Product Liability Through Design Defect in Florida

As the name implies, product liability cases refer to situations where an object that was purchased causes harm to the user. These types of cases are usually take one of three forms, depending on the cause of the injury:

• Design Defect – This refers to general problems with the product itself, such that the design caused systemic problems. This includes situations where every product made poses the same risk, because there are inherently flaws with the object that make it unnecessarily risky.

• Manufacturing Defect – Unlike design defects, these cases do not allege general problems with every version of a product. Instead, manufacturing defects arise when a single or group of those products was somehow built improperly, resulting in danger risks.

• Marketing Defect – These defects refer to cases where a product where the labeling and/or warning included with the product was inadequate.

Dangers from products can take many forms. Fortunately, like most states, Florida operates under a “strict liability system with regard to product liability matters. This is an important distinction, because it differs from injury law rules in other scenarios. In short, strict liability means that various parties--the seller, manufacturer, or designer--can be required to pay compensation for the damages caused by the defect even if negligence itself cannot be proven. This means that injured consumers can recover for their losses without going through the often impossible tasks of collect evidence to prove that actual mistakes were made by the defendant. The system essentially means that injured parties can recover from dangerous products in all situations.

There are still specific rules that must be followed, however, in order to show that a defect existed. Specifically, with regard to design defects in Florida, the injured party must show that:

• The product is in a condition unreasonably dangerous to the user

• The product is expected to and does reach the consumer in such a condition

• The product fails to perform as safely as an ordinary consumer would expect when used as intended or when used in a manner reasonably foreseeable by the manufacturer and/or

• The risk of the danger in the design outweighs the benefit.

If you or a loved one has been injured by what you believe to be a defectively designed product, you should seriously consider consulting an experienced products liability attorney. The knowledgeable and skilled attorneys at Gerson & Schwartz, P.A. have over 50 years of experience fighting for the rights of people just like you who have been injured by defectively designed products in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. They know this complex area of the law well and associate with experts who have the specific knowledge and abilities to help prove your case. Please call us now at (877) 475-2905 to set up your free consultation today and ensure that you preserve your rights to recovery.