These days, consumers are more intent on their rights when buying products. This is an advantage since it means they will settle for the best products on the market that, in this case, should be yours. This is nonetheless primarily a double-edged sword. Consumers are empowered to file liability cases should your product fail to meet industry regulations or cause grave accidents or health issues.
Even established businesses without an experienced litigation lawyer in Wichita and other locations have had to close down or take significant losses from fines and payouts in product liability claims. Most courts are, after all, more inclined to consumers. This is mostly because of the bad rap corporates have had as being more intent on profits rather than people’s wellbeing.
When defending you from the claims brought against your company, an attorney will center on scuttling the primary elements that make the basis of a product liability claim.
Negligence
As a manufacturer, you owe your consumers a duty of care. The element of your negligence in a product liability case centers on a breach of this duty of care and a resultant injury from the same. Negligence is challenging to prove for product liability cases since the complainant should also show that he/she used the product as per the instructions. This element might nonetheless apply in your case if you are found at fault for the omission of a warning that resulted in a client’s injury.
Strict Liability
This element only needs proof that you offered the product in question for the plaintiff’s use. The element of strict liability brings into play the part all people in the manufacturing chain have to play in ensuring a user’s safety. In most cases, however, the manufacturer holds the highest liability level since he/she will have the ultimate control over the product.
In some instances, manufacturers have quashed the strict liability element by proving that the defect only arose after the manufacture of their product. In this instance, someone else in the distribution chain is held liable for the product’s shortcomings.
Deceit
This arises from the commission of misleading or untrue information on the use and safety of your product. This element will apply to your case if the plaintiff followed these misleading instructions, and they led to his/her injuries. If the misleading information in no way could have contributed to the injury, this element is quashed.
Breach of Warranty
If a plaintiff alleges a breach of warranty, he/she should prove that you claimed that your product was defect-free on its packaging or to industry regulators. Even so, after this assertion, you went ahead and failed to guarantee that the product was defect-free before releasing it into the market. This element is unlike negligence or strict liability since it constitutes a broken contract between you and your target market.
Most companies opt to pay anyone who brings a product liability suit against them out of court. This might seem inexpensive and ideal for you. Unfortunately, without a lawyer to guide you and ascertain the existence of the above elements, you will be losing money to payouts even in fraudulent claims.
