Common Types of Product Liability Claims in Illinois

When you purchase a motor vehicle, equipment, appliance, or any other product, you believe that a reasonable care has been taken during its manufacturing to ensure that its construction and design will not cause any unreasonable risk of harm or injury when the product is used. Unfortunately, that is not always the case, as sometimes those products malfunction due to defects or absence of precautionary information and cause injuries to the users.

If someone is injured due to a defective product, they can file a product liability lawsuit against the responsibility part and get compensation for the damages that they sustained. There are three basic types of product liability claims, depending on what and how the injured was caused from the product.

1. Manufacturing Defects

When you are injured from a product that was defectively manufactured, maybe because of some error in the manufacturing process, you can bring a lawsuit against the manufacturer. A few examples of situations leading to this type of product liability claim may include a tainted batch of mineral water bottles containing an unhealthy or poisonous substance or a swing set with a defected frame or cracked chain. Manufacturing defects may also occur when the manufacturer uses substandard materials for making the product, or if the manufacturer did not take proper measure to supervise the assembling of a batch of products.

2. Design Defects

A majority of the product liability claims arise from design defects. This type of product liability claim is generally large scale because the design of the product is flawed. A defective design does not involve any error during manufacturing or assembling, instead the entire product line is defected because it has been designed in that way. Generally, design defects lead to mass product recalls because all the products are manufactured with a particular defect. Some examples of product liability claims due to design defects include, sunblock creams that do not protect people from sun, and instead cause skin reactions, or a vehicle designed with higher center of gravity, increasing the chances of rollover on turnings.

3. Warning/Labeling Defects

This type of product liability claim involves negligence on part of the manufacturer or distributor to provide adequate information, instructions, or warnings about the proper use of a product or implications that can arise from it. These claims entail that the company did not warn the users about their product being dangerous in some way, which is not obvious or requires diligence or taking precautions for its usage. For example, if a microwave popcorn product does not mention that the hot steam or extreme heat would come out from the packet when opened immediately after it is cooked in the microwave, or instructs about waiting for some time before opening the packet, you can file a failure-to-warn claim if you suffer from burn injuries.

In all types of product liability claims, you must be able to establish that the design or manufacturing defect, or brand’s failure to provide warnings for potential hazards caused the injury, and none of your actions or lack of skills did it. To bring a claim against the responsible party, you should consider legal help from an experienced and reliable product liability attorney to guide you through the legal process. Contact the Law Offices of Robert T. Edens, P.C. at (847) 395-2200 or online today to schedule your initial consultation.