Clearwater Product Liability Lawyer

Were you or a loved one a victim of a product liability incident in Florida? Contact a Clearwater product liability lawyer at Perenich Law Injury Attorneys to fight for you and get the full and fair compensation deserved for the damages.

Product liability claims, sometimes known as defective product claims, have the potential to be long and drawn out. They do not have to feel like a burden though.

At Perenich Law Injury Attorneys, our skilled personal injury attorneys want to help make this a smooth process for you, and you probably do not want to be stressed out about your legal dilemmas. After an injury from a defective product, you should be focusing on yourself and getting healthy again.

Types of Product Liability Injuries

There are three kinds of product liability claims. They are all under the same umbrella, but each have their own set of issues. There are design defects, failure to warn, and manufacturing defects. A design defect, as you might be able to tell by the name, has to do with the way the product was designed to be made. This does not mean the product was made incorrectly, it means that the design of it was inherently dangerous.

In Florida, manufacturers are required to put their products through testing to see if it poses danger, and if it does, they are not supposed to sell it to you. An example of this would be a toy designed for children but wasn’t designed to protect them from choking on it. It could also be a gun that’s safety does not actually stop bullets from firing. If there was a failure to warn a consumer about the dangers of their product, you probably have a claim.

These types of incidents happen, not because of the design of the product, but because it did not come with warnings or instructions that showed you how to safely use it. When there are issues like this, it can cause some severe injury. An example of failure to warn might include a piece of machinery that does not have a safety label, or a high chair that clamps onto your table but will fall if you do not install it properly.

Lastly, there may have been a manufacturing defect that caused your injury. These incidents happen when the design is fine, the safety labels are fine, but something went wrong during production. When something goes wrong in the construction of the product, it can cause major injury. In this case, the manufacturer would be the liable party. Manufacturing defects include faulting car door handles, or faulty car seat locks.

How Long You Have to File in Florida

When you have been injured by a defective product and want to file a product liability claim, you will usually have two years from the date of the accident to bring that claim. This is your statute of limitations. It will shorten to two years if you are filing a wrongful death claim on behalf of someone who has passed because of a defective product. Like most personal injury claims, there are some exceptions to the rules.

There may be an exception if your injury wasn’t apparent right away. You also might have more time if the manufacturer of the product offered their consumers a longer warranty. If you have any questions about the statute of limitations for your case, do not hesitate to get in contact with one of our experienced Clearwater product liability attorneys. If you wait past the time limit, you run the risk of losing your chance for compensation.

How Compensation Works

There are two kinds of compensation that you may be awarded. There are compensatory damages that cover your medical bills and lost wages, then there are punitive damages that punish wrongdoing. If you are going to go after punitive damages, there are a couple of things that you need to be aware of. First, you have to have fairly strong proof that the liable party would have had real knowledge that they were doing something wrong.

It has to be clear and obvious evidence. Also, there is a cap for punitive damages. You can be awarded $500,000 or three times what your compensatory damages would be. Again, there are sometimes exceptions. You could be awarded up to two million dollars if the liable party acted particularly recklessly, was motivated by financial gain, and was a public safety risk. It’s so important that you find a seasoned product liability lawyer in Clearwater to help you make sure you are getting a full compensation award.

Contact Our Clearwater Product Liability Attorneys Today

If you were a victim of a product liability incident, you have every right to full and fair compensation for all the damage it has caused you. At Perenich Law Injury Attorneys, a Clearwater product liability lawyer is here for you and will guide you through the whole process from start to finish.

You do not have to be worried about the legal aspect of this. We want you to focus on getting better, so we will take the weight of your case off of your shoulders. Please call our office today for a free confidential consultation.