Product liability is an area of the law that holds retailers, manufacturers, suppliers, and others responsible for all products they create and disseminate to the public, and for any injuries that these products may cause. Typically, product liability claims are based on a design defect, a manufacturing defect, or a failure to adequately warn consumers.
Most cases of product liability claims regarding manufacturing defects are not based on a negligence claim—stating that the manufacturer acted in a negligent manner, resulting in injury. Instead, claims are typically based on strict liability, meaning that a manufacturer is held responsible for the products their company produced regardless of their actions. As such, a manufacturer is liable for any defective products, even if the manufacturer was in no way negligent when making the product(s) in question.
Since this can be a very harsh and costly standard for a manufacturer, strict liability is typically used only in claims of manufacturing defects or errors, and NOT for any design or warning errors. If there is a defect in either design or proper warnings, courts typically proceed using standards of negligence, and not strict liability. For these cases to move forward, the plaintiff will need to prove negligence by proving the following:
- That there was a duty owed
- That there was some breach of this duty
- That an injury occurred
- That the injury was caused by the defendant’s breach of duty
If you or someone you know has been injured as a result of a product defect and would like to schedule a consultation with a Minneapolis product liability lawyer, contact the experts at Terry, Slane & Ruohonen at 612-362-0000 today. Our partners are skilled, dynamic litigators with years of experience.
