Gonzales Louisiana Product Liability Law Firm

Under personal injury law, cases of Gonzales product liability deal with defective or unsafe products. Product retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers can be held legally liable for damages stemming from the use of defective products. Include in this area of law are food, drugs, and real estate, as well as nearly all consumer products. The duty of safety in product use extends beyond the original purchaser/user, to virtually anyone in contact with the product.

Often, a person injured by an East Gonzales hazardous product need not prove negligence on the part of the manufacturer, retailer, etc. This is due to the application of “strict liability,” a legal distinction whihc increases the expectation borne by the manufacturer. Simply put, if the product causes injury/damage, the manufacturer is responsible, regardless of the reason for the product causing the damage. As long as the product was used as intended and not substantially changed from its original condition, strict liability applies. Altering the product or its safely features before use may void the manufacturers responsibilities and therefore any legal recourse.

Negligence and/or violation of warranty may also be grounds for a claim of damages under product liability. Regarding negligence, if it can be demonstrated that a company has been negligent in adequately testing its product or in providing directions for its use, then the injured party likely has grounds to file suit. Similarly, a “warranty for fitness of use and freedom from defect” is implied at the time of sale of a product. Should the item prove to be defective or otherwise unfit for the intended use/purpose, an injured user may file a case of product liability.

Various defects may occur in Ascension product liability. For strict liability to be pursued, the party sustaining the injury must show the product was unreasonably dangerous for its stated, intended use because of a defect. Generally, there are three accepted areas in which a product can be unreasonably dangerous:

1. Failure to warn regarding the dangers of the product’s use. Manufacturers and retailers alike are expected to supply the necessary, adequate warnings about potentiial dangers, and to provide clear, sufficient instructions for use. A failure to adequately instruct on the proper use of a product may turn an otherwise useful/harmless product deadly. For example, coolants and other fluids used in automobiles are either harmless or extremely poisonous and toxic depending on proper or improper usage.
2. Design defect. Each and every product leaving the factory contains the same defect, because it is built – usually unknowingly – into the design. Such a producct is an automobile with a weak-walled gasoline tank with the potential to rupture.
3. Manufacturing defect. In this case, the design is good, but the manufacturing process is faulty and introduces a defect during production. The cross-threading of the bolts holding a wheel on an automobile is an example of this type of defect.

Regardless of the particulars of the case of Gonzales product liability, success in the case depends on preservation of the product in question as well as all paperwork showing its origin and subsequent ownership, use, repair, etc.