Bakersfield Product Liability Lawyer
Whether you are shopping at a brick-and-mortar store or through an online retailer, you have a right to expect that every mass-produced product you buy will be reasonably safe to use for its intended purpose. That said, anyone who has ever received a recall notice before knows that manufacturing companies do not always live up to that duty of care with every product—and sometimes, recall notices come too late to prevent serious injuries.
Civil claims filed over injuries of this nature share a lot of ground rules with standard personal injury cases, but there are also many unique aspects to product liability law that you may need a skilled attorney’s help to understand. Fortunately, you have assistance from a Bakersfield product liability lawyer from CD Law with years of experience handling cases like yours successfully.
Suing Over Different Types of Defects
Product liability law holds manufacturers strictly liable for injuries caused by one of three specific types of product defects: design, manufacturing, or marketing. A design defect means the item was conceptualized so that every unit of it ever produced is unreasonably dangerous.
Manufacturing defects refer to a safely designed product assembled incorrectly or a defect in a specific component that makes a unit dangerous to use. Finally, defective marketing means that the manufacturer failed to provide consumers with sufficient instructions for how to use the product safely and/or warnings about possible hazards associated with normal use.
A product liability lawyer in Bakersfield can explain these types of defects in more detail and help you determine which one applies to your specific situation during a private meeting.
Other Requirements for Product Liability Claims
There are a few additional conditions that an injured person must meet in order to successfully file suit over a defective product, all of which a knowledgeable Bakersfield product liability attorney can help establish with as much relevant evidence as possible:
- The defect in question existed when the product left its manufacturer’s direct control
- The product’s condition did not meaningfully between when it left its manufacturer’s control and when the injured person took possession of it
- The defect in question was the main and direct cause of the injury being sued over
- The injured person was using the product for its intended purpose or for a reasonably foreseeable one when the injury occurred
There may also be some complicated questions about exactly where a defect in a product originated and who is civilly liable for it, which a seasoned legal professional can also provide vital help with answering.
What Are the Filing Deadlines for Defective Product Cases?
Perhaps most importantly, a product liability lawyer in Bakersfield can help construct a strong civil claim within the filing time limits set by California law. Just like other personal injury victims, people who get hurt by defective products here have a maximum of two years to file suit after initially getting hurt, as per California Code of Civil Procedures §335.1. Notably, though, there is no statute of repose in California, so unlike in many other states, there are no strict rules about how long someone can wait after initially obtaining a defective product to sue over an injury it causes.
Work With a Bakersfield Product Liability Attorney
Product liability laws can be tricky to navigate, even if you have experience with personal injury litigation. On top of that, the companies that make and sell major consumer products often devote lots of effort—not to mention financial resources—towards fighting lawsuits filed over injuries caused by something they produced.
Put simply, this is not the kind of situation you want to try handling without dependable legal representation on your side—and fortunately, you do not have to. Call CD Law today to learn what a Bakersfield product liability lawyer can do for you.