Virginia Product Liability Attorney

 

Richmond Product Liability Lawyer Helping Injury Victims Pursue Defective Product Claims Against Manufacturers, Distributors, Wholesalers, and Retailers Throughout Virginia

 

Automobiles. Airplanes. Baby toys and sleepers. Chemical cleaners. Children’s toys. Computers. Firearms. Food. Heavy machinery. Lawn mowers. Medical devices. Prescription drugs and medication. Tractors. Weed killers. All products created by science and technology. And all products meant to make our lives easier, healthier, and safer.

 

But sometimes products fail and cause injury. And when the product fails because it is defective, the injured person has a claim for damages against the product’s manufacturer, distributor, wholesaler, and retailer.

 

The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of Virginia products liability law. After reading it you will have a better idea of how much harm defective products cause in the United States of America, whether you have a products liability case, and what you must prove to recover damages.

 

If you have any questions, or are looking for a Virginia product liability attorney, call me for a free consultation: 804-251-1620 or 757-810-5614. As a top-rated workers compensation lawyer and personal injury attorney, I represent victims of defective products in federal court in Richmond, Alexandria, Norfolk, Newport News, Abingdon, Big Stone Gap, Charlottesville, Danville, Harrisonburg, Lynchburg, and Roanoke.

 

How Common is Product Liability Litigation?

 

Each year tens of millions of Americans suffer product-related injuries, illnesses, and diseases. These injuries and illnesses cost the nation billions of dollars.

 

Many of these product-related injuries are caused by user error or the negligence of another. For example a drunk driver crashes into another vehicle, resulting in a car accident. A factory worker spills a chemical on a co-worker, resulting in a burn injury and scarring and disfigurement. Or a truck driver suffers a herniated disc and shoulder injury lifting and changing a commercial tire.

 

These types of product-related injuries may be covered under tort law and Virginia workers compensation, but are not considered products liability litigation. Rather, product liability lawsuits arise out dangerous products that manufacturers and sellers could have taken reasonable steps to make safer.

 

What is the Average Personal Injury Jury Award in Product Liability Cases?

 

In my experience companies do not want to admit that their products are defective and dangerous, even when the evidence is overwhelming. They will fight your claim aggressively, staffing it with multiple attorneys, hiring several expert witnesses, and filing motion after motion to try to get your case dismissed before trial.

 

To combat these tactics, many product liability lawyers, myself included, limit their practice to representing clients with catastrophic injuries and diseases that will result in limitations for the rest of their lives.

 

By bringing only defective product claims with serious injuries and illnesses, product liability attorneys have seen an increase in the average product liability jury award.

 

For example one study found a decrease in the number of product liability lawsuits filed, but an increase in the size of jury awards – to over $1.8 million – in the late 1990s.

 

And the Insurance Information Institute reprinted a graph from Thomson Reuters, Current Award Trends in Personal Injury, 57th edition, that shows the median product liability jury award in 2016 was more than $3.7 million.

 

Types of Product Liability Claims

 

As a product liability attorney I handle claims for damages caused by:

 

  • Actos
  • Airbag Defects
  • Bair Hugger Warming Blanket System
  • Bladder Slings
  • Car Defects
  • Contaminated Food
  • Crib Defects
  • da Vinci Robot Surgery
  • Dangerous Drugs
  • Defective Bicycles
  • Defective Medical Devices
  • E-Cigarette Explosion
  • Essure Birth Control
  • Faulty Ignition Switches
  • Firearms
  • Furniture Tip Overs
  • Hernia Mesh
  • IVC Filters
  • Metal Hip Replacements
  • Rocking Sleepers for Infants
  • Roundup Cancer
  • Sig Sauer P320 Firearm Defects
  • Smith & Nephew Birmingham Hip Resurfacing System
  • Takata Airbags
  • Talcum Powder
  • Tire Defects
  • Transvaginal Mesh
  • Unsafe Toys
  • Zimmer Biomet Persona Knee Implant

 

If you or a family member suffered an injury, illness, or death because of one of these products, I can help.

 

Types of Product Defects

 

To win your product liability case your Virginia product liability lawyer must prove that the defendant sold a product that had an unreasonable and unnecessary hazard that caused your injury. It doesn’t matter if the product is inherently dangerous, such as a knife, motor vehicle, chain saw, or firearm. If the product carried an excessive risk and wasn’t made as safe as it could have been, then it is defective.

 

Virginia and federal law recognize three categories of product defects:

 

  • Manufacturing defects. These are hazards resulting from an error during product assembly. Unlike design defects, manufacturing defects are usually found in a small percentage of the manufactured products because these are not supposed to be a part of the product.

 

  • Design defects. These are hazards resulting from flaws in the original design of the product. Usually these are hazards found in all of the manufactured products.

 

  • Warning defects. These are hazards resulting from inadequate warnings or instructions regarding product use.

 

Manufacturing Defects

 

A manufacturer or product supplier is liable for injuries caused by manufacturing defects.

 

A product has a manufacturing defect when it is manufactured in a way that does not conform to the manufacturer’s own standards or to industry standards.

 

Most product liability litigation based on a manufacturing defect is decided on the question of causation. This means the defendants will agree that there is a manufacturing defect in the product in question, but dispute that the defect increased the risk of harm or caused the injury.

 

Design Defects

 

A manufacturer does not have to produce an accident-proof product. But it must produce a product that is reasonably safe for its intended purpose.

 

When preparing the case, your product liability attorney will determine:

 

  • Was the product’s design unreasonably dangerous based on internal documents, industry standards, or the intended purpose of the product?

 

  • Could the manufacturer have anticipated that the product’s design could hurt a user?

 

  • Could the product have been made safer by the use of a different design without significant increase in the cost of making the product?

 

  • Did the product operate in a way that its user could not have foreseen? For example I represent persons who were injured when their firearm discharged without the trigger being pulled.

 

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, you may have a design defect claim.

 

Failure to Warn of a Product Danger

 

You may have a product liability lawsuit if you are harmed because of the manufacturer’s failure to warn of known dangers and potential risks.

 

In Virginia a manufacturer may be held liable for personal injuries when it:

 

1. Knows or has reason to know that the product is or is likely to be dangerous for the use for which it is sold or supplied; and,

 

2. Has no reason to believe that those using the product for its intended purpose will realize that dangers; and,

 

 

3. Fails to exercise reasonable care to inform product users of this dangerous conditions or of facts which likely make the product more dangerous to use.

 

There are other factors you must prove when trying to win a case based on the manufacturer’s failure to warn of a dangerous condition. I recommend, therefore, that you talk with a products liability attorney if you are hurt by a defective product.

 

Who Can Be Held Responsible for a Defective Product Injury or Illness?

 

You may have a product liability lawsuit against multiple parties. This is because any party involved in a defective product’s distribution chain may be held liable for injuries and damages caused by the defective product.

 

For example you may file suit against the:

 

  • Manufacturer: This may be a large Fortune 500 company, a small business, or one person working out of his or her home. Any person or company involved in the design, manufacturing, and marketing of the defective product may be held liable for damages. Most product liability lawsuits are filed against the manufacturer only.

 

  • Retailer: Retailers make money by selling products. And they must exercise reasonable care when supplying products to their customers. If a retail seller prepares, installs, or inspects a product, or if it knows that the product it is selling is defective, then you may seek damages from the retailer through a product liability action.

 

  • Raw Material and Component Part Supplier: Many of the products you own and use are made of multiple parts. For example, your car is made of hundreds of parts: glass; battery; axle; wheels; tires; transmission; muffler; and many more. If one of these component parts is itself defective and causes you injury, the component part supplier may be held liable.

 

  • Employer: If you suffer a product-related injury on the job, you may have a personal injury claim against the manufacturer and a workers compensation claim against your employer. Workers comp is the exclusive remedy for on-the-job injuries and occupational diseases, meaning you cannot sue your employer in most cases. But there are exceptions. For example, if your employer served as a private manufacturer of the machine that caused your injury, you may be able to file suit. In one case I represented an employee who suffered broken bones and an amputation injury in both workmans comp and product liability actions when we discovered that the machine that caused his injury was put together by his former employer.

 

What are the Potential Causes of Action in a Product Liability Case?

 

There are several theories of recovery your products liability attorney may use to win your case:

 

Negligence: Negligence is the most common cause of action in products liability cases in Virginia. As the injured party, you must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the design or manufacture of the product was careless and that this defect caused your injuries.

 

A product manufacturer may have acted negligently in:

 

  • Designing the product plans
  • Reviewing the product plans
  • Designing the machines used to manufacture the product
  • Maintaining the machines used to manufacture the product
  • Choosing the component parts
  • Inspecting the component parts
  • Failing to foresee reasonable used of the product
  • Failing to test the product sufficiently
  • Failing to recall the product when it became aware of risks and dangers

 

Breach of Warranty: As a consumer who purchased or used a product and suffered injuries because of its defective design, you have two potential breach of warranty claims: breach of express warranty and breach of implied warranty.

 

Products liability claims for breach of the express warranty of merchantability require that you prove you relied on a representation about the product and its safety made by by the manufacturer, retailer, or other distributor, and that this representation resulted in your personal injuries.

 

Products liability claims for breach of the implied warranty of merchantability, also known as implied warranties of fitness for particular purpose, are based on the product’s failure to be fit for the ordinary purpose of the product.

 

Common defenses to warranty claims in products liability cases include: (1) lack of privity of contract between the manufacturer and the person harmed by the product; (2) failure to notify the seller of the breach promptly; and (3) contractual disclaimers.

 

In most cases an experienced Virginia product liability attorney can help you overcome these defenses to breach of warranty claims.

 

Strict Liability: Strict liability is the preferred theory of recovery in products liability actions. Under strict liability you are only required to prove that the product is defective and that you were injured. You need not prove negligence. Unfortunately Virginia is one of a handful of states that has not adopted strict liability in tort remedy in products liability cases.

 

Consumer Fraud: If you relied on the product manufacturer’s representation regarding safety, you may have a claim for consumer fraud as part of your products liability case. Under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act you can seek additional damages for personal injuries caused by a manufacturer’s fraudulent representations regarding safety and use.

 

How to Win Your Product Liability Case – Elements of a Successful Products Liability Act

 

To win a product liability lawsuit in state or federal court in Virginia, you must prove the following elements:

 

You were injured and suffered damages: If a product is defective but you did not suffer harm, then you do not have a valid products liability case. You must be able to show actual injury and monetary damages because of the defective product. Usually this is shown through medical bills, medical experts who will testify regarding causation, the cost of medical treatment, and anticipated future medical expenses, economists, vocational rehabilitation experts who will testify about your permanent restrictions and wage loss, and your testimony regarding pain and suffering.

 

The product is defective: You must prove that the product had a design defect or manufacturing defect. Or that the product manufacturer failed to warn of the dangers and risks of using the product.

 

This is shown through the following: (1) expert testimony from engineers and accident reconstruction experts; (2) recalls and upgrades to the product; (3) prior accidents involving the product, which shows that the manufacturer had knowledge of a defective condition; (4) post accident design changes; and, (5) internal company documents showing that the manufacturer was aware of dangers associated with the product but chose to sell it to the public anyway.

 

In some cases you can use the fact that the product operated in a way it should not have (i.e., a gun firing without the trigger being pulled) to prove it is defective. In other words the occurrence of the accident implies that the product is defective. This is known as the legal principle of res ipsa loquitur.

 

The product defect caused your injury: It is not enough to show that the product was defective and that you were hurt. You must show a relationship between the defect and your injuries. This is done through expert witness testimony and your testimony.

 

You were using the product as intended: The manufacturer has a lot on the line in your products liability case. It knows that you are likely not the first or last person who will be harmed by this defect. And that a loss at trial may lead to more lawsuits being filed. So it will try to find a way to blame you for the injuries and defeat the claim using the doctrine of contributory negligence. Or it may argue that you assumed the risk of the product because of a known, visible, or obvious danger.

 

Hearing the manufacturer blame you for your injuries can be insulting. But make sure that you present evidence to show that you were using the product as intended.

 

As your products liability lawyer in Virginia, I’ll help you prove each of these elements of a claim based on a defective product.

 

Do I Need to File My Defective Product Claim as Part of a Class Action Lawsuit?

 

If you watch television then you’ve probably seen at least one advertisement asking people to join a class action lawsuit against a company that manufactured a defective product or harmful medical device or prescription medication.

 

A class action is a lawsuit where a single plaintiff, or small group of plaintiffs, sues a company on behalf of a larger group of people. Instead of each injured person bringing his or her own lawsuit, the class action allows all claims for damages because of the defective product to be resolved at one time.

 

You do not have to join a class action to bring a product liability lawsuit in Virginia. And usually you shouldn’t

 

Joining a class action is appropriate if you have suffered a small amount of damages because of the defective product. But if you have suffered significant physical injuries then I recommend filing a product liability lawsuit on your own.

 

Speak with a Richmond, Virginia Product Liability Lawyer Today

 

After suffering injuries from a dangerous and defective product, call me for a free consultation: 804-251-1620 or 757-810-5614.

 

You must act quickly. The Virginia personal injury statute of limitations of two years applies to products liability cases. And you will need to move fast to uncover all helpful evidence in your case.

 

As your Richmond product liability attorney I will guide you and your family during this difficult time. And help you recover damages for your injuries in any state or federal court in Virginia. Call now.

Corey Pollard
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