Product Liability

Southern Indiana Product Liability Lawyer and Personal Injury Attorney

Dangerous Goods - Unsafe Toys - Defective Products - Mechanical Failure - Design Defects - Inadequate Warning Labels

Has a dangerous or defective product caused you a serious injury? Has a family member of loved one been hurt or killed as a result of a defect in the design, manufacturing, or labeling of a product? If so, you may be entitled to compensation under the law.

At The Pardieck Law Firm of Seymour, Indiana, we can help you understand your options, provide smart advice as to how to proceed, and then aggressively pursue fair and just compensation for the harm you have suffered.

Since 1963, Roger Pardieck has been a champion for injured peoples' rights. We hold the people responsible for your injuries accountable for their actions, and we work hard to get you top-dollar for your pain and suffering, lost wages, medical bills, and more. Product liability lawyer Roger Pardieck has more that forty years of legal experience and has practiced in the Seymour area since 1963. Roger and our team of accomplished Indiana personal injury attorneys have a proven track record of success that includes recovering millions of dollars for our clients.

Contact an Indiana product liability attorney at The Pardieck Law Firm today for a free initial consultation regarding your case. Let us put our knowledge and experience to work for you.

Our firm handles personal injury and wrongful death claims resulting from a wide range of product liability issues, including:

• defective design, design flaws
• defective manufacturing
• dangerous / unsafe toys and consumer products
• toxic chemicals, pesticides, cleaning agents
• inadequate warning labels
• improper instructions for use
• mechanical failure of car parts, construction equipment and machinery

Product Liability - What you need to know

Product liability deals with cases involving defective or unsafe products. Manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers of products can be held liable for damages arising from the use of defective products. Products covered by this area of law, include food, drugs, and real estate, as well as virtually all consumer products.

The user who is injured and seeks damages does not need to be the original purchaser of the product. Nor does a person seeking damages have to prove negligence in many cases. Product liability frequently is a question of strict liability: that is, if the product is defective and that defect caused injury, the injured user may sue for damages as long as the product was used as it was meant to be used and not substantially changed from its original condition.

If the injured user was using the product in a manner not intended by the manufacturer or retailer, or had altered the product so that safety features were disabled, it may be difficult to prove that injuries were caused by defects in the product. However, the defendant may be able to successfully claim that the injuries were caused by the acts of the plaintiff.

Negligence and Breach of Warranty

Questions of negligence and breach of warranty are also grounds for a claim for damages under product liability. In the case of negligence, if it can be shown that a company was negligent in testing its product adequately or in supplying directions for its use, the injured party probably has grounds for filing suit. Similarly, a manufacturer implies a warranty for fitness of use and freedom from defect when an item is sold. If the item proves to be defective, or is unfit for the purpose intended, an injured user can file a product liability case. In a case of negligence, it is important that the plaintiff be able to show that the product was defective when it left the control of the party he is suing. It is not possible to hold someone liable for a defect that occurred after that party had control over the product.

Dangerous Products, Design and Manufacturing Defects

In product liability, there are various areas of defects that can occur. If a claim of strict liability is to be pursued, the injured party will need to show that the product was unreasonably dangerous for its intended use, due to a defect.

There are generally three areas in which a product can be unreasonably dangerous:

• The manufacturer or seller can fail to warn about dangers associated with the product's use. Manufacturers and sellers are expected to give adequate warnings about possible dangers, and to provide clear and adequate instructions of use. Failure to do so can cause a useful product to become deadly. For instance, coolants used in automobiles are extremely toxic – failure to print warnings of this toxicity on the product labels could lead to an accidental poisoning and thus to a suit for damages.
• The product may have a design defect. This means that the product is manufactured with a defect, even if it is assembled perfectly. An example would be a car gasoline tank that is designed with weak walls such that an impact can rupture the tank and cause the car to catch on fire, even when the tank is correctly assembled and installed.
• A manufacturing defect exists when an otherwise safe product is rendered dangerous because it is assembled improperly. A car whose wheel is installed with missing or cross-threaded bolts may lose a wheel at high speed, injuring or killing the driver and passengers. If it is proved that the car was manufactured with that defect, the manufacturer will be liable.

In all cases of product liability, it is essential to the success of the case that the product be preserved and that all paperwork showing the origin of the product be made available. Receipts showing purchase, any repair records, etc., can be vital to building a successful case.

Contact Us

If you have been injured, or a family member has been injured or killed as a result of a dangerous or defective product, contact an Indiana product liability lawyer at The Pardieck Law Firm today for a free initial consultation regarding your case. Even if you are not sure you have a case, call us. We can help you determine if you can file a claim. Do not delay - in many cases, there is a limited time in which you can legally pursue a personal injury claim. Do not lose your right to compensation - act now.