence

A manufacturer has a duty to sell safe products to consumers, and a manufacturer is negligent when it fails to use reasonable care in designing, manufacturing, or labeling its product. To establish negligence in products liability cases, you must show that (1) the manufacturer had a duty to provide you with a safe and non-defective product; (2) the manufacturer breached that duty by being careless or negligent; and (3) the manufacturer's defective product caused your injury or harm. Various defenses are available to a manufacturer, including contributory negligence (your own actions also caused the injury), comparative negligence (both you and the manufacturer were at fault in varying degrees), and assumption of risk (you knew about the defect but continued to use the product). These defenses reduce or excuse the manufacturer's liability for negligence.

Consult an Attorney

Talk to an attorney as soon as possible if you have been injured while using a defective product. Some state laws require notice to the manufacturer before a products liability lawsuit can be filed, and statutes of limitation give a set time period during which a lawsuit has to be filed. For example, in Ohio a products liability lawsuit must be filed within two years of the injury.

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