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If you’ve been injured by an unsafe product, a Washington, DC product liability lawyer can help protect your rights. When you purchase a product, you trust that the manufacturers have made it safe, but that’s not always the case. Consumers may risk severe injuries, illness, or death if an item is defective or unreasonably dangerous. Even a tiny manufacturing process or design flaw can cause irreversible harm. If you or a loved one suffered an injury from a defective product, you could file a claim for compensation under the Washington, DC product liability law. Contact our firm to discuss your legal options.
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Product liability refers to the obligation on the part of people responsible for a product’s design, manufacture, distribution, and sale to make sure it is safe. Every consumer has a fundamental right to purchase and use safe products without fearing danger. When a company breaches its duty of care, you can file a product liability lawsuit to receive compensation for your injuries.
A defective products lawyer can help guide you through your claim and make sure that you receive full compensation for your injuries. Defective product injury victims do not know whether a labeling, design, or manufacturing defect caused their accident. However, by hiring a product liability attorney, they can investigate similar incidents involving the same product.
Additionally, it is difficult to take on the big companies and multinational corporations that produce many consumer products. A Washington DC, product liability attorney will have experience negotiating with large corporations and insurance companies to get fair compensation.
Unfortunately, sometimes defective products lead to wrongful deaths.These situations are catastrophic, and no amount of compensation can make up for the loss of a loved one. Regan Zambri Long’s lawyers understand this. We also know that holding the liable party accountable can bring closure to this tragic situation. Compensation for funeral and burial expenses is important for grieving families. If you think you loved one’s death was caused by a product defect, schedule a consultation with our attorneys today.
Depending on the circumstances of the product that caused you harm, you might be able to hold the manufacturer, distributor, and possibly other parties accountable for your medical expenses and other damages. According to Washington, DC product liability law, defective products are categorized by one of these types of defects:
In some cases, the basic design of a product may present unreasonable hazards to users. The company could be liable for the design defects and product safety if the company knew before the product was manufactured yet failed to change the design flaw. A typical example is a vehicle design defect that causes rollover accidents, which may lead to severe and preventable injuries in a car crash.
Manufacturing defects can occur when the product unintentionally changes from its original design during the manufacturing process. Manufacturing defects are not necessarily the product of poor quality control but may result from using low-quality materials or poor workmanship. For instance, poor health standards at a food packaging plant may contaminate the food, causing potentially fatal food poisoning. If that occurs, a Washington, DC food poisoning lawyer can help.
Sometimes, a product may be safe only for specific uses and pose a significant danger if the product is not used as intended. Therefore, most consumer products must contain clear instructions and safety precautions concerning the item’s correct use. An unintentional injury could occur if a company fails to include these labels. For example, if a drug interacts negatively with another medication, the pharmaceutical company must contain warnings to that effect.
Washington, DC product liability law allows you to seek compensation for your injuries and damages from the parties responsible for a defective product. However, there are different types of liability in a dangerous product claim. Depending on the circumstances, you may be able to file a product liability claim for:
Negligent Design or Manufacturing
Often, your product liability attorney must demonstrate that the liable party’s negligence resulted in a dangerous design defects that caused your injuries. Generally, any act that falls below a safety standards of reasonable care is negligent. For example, a negligent company may disregard standard product safety tests or ignore unfavorable results.
Breach of Warranty
A warranty guarantees a given product and usually applies to an item’s use. The warranty can either be implied, such as mentioned in a marketing campaign or is spelled out right on the label or a piece of paper that comes with the product. If an accident or injury happens in the circumstances covered by this kind of guarantee, you may have grounds for a claim.
Strict Liability
In product liability claims, strict liability holds a manufacturer liable regardless of their negligence. In these cases, the victim and their products liability lawyer must prove that the product is so dangerous that negligence isn’t relevant. However, these cases can be incredibly difficult to prove. An experienced product liability lawyer in Washington DC, is a necessity for a strict liability claim.
Consumer Fraud
Additional product liability laws may apply if there is evidence that a company knowingly misrepresented an item’s benefits or concealed product defects. Victims may receive further compensation in these cases, depending on state laws.
Understanding the types of liability claims is complicated, especially when you are dealing with an injury or loss. Regan Zambri Long’s DC product liability attorneys can make sense of your product liability case and make sure your claim is filed accurately.
If your claim is successful, you could receive two types of compensation — economic and non-economic. Economic damages refer to compensation for monetary losses you may have experienced. These damages include:
Non-economic damages refer to non-monetary losses. Such examples include:
In very rare incidents, you may receive punitive damages. These damages are meant to punish the behavior of those who caused the injury.
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Multiple parties can be held responsible in a product defect case. Anyone involved in creating and selling the product can be held accountable, including:
To determine who may be responsible for your injury, your Washington, DC product liability lawyer will need to investigate the claim to see what caused your injury and whether the producer or seller of the product knew the defect was present but did nothing to warn the public.
If a recalled dangerous product injures you, you can still file a product liability claim against the responsible party. Product recalls are often followed by a class action lawsuit, in which people hurt by a particular product sue the company that made it. But even if you are not part of a class action, you might still be able to file a case against the company that hurt you on your own.
Most of the time, class action lawsuits are a good idea for cases in which the individual impacts are not severe but taken as a whole, paint a picture of a product that’s extremely dangerous. For example, if many people get minor burns from a toaster oven, no single case may be worth a lot, but a class action can make a big difference.
On the other hand, individual cases are often suggested for more serious situations. If a defective product caused a lot of damage to one person, the best way for that person to get adequately compensated for their losses would be to file an individual case against the at-fault party.
If you are unsure about whether there is a recall on a product that caused an injury, it’s best to speak with our Washington, DC product liability lawyers right away to learn more.
It’s always best to have the dangerous product when filing a lawsuit. However, sometimes this is not possible. Either the item is destroyed, or you may have thrown it out after it created the injury. However, our experienced DC product liability lawyer will be able to investigate your claim thoroughly if you no longer have the item.
If the item was altered before the injury, it could affect the outcome of your case. It depends if the alteration of the product played a part in your injury. Your case might be safe if the modification didn’t contribute to the damage. It’s best to speak with our DC product liability lawyer to learn your legal options and case studies on unsafe or manufactured products, including medical devices.
Taking the following steps will help ensure you and your loved ones are safe after being injured by a defective product. They will also greatly help your product liability claim.
Immediately after the injury
Contact your doctor or go to the emergency room. Taking care of yourself is the single most important thing you can do for your family. If you are able, document the entire visit. Keep a record of the doctor’s name, the nurse staff’s names, and any other medical professional you see. Be sure to keep your medical records from the hospital stay and any documentation from your insurance company. Failing to go to the doctor can harm your case against the product manufacturer. They will argue your injuries were not that serious since. Make sure to get yourself to the doctor for your own good and the success of your claim.
Contact the defective product manufacturer
Make sure you have written documentation of what they say and obtain a copy of your complaint. While talking to the manufacturer or company, do not accept (either verbal or written) any type of settlement. Simply get lodge your complaint and document their response. Your attorney will take care of the rest.
Call a Regan Zambri Long product liability attorney
Going after a large company and its insurance company can be scary. Without legal experience, you may be afraid to say the wrong thing and back yourself into a corner. Having a legal professionals by your side will not only ease your fears, but it will greatly increase the chances of a higher settlement in your product liability suit.
Determine fault
This can be several parties, which can make a product liability case extremely complex. Your lawyer will decide if the liable party acted negligently, or if your case falls under strict liability.
Investigate your case and gather evidence
At Regan Zambri Long, we spare no expense as we fight to protect our clients’ rights. Our law firm has the financial resources to consult with medical professionals, professional witnesses, accident reconstruction, and other legal minds. We build your case at no expense to you. That’s right – your lawyer will not accept a fee until a settlement or verdict is won in your favor.
Negotiate with insurance
Your lawyer will enter negotiations with the negligent seller’s insurance company. During negotiations, your lawyer will work to recover compensatory damages including compensation for medical bills, lost income, loss of future income, pain and suffering, and punitive damages.
Your lawyer will take your lawsuit to court. Our attorneys at Regan Zambri Long, which has been in practice for over 30 years, are excellent trial lawyers. Victor Long was a trial attorney for the Office of the Attorney General in Washington, DC. Mr. Long and his colleagues are fierce fighters in the courtroom and will tirelessly defend your rights.
A statute of limitations is the window of time the victim has to file a lawsuit against the negligent party. The time restrictions in a personal injury lawsuit vary from state to state. Maryland and Washington, DC have a three-year statute of limitations in a personal injury claim. Virginia victims have only two years to file a lawsuit.
Keep in mind that two and three years may seem like a long time, if you do not file your claim within that window, you will lose the opportunity to collect compensation. At Regan Zambri Long, we firmly believe your financial future should not be on the hook because of someone else’s negligence. Call today for a free consultation so we can get the claims process started.
