Many people in Orleans Parish have probably heard that product liability law is the branch of law that deals with remedies for injuries suffered by consumers from defective or dangerous products. This blog post provides a basic overview of some key aspects of product liability law for readers who would like an introduction to the topic.
In a product liability lawsuit, a manufacturer or seller may be held liable for providing a defective product to a consumer. If a person is injured by the product as a result of the product’s defect, the person may have a product liability case against the manufacturer or a seller of the product. Products are required to meet the ordinary expectations of a consumer. The consumer’s ordinary expectations are not met when a defect causes injury.
Who might be liable in a product liability suit? There are a number of possible defendants, including the product’s manufacturer, a manufacturer of component parts, an assembler or installer of the product, the wholesaler or the retailer. The specific circumstances of a particular case will dictate who could be a liable party in a product liability suit.
Whenever defective conditions result in a product’s injuring a user, the manufacturer or seller of that product could be liable if the product was sold in the marketplace. This liability exists in part to discourage manufacturers and sellers from offering defective products to consumers. Potential plaintiffs include not only the purchaser of a product and their immediate family, but also any person who foreseeably could have been injured by the product.