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Design Defect Attorneys

When a product – whether it is a heart defibrillator, a child's toy, or an airbag in an automobile – seriously injures someone, it is natural to wonder if "something was wrong with the product?" If the product was designed in such a way that it could cause serious injury or death to the person using it, the manufacturer or designer of the product may be held liable for the victim's injuries in a product liability or negligence claim.

Design Defects

Design defects are sometimes referred to as "planned defects," as opposed to manufacturing defects, which are sometimes called "unplanned defects."  Although no defect is ever really intended by a manufacturer or designer, a defect in design can trace back to the product's original design. Examples of design defects include:

  1. A three-wheeled ATV that easily overturns
  2. A roof on a SUV that fails in a rollover accident
  3. Drawstrings on a child's sweatshirt that present a suffocation risk
  4. A laptop computer that overheats in normal use
  5. A ladder constructed of lightweight aluminum that cannot withstand a person's weight.

When a product has a design defect, all manufactured products will share the same problem. Manufacturing defects, or "unplanned" defects, may be attributed to assembly error or the use of substandard materials in the manufacturing process. 

Damages in a Defective Products Case

If a plaintiff can establish that a product was defectively designed, and that some other hypothetical alternative design would have been safer than the original design, the plaintiff may be entitled to monetary damages from the manufacturer, importer, or distributor of the product. Compensation awarded in a products liability claim may include money for medical expenses, lost earnings, pain and suffering and other accident related expenses.

Preserving Evidence In Product Liability Cases

It is essential to preserve evidence in product liability cases. If you have been hurt by a dangerous or defective product, do not have the product destroyed or repaired until an expert can inspect it. If you are entitled to compensation in a product liability claim, your attorney can arrange to have the product inspected. An attorney will also look at other similar cases of the product causing injury to others, and recalls of the product in cooperation with government agencies such as the FDA, CPSC, of NHTSA. Note that by law, a statute of limitations governs the amount of time you have to file a claim, so do not delay in contacting a lawyer.

Experienced Product Liability Lawyers

The defective products attorneys at Estey & Bomberger have more than 70 years of collective experience handling design defect cases.  We work closely with a number of experts in product safety, forensic pathology, and accident reconstruction. Whatever the product is that caused serious injury, we will fully investigate how the product designer or manufacturer contributed to your injuries, and how your injuries ultimately affected you financially. We have successfully recovered millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements in product liability claims against major automakers, medical device manufacturers, laptop computer manufacturers and others.  Call us 24 hours a day to discuss your case with one of our experienced attorneys. All consultations are free, and if we handle your claim, we will charge no fees unless and until we successfully recover money for your case.