Injured By A Defective Product? Know These 4 Things

Were you involved in an incident where a defective product caused an injury? You'll want to know the following things about a potential injury lawsuit.

The Defective Product Needs To Cause Damage

The key thing about any personal injury lawsuit is that there must be some sort of substantial injury that the product caused. Simply having a product that was defective is not always enough to justify a lawsuit, unless the defect caused damage to your home or other property. This typically means that you had an injury that required medical attention and that you suffered some sort of financial loss as a result.

The Product Defect Must Be Proven

You'll need to somehow prove that the product was defective, meaning that it was not operating as it intended to at the time that it failed and caused an injury. This may involve contacting an engineer to look at how the product was made or comparing it to how other similar products work. 

The Responsible Party May Not Be Clear

There are many factors that can go into why a product is defective, and it can be difficult determining who is responsible for the injury. Was it the manufacturer that put the product together, with a problem caused during the manufacturing process? Was it the company that designed the product, since it was created in a way where it could be defective? Was the problem caused by a lack of safety information, and the product was operated improperly because of that? These are all things that a lawyer should help you look into. 

The Product Must Be Retained By You

The defective product is going to be the key to your personal injury lawsuit, and you must hold onto it. The manufacturer may request that you send them the product so that they can inspect it, or promise to send you a replacement product because the old one failed. Be aware that this is likely motivated by the manufacturer wanting to get the product in their hands so that you cannot use it in your legal case against them. If you love that key piece of evidence then you'll run into difficulty proving what happened. 

As you can see, defective product lawsuits are more complex than they appear to be at first. That's why it is worth working with a lawyer that specializes in these types of cases, so they can use their experience to guide you through the legal process. 

To learn more, contact a defective product law firm such as Hoines Law Office, P.C.