Defective Products Attorney in East Brunswick
We bring a wide range of products into our home without giving much thought to their safety or suitability of the use for which they are intended and marketed.
But hundreds of defective products are identified each year and hundreds more slip into our lives without warning. Growing globalization and the Internet economy have increased the risks while also complicating claims when serious or fatal injuries result.
At Mayo Law, our New Jersey defective product attorneys have the knowledge, experience and resources to pursue these cases against even the largest national and international corporations and their insurance companies.
Defective Product Injuries
The most common types of defective product claims include dangerous and defective vehicles and vehicle components, including tires, dangerous medications, medical devices, cleaning products and household chemicals, home appliances and toys.
A shocking number of dangerous and defective products are marketed to or for use by children, including clothing, toys, highchairs, cribs, playpens and childcare products. In many cases, these products are meant to keep children safer and include child-safety locks, baby gates, harnesses, and baby monitors.
In the United States, the Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with investigating dangerous and unsafe products and issuing warnings and recalls. Common recalls include home fireplaces, extension cords, laundry detergent, ATVs, chairs, stuffed animals, small appliances, home decor, and cookware. In a typical year, more than 300 products are determined to be dangerous enough to result in a mandatory recall.
Common injury risks include choke hazards, fire, pinch or amputation risks and poisoning.
Defective Product Lawsuits
Your chosen defective product attorney in New Jersey must have the experience and resources necessary to pursue these complex claims.
Proving personal injury or wrongful death resulting from a dangerous or defective product requires:
- Proof of injury: Injury must result from using a dangerous or defective product as intended or as reasonably foreseeable. Careful documentation of injuries and all resulting economic and non-economic damages are critical to winning all of the damages to which you are entitled.
- Proof of defect: There must be proof that the product was defective or missing appropriate warnings.
- Causation: It must also be proven that there is a link between injury and product defect. For example, cutting your finger with a knife is not sufficient unless the knife breaks, or is otherwise defective when used as intended or used in a reasonably foreseeable manner.
- Reasonable use: The product must also not have caused injury while used in a manner for which it was clearly not intended. Mixing dangerous household chemicals, for example, may result in injury as a result of unintended use. This is a complicated area of law as many products are used in foreseeable ways that may differ from those for which they are marketed, and yet still result in a pursuable claim for damages.
It’s also important to note that any business or entity in the supply chain can be pursued when serious or fatal injury results from a use of a dangerous or defective product, including producers, shippers, marketers and sellers. There are three main types of product liability claims under the New Jersey Product Liability Act:
- Manufacturing: These allege a defective or dangerous product that results from manufacturer liability. Under the law, this is proven when a product deviates from design specifications, performance standards or from otherwise identical products manufactured to the same specifications.
- Dangerous design: This type of claim alleges inherent danger or defect resulting from product design. The law permits a claim when the product’s risk to the consumer outweighs its benefits, or when the product could have been designed in a way that would have mitigated or eliminated the risks.
- Marketing/Labeling: This type of lawsuit alleges insufficient or absent product warnings or labeling, or inappropriate marketing of a dangerous or defective product. These claims typically require the plaintiff to prove that the defendant was aware of the deficiency or that a reasonable person in the defendant’s position would have disclosed the information to consumers.
There is every evidence that hundreds of dangerous and defective products make their way into the hands of consumers each year despite efforts by federal regulators to investigate hazards and issue recalls. Because of the complexity of proving such claims, many injuries that result from the use of dangerous or defective products never result in a claim for damages. Our defective product attorneys in East Brunswick know this leaves far too many victims uncompensated and far too many dangerous and defective products on the market, where they too often result in preventable injuries.
The internet economy is increasingly responsible for dangerous products being marketed and shipped directly to consumers. Amazon has been increasingly targeted for doing too little to protect customers and several court cases have begun to hold the company responsible for injuries and property damage that result from products bought from the e-commerce giant. In 2021, Amazon finally agreed to begin paying consumers up to $1,000 for property damage caused by defective products sold by its third-party merchants. It was a token step that only served to highlight the company’s enormous responsibility and potential liability when it comes to the products it markets and sells.
But whether a product was purchased online, at a big-box store, or through a neighborhood shop, these cases most often target manufacturers. As such, your law firm must have the knowledge, experience and resources to build a comprehensive case for damages against some of the nation’s largest corporations and their insurers and defense attorneys.
Reaching out for experienced legal help as soon as possible after injury will allow your chosen law firm the best chance to collect evidence, identify all of the parties responsible, determine the full extent of your injuries and damages, and fight for the resources necessary for your recovery and the financial wellbeing of you and your family.