Las Vegas Product Liability Lawyers

Sam Harding Law Firm have experience in handling Product Liability cases in Las Vegas, Nevada. If you or a someone you know has suffered serious injury from Product Liability in the state of Nevada, we can help.

Product Liability is a branch of US law. It deals with the responsibility of the manufacturer to the consumer. Basically the manufacturer has to warn the consumer of any defects or dangers in the product they have made. A product is defective if it causes damage or injury to the consumer by way of a defect in the product itself, its labeling or marketing, or in its use.

In legal terms products liability is the liability of any or all parties along the chain of manufacture of any product for damage caused by that product including the maker of the component parts, the assembler, the wholesaler, and the retail store owner. Any product that causes harm to the consumer due to defects can be the subject of a products liability suit. While products are usually thought of as tangible personal property products liability has come to include intangibles (gas), naturals (pets), real estate (house), and writings (maps).

Products liability claims are usually based on negligence or strict liability. Strict liability is when the product is shown as defective regardless of the degree of carefulness exercised by the consumer. There are three types of defects that can cause liability in the manufacturer and supplier.

• Design Defects
• Manufacturing Defects
• Marketing Defects

The manufacturer is subjected to two duties i.e. to design and manufacture products that are reasonably safe and to warn consumers of any risks they may incur when using the product.

Design defects exist even before the product is made. They are inherent. Or when foreseeable risks of harm could have been reduced or eliminated by using another design and failure to use this alternative design renders the product as reasonably unsafe. The product may serve its use well but due to a design flaw may be dangerous to use. When there is a design defect the following factors are considered:

• Was adequate testing done
• The utility of the product and the likelihood of injury resulting from its use
• Was the design influenced by a desire to prevent injuries
• Were any established standards breached
• Availability of alternative designs that reduce or eliminate risks at a reasonable cost and minimum impact on usage
• Reasonable expectations of safety by the users of the product

Manufacturing defects occur during the making of the product i.e. the construction and production phases. This occurs when even when all possible care is taken the product departs from its intended design. In this case usually a few products out of the many of the same type are defective.

Defects in marketing are when improper instructions are given and failure to warn the consumer of inherent dangers in the use of the product. This is when proper instructions or warnings that could have been reduced or eliminated the risk of harm are omitted.

The requirements of a successful products liability claim varies from state to state and depends on whether the product was unreasonably dangerous, use of the product caused an injury, or an injury was caused by a defect in the product.

Besides the manufacturer, the store or seller may be liable if they do not take proper steps to check the safety of the product and any repairer of the product may also be liable.

Products liability is mainly derived from Torts law but found mainly in common law (judge or state-made law). Torts are civil wrongs recognized by law as grounds for a lawsuit. Products liability falls under strict liability torts.