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Product liability is a type of civil action that seeks to hold a manufacturer or distributor responsible for creating a dangerous or defective product that injures a consumer. Auto parts, toys, clothing, furniture, appliances, tools, and many other goods could contain harmful defects that pose health or safety risks for consumers.
If you or a loved one has suffered injuries from a defective product in Phoenix, Arizona, contact Shapiro Law Team to schedule a free consultation at our local law office. We will guide you through the steps required to recover compensation for your losses.
American manufacturing is a good thing. It creates many well-paying jobs and provides employees with the financial security and benefits they need. However, while there are many safe and good product manufacturers, there are also companies that make defective products.
Usually, for reasons of greed and profit, many companies shirk their safety and ethical responsibilities when designing faulty products. For example, a safety feature or mechanism may cost more to make, which eats into the company’s bottom line. It’s this kind of profit-over-safety mentality that leads to the sale of dangerous products.
And it’s not just design defects that consumers should worry about. In many instances, companies manufacture products that are not in conformity with the product’s specifications. In other cases, companies make products with shoddy, old, or defective materials or accessories.
Other times, product manufacturers fail to warn consumers about the danger surrounding a product.
Thousands of product liability suits make their way through the federal and state courts each year. These suits always revolve around the responsibility of these products because a company has the responsibility to design and make safe products, or to put a safety warning on the package.
Typically, there are three reasons a consumer can sue a product manufacturer:
In strict liability cases, the consumer does not need to show that the manufacturer was negligent. They must only show that the product was defective.
However, just because a product was defectively designed does not mean that the consumer automatically has a strict product liability case. Rather, the consumer still must show that:
Wholesalers and retailers can also be held strictly liable for the defective products they sell. In this case, the consumer must also show:
Based in Phoenix, Shapiro Law Team focuses exclusively on personal injury law. This includes helping those injured, killed, or hurt by a defective product. Our success is based on our hands-on approach and service to our clients, getting them the compensation they deserve.
David Shapiro also works with experts in areas of design, packaging, warnings, human factors, accident reconstructionists, industry whistleblowers, manufacturing, distribution, advertising, marketing, crashworthiness, seatbelts, materials, or other applicable areas that help build a strong case against the product manufacturer, distributor, or seller.
The insurance process for a defective product injury isn’t so simple. You cannot count on the insurance company to treat you fairly. Manufacturing corporations and their insurers often try everything to avoid or diminish their liability for a defective or dangerous product. They may use bad-faith tactics to achieve this, like denying your valid claim or intentionally offering a lowball settlement.
One of the most effective ways to force an insurance company to treat your case fairly is to hire an attorney to represent you.
A product liability lawyer in Phoenix can take over negotiations with an insurance company or another defendant on your behalf. Your lawyer can talk to your doctors, obtain proof of an injury, make a list of your damages, and seek maximum compensation from the insurance provider. You will be able to focus on your physical and emotional healing while your attorney works on your financial recovery for you.
At Shapiro Law Team, our lead attorney entered the personal injury law field out of a genuine passion for helping people. He developed his plaintiff’s injury law firm over the years to accept many different case types. Our attorneys are knowledgeable and experienced within the product liability practice area in Arizona. We work with clients on a wide range of defective product disputes.
There are a number of automotive defects that can pose grave harm to each and every one of us. We’re here to help American consumers who have been injured by various automakers and their components, like:
When these automotive defects cause an accident, the results are almost always catastrophic. For instance, if there is a vehicle fire started by a defectively designed or manufactured fuel tank, the consumer suffers massive burn injuries.
In other instances, tread belt separation at high speeds can cause the vehicle to roll over, causing its occupants to suffer a variety of severe injuries including paralysis, paraplegia, quadriplegia, brain injury, or even death.
At Shapiro Law Team, we handle the aftermath of these product defects and failures and will diligently represent the injured consumer. We will investigate the underlying product and won’t rest until we’ve found the cause of the product’s failure. The consumer deserves a loyal and fierce advocate like David Shapiro when dealing with a massive manufacturer who will bring an army of lawyers from all over the country to defend its product.
Just remember, if you were injured by a faulty product, feel free to contact David Shapiro at Shapiro Law Team as soon as possible. Our team immediately arrives at the scene to collect and preserve all available evidence including automotive components, the vehicle and any other critical pieces of evidence.
Nothing is more important than protecting our children. Babies, infants, and children require various products for everyday activities, including cribs, car seats, toys, lotions, shampoos, soaps, carriers, strollers, blankets, pillows, and clothes. Unfortunately, while these products are indispensable for our little ones, they can also pose tremendous safety and health risks. We’ve gathered a few examples:
Drop-side cribs are dangerous and have been linked to at least 32 deaths since 2000. This doesn’t include countless other incidents. Fortunately, they were banned by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) CPSC in 2011. If you have any legal questions or concerns regarding cribs, do not hesitate to contact the experienced, reputable, and proven Phoenix personal injury attorney at Shapiro Law Team for more information.
Baby bumpers pose major risks of suffocation and may be linked to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). According to the Journal of Pediatrics, between 1985 and 2005, there were 27 children from one month to two years who died from suffocation or strangulation in connection with bumpers. The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that parents do not use crib bumpers. If you have any legal questions or concerns regarding baby bumpers, do not hesitate to contact Shapiro Law Team.
Sleep positioners and anti-reflux wedges also pose major health risks, including death, to babies. These products can suffocate babies and have been linked to 13 baby deaths. Even though the CPSC has recommended a ban on anti-reflux wedges, they’re still available on the marketplace. If you have any legal questions or concerns regarding these products, please reach out to our team.
In the United States, all 50 states require children up to three years of age to ride in car seats in private vehicles. In Arizona, children younger than eight years old or less than four feet nine inches tall are required to sit in a child safety seat, including a booster seat, when riding in a motor vehicle. This means that once a child is four feet nine inches or taller, they do not need to ride in a booster seat.
A child should not be placed in a forward-facing car seat until he or she is at least two years of age. If you have any legal questions or concerns regarding Arizona’s child car seat laws or guidelines, contact Shapiro Law Team.
Parents must purchase a safe car seat for their children. In Arizona, motor vehicle collisions are the number one cause of preventable deaths of children and the number two cause of unintentional deaths of babies younger than one year. Choosing the right safety car seat dramatically reduces a child’s risk of injury or death. Learn now how to install and use the child’s car seat correctly since. According to surveys and medical studies, roughly four out of five parents do not install car seats properly.
Common defects associated with car seats include faulty latches or buckles, defective adjusters, flammable materials (which can pose unnecessary burn risks to the child), and weak materials, or frames, which can lead to car seat failure.
If a manufacturer becomes aware that their products are defective and can cause harm to infant consumers, they should issue a recall of the product to alert all consumers. Still, that does not prevent injured consumers from taking legal action against these manufacturers. At Shapiro Law Team, we help injured babies, infants, children, and their families hold the makers of these defective children’s products responsible for the harm they cause.
Common risks, injuries, and consequences of defective children’s products include but are not limited to:
If you or your child was injured by a faulty product, please contact David Shapiro at Shapiro Law Team. We will immediately collect, and preserve all available evidence including the faulty product itself and any other critical pieces of evidence.
Some medical products designed to help you end up doing the opposite. With the advent of technology and science, medical manufacturers have created devices and drugs that help us live longer and healthier. Pacemakers, stents, implants (like hips and shoulders), contraceptive devices, and defibrillators are all examples of these incredible achievements. But some manufacturers have cut corners, causing harm to patients rather than providing help.
Just like automotive product liability cases, defective medical devices arise from defectively manufactured medical devices, medical devices that were defectively designed, and defectively marketed medical devices.
Defectively manufactured medical devices can arise when an error occurs at the manufacturing facility, the medical device is damaged during shipment, or the medical device is improperly maintained or kept at the hospital or doctor’s office.
Defectively designed medical devices can arise when the medical device has an unreasonably dangerous design that causes an injury to the patient. Typically, the device’s unreasonably dangerous nature is proven by showing that the manufacturer knew that there was a feasible, safer alternative design that was available at the time the product was designed and manufactured. In addition, a product’s unreasonably dangerous design is also shown by showing that the safer alternative design would not have interfered with the product’s utility.
Defectively marketed medical device cases stem from the product manufacturer’s, doctor’s, or hospital’s failure to warn, instruct, or advise the patient on how to safely use the medical device. Sometimes, product manufacturers or sellers of medical devices do not provide adequate instructions or warnings to consumers about the safe use of the device. If the lack of warning causes injury to the patient, he or she may have a marketing defect claim against the medical device manufacturer, product testing laboratory, sales representative, doctor, or hospital.
Defective consumer goods can cause many serious and life-changing personal injuries. These include broken bones, burn injuries, puncture wounds, brain injuries, back and spine injuries, nerve damage, child injuries, and internal organ injuries. These incidents can also be emotionally or psychologically traumatic, causing damage such as post-traumatic stress disorder or depression.
At Shapiro Law Team, we fight for maximum compensation for these damages as well as others. We use proven techniques to demand compensation for all your related losses. Damages include:
The amount of money you or your family could receive for a product liability lawsuit in Arizona depends on the factors specific to your case. If you have severe or catastrophic injuries, an insurance company or judge will likely order a higher amount of financial compensation. Our attorneys can review your case for free to give you an accurate estimate of how much we believe it could be worth. If we accept you as a client, we help you fight for optimal results.
The responsible entities in a product liability case may include every person or entity involved in the chain of distribution of the product including:
Our lawyers can help you identify the appropriate defendant for your product liability claim.
Call our Phoenix office at (480) 630-7508, or use our contact page to schedule a free initial consultation with a trusted attorney. Victims must file within two years of the date of the injury. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us at Shapiro Law Team.