Chicago Product Liability Lawyers

The steering column in a driver’s car is faulty and causes the driver to lose control and crash. A hair dryer overheats and catches fire, and badly burns a woman’s hand. A man’s pacemaker malfunctions and he has a heart attack.

In the modern era, virtually everything we buy, use, or consume is made by someone else — the clothes we wear, the cars we drive, the toys our children play with, the equipment we use to do our jobs. It’s all manufactured somewhere using processes that have little to do with our daily lives. We don’t tend to give much thought about how things are made, or what safeguards are in place to make sure that the products we use aren’t harmful. We rely on designers and manufacturers to be aware of potential dangers and to make products so that they’re safe for our use.

How Can a Product Be Defective?

There are three types of product defects: design defects, manufacturing defects, and warning/marketing defects. If you were injured because of a dangerous product, it’s important to talk with a lawyer right away. You’ll need someone to thoroughly investigate the product to find out whether something was wrong with it and when that defect happened.

A design defect is an inherent problem with the product that makes it less safe than it should be. Every product made based on that design is defective. You can buy it brand new, and it has something wrong with it. But a manufacturing defect means something that went wrong during the creation of the product, whether that’s growing a food item, manufacturing a toy, assembling a vehicle, or packaging a product for store shelves. The design of the product might make it as safe as possible, but a defect can arise from the time the product starts being made and the time it reaches your home or office.

Another possible defect is a failure to warn, which is sometimes called a marketing defect. Some products will always come with risks. You have to be able to use it as safely as possible to avoid getting hurt. But that means you need instructions and warnings. A product is considered defective when it doesn’t come with the necessary instructions or warnings.

What Types of Products Can Be Defective?

Any type of product you buy or receive could be defective in some way. But when certain products are defective, they’re more likely to be dangerous to you and those around you.

Common defective products include:

• Cars, trucks, and motorcycles: Defects in vehicles can cause crashes or make it difficult for a motorist to avoid a serious crash. Auto defects also might contribute to crash injuries being more serious than they should have been.
• Medications and medical devices: Prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, and medical devices used by physicians should be as safe as possible. But over time, it can become clear from side effects and complications that a drug or device is potentially harmful.
• Children’s toys and other products: Far too many children’s products are safe for their intended purpose or age group, which puts young children at risk of getting hurt.
• Household products: Everything in a home, from refrigerators to hairdryers, can be defective. A serious issue with household products is the risk of electrocution or fire as well as poisoning if swallowed by a young child.
• Pools: Backyard swimming pools are popular in the hot summer months, but small defects like uncovered filters and loose metal can cause significant injuries.
• Industrial equipment and machinery: Large industrial equipment needs to be as safe as possible to protect workers from harm. But too many tools and pieces of machinery make it to workplaces without the necessary warnings, safeguards, automatic shutoffs, and other important safety features.
• Food: Food is a product that can cause serious harm when it’s defective, or in other words, contaminated with harmful bacteria or viruses. Food poisoning can lead to hospitalization and serious injuries in some people.

What Compensation Can I Recover?

When someone is injured or killed because a product was designed or manufactured in a way that made it unsafe, the person or company responsible for the defect should be held accountable. Illinois law allows for that accountability through product liability lawsuits. In a product liability lawsuit, a user or consumer who has been hurt can sue the designer or maker of the defective product for compensation. Monetary damages that may be recovered include:

• Medical Expenses — This includes your expenses for immediate treatment of your injuries as well as the cost of future treatments you face, such as surgeries or ongoing therapy
• Loss of Income — This includes temporary time lost from work because of your injuries, but also may include the value of your lifetime lost income if you are permanently disabled by your injuries
• Pain and Suffering — Illinois law allows juries to place a value on the emotional distress and trauma you’re experiencing because of your injuries
• Disability and Disfigurement — You can receive payment for any loss of ability because of your injuries, or for scarring or other impacts on your appearance
• Loss of Normal Life — If your injuries prevent you from engaging in hobbies or activities or performing household tasks, you can be compensated for the disruption to your life
• Punitive Damages — Less frequently, a jury may award punitive damages when the dangerous defect was the result of reckless or intentional actions by the designer or manufacturer

Determining Liability in Chicago Defective Product Cases

Pinpointing liability for your injuries can be complicated because of the many people involved in the process of designing, manufacturing, and marketing goods. Defects can happen at any point in the process and can take different forms. Illinois law allows you to recover compensation for:

• Design Defects — When the way a product is designed makes it dangerous when used as intended or likely to malfunction in a way that is dangerous, there may be a product liability claim. An example might include failing to design the product to current safety standards or regulations.
• Manufacturing Defects — When a product is made or assembled in a way that makes it dangerous or likely to fail, there may be a product liability claim. Examples of manufacturing defects may include the use of substandard materials when manufacturing the product or sending the product to market with broken or missing parts.
• Failure to Warn — When a product might be dangerous to a user in some way that isn’t immediately apparent, the product should include a warning or instructions for how to use the product without encountering the danger. When a product fails to include a warning or instructions, a claim may arise when someone is injured.

Who Is Liable When a Defective Product Causes Injuries?

If you were injured by a product, talk with a defective product attorney right away. If your lawyer’s investigation uncovers a defect, then the next step is to figure out who is liable. Who was responsible for the defect? It might be the manufacturer of the product, an assembler, or a retailer. Liability could fall on any business involved in the distribution chain for that product.

Why Is Someone Liable for a Defective Product?

There are several ways you can hold a manufacturer, retailer, or other company liable for your defective product injuries. One way is by claiming the business was negligent. You’d have to prove the business was careless or reckless in designing or manufacturing their product. Then you’d have to prove the defective product was the cause of your injuries.

But instead of proving the manufacturer or seller did something wrong, you might be able to hold them responsible under strict liability. To recover compensation, you’ll have to prove the other party manufactured or sold an unreasonably dangerous product. You’ll also have to prove the dangerous defect existed at the time the product left the manufacturer’s control.

Another option is to prove the business breached a warranty. A warranty is a promise, either explicitly made in writing (an express warranty) or implicitly given under the law (an implied warranty). You might argue that the manufacturer or seller failed to uphold an express or implied warranty, which led to the dangerously defective product and your injuries.

Defenses to Defective Product Claims

If you want to bring a product liability claim against a manufacturer or retailer of a product, you have to prepare for how that business might defend itself. A common defense is contributory negligence. The business might claim you didn’t use the product as intended. In other words, you were careless or reckless in how you used the product, and your misuse caused the accident, not a defect.

Illinois follows the modified comparative negligence rule with a 51% bar. If the court finds you also were negligent, you can still recover compensation as long as you were less than half at fault for the accident.

The manufacturer or retail might argue you assumed the risk of using that product. They’ll claim that you knew using the product in a certain way would probably lead to a certain outcome, and you did it anyway.

A possible defense is a lack of causation. If you’re arguing that the manufacturer or retailer was negligent in selling the defective product, then you have to prove the defective product was the direct and proximate cause of your injuries. Your injuries have to be the kind that were foreseeable based on the type of product and its defect. If your injuries weren’t reasonably foreseeable, then a court might find the other party isn’t liable.

Another causation-related defense is that the product was altered, and this change was a superseding cause of your injuries. The manufacturer or retailer might claim that you or someone else who had the product before you changed it, and they could not reasonably have foreseen someone making that modification. The change might have been significant enough to make the product dangerous and cause you harm. They’ll argue the alteration is at fault for your injuries, not their original product.

Our Chicago Product Liability Lawyers Can Answer Your Questions

Product liability lawsuits can be very complicated. Proving defects can involve information that’s very specialized and technical, such as engineering schematics or blueprints, and often means that expert witnesses are needed to testify about how the product should have been designed or manufactured in order to be safe. A Chicago product liability attorney who has extensive experience with product liability issues will be an invaluable resource if you decide to pursue a claim.

At a time when your energy is best used to focus on your recovery and your family, a personal injury attorney can handle the details of your claim from investigating your injury and gathering evidence to negotiating a fair settlement or arguing for a jury award. Our attorneys also work on a contingency fee basis, meaning you don’t owe us payment until we win your case.