Tampa Defective Products Lawyer
When you buy a product for yourself or a loved one, you expect it to work the way that the manufacturer claims that it will. It almost always comes as a surprise when a product turns out to be defective and hurts the person using it, and sometimes these injuries can be severe. At our office, the Tampa defective products lawyers of Barbas, Nuñez, Sanders, Butler & Hovsepian have a history of holding the manufacturers responsible for their defective products and getting our clients the compensation that they deserve for their injuries.
Tampa Defective Products
The Florida State Code defines a product liability lawsuit in Section 768.81 as “a civil action based upon a theory of strict liability, negligence, breach of warranty, nuisance, or similar theories for damages caused by the manufacture, construction, design, formulation, installation, preparation, or assembly of a product.”
In product liability cases, Florida is considered a “contributory fault” state. This means that the court looks at the accident and awards damages according to the percentage that the person was not at fault. For example, if the court determines that the damages for a product liability case are $100,000 and that the person injured was 25 percent at fault, then they would receive 75 percent of the damages, or $75,000. However, this does not apply if the lawsuit is based on strict liability, where the company would be held completely liable for the injuries caused by their defective product.
Types of Defective Products
Defective products are typically broken down into three distinct groups: design defects, manufacturing defects, and marketing defects. Each type of defect is different, and the elements to prove that the product is defective also differ. Determining which type of defective product caused the accident also indicates who may be liable for the resulting injuries.
Design defects:
This type of claim arises when there is an inherent flaw in the overall design of the product. Instead of one product being put together incorrectly in a factory, every single product in the line is defective simply from the way that it was designed. A design defect can occur even if the product was made perfectly to the specifications of the designer. In this type of case, you must prove that the defect in the design was what led to or contributed to the injuries.
Manufacturing defects:
This type of claim arises when the product was manufactured defectively. It was either put together incorrectly in the factory or something happened during the manufacturing process that caused the product to be defective. For this type of product liability claim, you must show that the defectively manufactured product caused or contributed to your injuries.
Marketing defects:
This type of defective product claim arises when there is a failure to place adequate warnings or instructions with a product. In this type of case, the failure to warn must be associated with a common use of the product or related to something that is not obvious to the typical consumer.
Call a Tampa Defective Product Lawyer Now
You should not have to be responsible for the negligence of a manufacturer when their product is defective. If you or someone that you know has been injured by a defective product in the Tampa area, let the experienced Tampa defective product lawyers at Barbas, Nuñez, Sanders, Butler & Hovsepian help. Call or contact the office today for a free and confidential consultation of your claims.
