Rochester Product Liability Attorneys
Faraci Lange has represented thousands of defective product victims.
A manufacturer or seller of a defective product may be liable to a person injured as a result of that defect. This branch of personal injury law is called "products liability." A variety of legal claims can be made in a case involving a defective product, including negligence, breach of warranty, and strict liability. Under each theory, there are certain elements that must be present in order for the claim to succeed. These are:
- The defendant manufactured or sold the product
- The product was defective and/or did not function properly
- The defective product caused damage to a person or property
- The defect existed at the time the product left the hands of the manufacturer or seller.
What is a “Defective Product”?
Under New York law, a product can be defective in three ways:
- Mistake in manufacturing
- Mistake in design
- Failure to properly warn or instruct users about the product.
By way of example, a manufacturing defect ordinarily involves a product that is properly designed, but is manufactured in a way that creates a hazard. Faraci Lange represented a man who was injured when a pneumatic nail gun fired unexpectedly. The nail gun had a properly designed safety feature that prevented inadvertent firing, but it failed in this case because it had a flawed spring that broke prematurely.
Defectively designed products encompass an entire line of products made dangerous because of a flaw in the design. The Ford Pinto from the late 1960’s is one example. That car was designed in a manner that made its gas tank vulnerable to explosion in the event of a rear end collision. Ford knew of this design defect before the Pinto was first built, but opted not to redesign it after determining it would be cheaper to pay damages in product liability cases than to redesign the car. Faraci Lange has represented many clients who have been injured by poorly designed products.
What is a Breach of Warranty?
This is a claim derived from the contract of sale between the seller and buyer. Under NY law, and the law of most states, certain warranties are implied into the sale of a product. In addition to these implied warranties, called the “warranty of merchantability” and the “warranty of fitness for a particular purpose”, some sellers also include express warranties with the products they sell.
The New York Court of Appeals has held that a product that is not “defective” under traditional principles of negligence or strict liability law may nonetheless be in breach of certain express or implied warranties. Therefore, a person injured by a product that is still governed by an express warranty or that is less than four years old should contact a lawyer and consider including a breach or warranty claim in any case filed as a result of the product-related injury.
Who is Liable for a Defective Product?
As a general rule, anybody in the chain of distribution of a product can be liable for injuries caused by a defective product. This includes the manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor and retailer of the product. It does not include causal sellers who sell products infrequently, such as at a garage sale.
