While most consumer products are harmless and have proper user instructions, a few manufacturers prioritize profits over consumer wellbeing and make defective products.
If you sustain injuries because of a defective product, please call on a St. Petersburg product liability lawyer to get the help you need.
At Perenich Law Injury Attorneys in St. Petersburg, Florida, our dedicated personal injury attorneys have helped many individuals recover compensation after sustaining injuries in a range of product liability injury claims, such as:
Use of a faulty product
Inadequate safety warnings
Unsatisfactory instructions
Poisoning and unsafe food products
To create a compelling case for compensation, our lawyers interact with a range of professional specialists whose knowledge and expertise can shed light on why a product harmed you. Our services range from preparation to mediating and litigating your claim. We do not charge any fees unless you win a settlement or court grant on your behalf.
Types of Product Liability Claims
Product liability claims fall into three categories: design flaws, manufacturing flaws, and promotional flaws. Let’s take a closer look at each.
Design Flaws
A design flaw is a shortcoming in the general development of a product. Each product made is affected by circumstances of poor design. Large-scale product recalls are common in these situations.
When a corporation knows or should know of hazards, it must implement safer designs. If a secure, more cost-effective solution exists, the corporation should use it. If a secure design is not possible, the corporation still has a responsibility to warn consumers about the product’s risks.
Flaws in the Manufacturing Process
Manufacturing flaws can develop because of issues encountered throughout the production line. The product’s architecture is harmless in these instances, but the assembly is faulty. Production flaws can alter a single component or a whole batch. For instance, a bike with an incorrectly sized screw may have a manufacturing problem.
Product Promotion Flaws
Manufacturers have a responsibility to inform users about any impending product dangers. This is why most items come with safety warnings plus guidelines—for instance, the health warnings on tobacco products. You can file a product liability claim citing a firm’s omission to notify users of the product’s non-obvious concerns as the source of your woes.
In Florida, What Is the Time Limit to Launch a Product Liability Claim?
Once a defective product causes you harm, Florida law limits the time you have to sue. The statute of limitations is the legal term for this deadline.
It states that you have two years starting from the time you sustained injuries to start a personal injury claim, or you will lose your entitlement to recompense.
What Is the Value of a Product Liability Claim in St. Petersburg?
Since each case is unique, your attorney will first assess the facts of your situation to estimate the magnitude of your product liability claim.
Besides, these factors can influence your product liability case’s worth:
The kind and degree of your ailments
Your overall outlook
The depth of your misery and anguish
How the damage altered your lifestyle
The amount of your out-of-pocket spending
Whether joint liability is a factor
It is never easy to put a monetary value on physical harm. Therefore, our qualified St. Petersburg product liability attorneys have established ties with reputable authorities who can assist us in determining the entire degree of your damages. We can determine the fair valuation of your case with their help to ensure you are also not overspending.
Damages That Victims of Faulty Products Can Experience
We may hold businesses that conceive, make, and market faulty items accountable for all the harm they create. You can recover your financial, non-economic, and punitive damages.
Economic Damages
Economic damages address concerns like:
Previous and prospective medical bills
Lost pay as you recuperate
Reduced prospective income potential
Physical rehabilitation
Destruction of property
Non-Economic Damages
Reimbursement for non-economic losses, such as misery and anguish, lost companionship, anxiety, despair, mental pain, disfigurement, and scarring or reduced living standards should feature in your settlements.
Punitive damages in a product liability case
These damages are financial penalties imposed on a merchant or producer for their incompetence. The law limits punitive damages in Florida to $500,000, or thrice the compensation for damages received by the aggrieved individual. However, if the judge rules that the defendant behaved with a willful lack of regard for safety or had an economic incentive to endanger the public, the court may impose significantly higher punitive damages.
Who Is Responsible in a Product Liability Claim?
Annually, thousands of people sustain injuries or die because of faulty or recklessly made items. product liability law determines the accountable party for harmful or faulty items and damage caused to a user. This law differs from conventional injury claims, which might make it simpler for a victim or the estate of a deceased person to receive compensation.
A product liability claim holds manufacturers or dealers accountable for making and distributing a harmful product. You can sue every dealer who dealt with the product throughout the supply chain, not just the producer, for negligence that resulted in the harm or death of a buyer who used that commodity.
Parties Liable For Defective Products
Products are available to buyers at some juncture. A contractual link between a consumer wounded or killed by a commodity and the item’s seller is not legally mandatory. In essence, the victim does not have to buy the item to collect compensation for injuries or wrongful death.
You can hold any entity in the defective item’s supply chain liable, including:
The primary producer;
The maker of product parts;
Any entity that incorporates and configures the product;
The wholesalers; and
The retail outlet that delivered the product to the victim.
Besides, to enhance stringent accountability, the parties involved should undertake the distribution of a commodity in the ordinary course of the distributor’s operation. Even in a St. Petersburg product liability case, you cannot hold accountable someone who offered the product at a flea market.
Unavoidable and Unsafe Products
Manufacturers cannot make certain items safer without sacrificing their merits. An electromagnetic knife, for instance, that is too shallow to cause injury, is likewise too shallow and worthless for its original purpose. As a result, manufacturers encourage users to reduce their risks by using the product responsibly, although harm is conceivable because of the item’s designated usage.
Regardless of a product’s original usage not making it excessively harmful, producers and distributors of inevitably safe products must display adequate risks and warnings of the threat if one misuses the item.
Popular Defense Mechanisms to Product Liability Claim
During a case, the maker or any other party in the supply chain of a faulty product may contend that the claimant has failed to adequately identify the source of the product that caused harm or death. A claimant has to link the merchandise to the entity or relevant personnel responsible for making or selling it.
In cases concerning substandard drugs, for instance, market share responsibility prevails. Because a claimant may not determine which pharmaceutical firms supplied a specific drug that the victim consumed, every manufacturer could be held accountable based on their share of sales in the particular region where the harm or death transpired.
A producer could also argue that the claimant changed the original product significantly once it left their hands, resulting in harm or death. This is common in situations where buyers have modified guns or weapons, for instance. The maker may also contend that the victim misused the item unpredictably and that this misapplication triggered injuries or death.
Ways Perenich Law Injury Attorneys in St. Petersburg May Facilitate a Product Liability Claim
You do not have to stress about whether a product may harm you or your loved one when you buy it. Sometimes a product that appears to be perfectly safe could become deadly if it has a flaw. Whenever these products inflict injury, the firms who sell them are accountable. You must, however, file a claim to get just recompense.
To combat potential damage claims, manufacturing businesses frequently have huge designated budgets and armies of defense attorneys. As a result, seeking the help of a seasoned product liability lawyer in St. Petersburg can help you collect the recompense you deserve.
Once you hire us, we manage each facet of your claim, including:
Investigating the matter to determine the defect that induced your ailments
Collaborating with teams of industry experts to prove your argument
Defending you if the manufacturer’s insurance providers accuse you of misappropriating the product
Bargaining with the insurers to achieve the maximum settlement
Don’t tackle everything on your own. Get a complimentary consultation with a St. Petersburg legal practitioner at our offices to let us help you.
We Strive for the Just Recompense of Each of Your Injuries
If you are a victim, our skilled St. Petersburg defective products attorneys will fight to get you the compensation you require. Some of the most common ailments caused by defective products include burns, broken bones, sight ailments, facial fractures, cuts and bruises, brain injuries, vertebral injuries, concussions, and damage to the nerves.
Some damages are severe enough to result in wrongful death. If this is the case, our attorneys can assist you in filing a wrongful death claim to get damages for medical fees, burial costs, and other expenditures.
Product Liability Claims That Perenich Law Injury Deal Within St. Petersburg, Florida
At Perenich Law Injury Attorneys, we undertake all forms of product liability lawsuits in St. Petersburg, such as those involving:
Prescription medications
Furniture for kids
Domestic appliances
Batteries
Vape gadgets
Construction machinery
Airbags and safety belts
Medical equipment
Chilean safety chairs
Kids’ toys
Whenever anything goes awry during the production line, almost any item can be harmful. If you or a beloved person is wounded because of a faulty product, contact our legal firm for help. We will be delighted to meet with you to explore your next course of action.
Establishing Fault for a Defective Product in Florida
Corporations must supply sufficiently secure consumer items. You could be eligible for reimbursement under Florida product liability statutes if you sustain injuries from using a faulty product.
In a St. Petersburg product liability case, you do not just have to convince a jury of negligence to receive compensation. In reality, strict liability is used in most product liability disputes.
Our knowledge and experience help us to show:
The relationship existing between an organization and the faulty item
The error that made the product outrageously unsafe
The product caused your injuries
The ailments and harm that you suffered because of the defective product to collect recompense following strict liability
Frequently Asked Questions
If you did not purchase the product, can you still file a claim?
Many consumers believe they cannot pursue a product liability claim as they received the product as a gift, purchased it secondhand, or rented it. The victim does not have to buy the product, according to Florida law.
Irrespective of how you got the product, you may submit a suit for the damages you sustained. Anybody who used or made contact with the goods in the future and was injured may pursue a claim per State statute.
Should you file a claim when the product came with some cautionary measures?
A disclaimer does not absolve the producer of obligation if an item can bring harm even when used as per directions. You can always file a claim if improved product design and production methods could have avoided the risk. A simple warning of unjustifiable threats does not shield responsibility.
For a Preliminary Consultation, Call a St. Petersburg Product Liability Attorney
If a risky consumer product hurts you, you may seek damages. A St. Petersburg product liability lawyer at Perenich Law Injury Attorneys can fight to obtain the reimbursement you require. To get the legal guidance you need, contact us for a free consultation today.
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