A product liability attorney is a professional who works with people who believe they were injured because a manufactured item wasn't properly designed or checked for quality issues. Product liability law is considered a subset of injury law. In most cases, these types of lawyers usually help clients pursue action against large companies. You may wonder whether you have a situation that calls for the support of a firm that takes on these types of cases.

Identifiable Failures of Manufacture

The primary logic behind a product liability claim is that a company had good cause to believe that something it manufactured might be unreasonably dangerous. During the 1990s, several claims were leveled against Dow Corning for breast implants that ruptured, leading to injuries ranging from infections to deaths. The manufacturer eventually settled with thousands of plaintiffs for damages totaling more than $2 billion.

A product liability attorney often helps clients dig through a lot of corporate documentation. As the breast implant lawsuit was litigated, for example, the product liability attorney services firms handling the case produced evidence showing that Dow Corning had failed to properly test how silicone. Worse, it was demonstrated that the company made efforts to hide information about health risks.

Given the wide ranges of components that go into modern cars, trucks and SUVs, there have also been a number of claims brought against manufacturers for the failures of safety devices, particularly airbags and seat belts. It may be possible to bring a claim against the manufacturer of an individual component in addition to the car company itself. These types of claims are not limited by existing efforts to get compensation in a related auto accident suit.

Deciding to Pursue a Case

When you sit down with a product liability attorney, you will go over a wide array of details from your case. A lawyer will evaluate ways the manufacturer might try to push responsibility to another party. For example, a brake manufacturer dealing with someone injured in a trucking accident may attempt to represent the incident as the result of operator failure or mechanics not doing their jobs.

If you move forward, a summons will be sent to the defendant, the manufacturer. They will have a chance to respond to the complaint, and they will be formally notified to retain all possible evidence. Your lawyer will seek a settlement and, if necessary, push for a trial.