The Quirk Law Group represents the interests of people that were injured by dangerous and defective products. Our San Diego product liability attorneys have experience with these claims and we know how to get results.
Strict Liability for defective products
With most personal injury lawsuits, demonstrating that the defendant was negligent in their actions is a fundamental part of establishing the claim. With a claim for a defective product, you are working under a rule known as strict liability. This means that you do not need to prove that the defendant was negligent or that they did not take the reasonable precautions to protect the safety of the plaintiff. Essentially, all that needs to be demonstrated is that the product was defective, that the plaintiff suffered an injury and that it was the defective product that caused the injury.
Now, this does not mean that demonstrating negligence has no role in a product liability claim. If you can show that the defendant was negligent in addition to the necessary facts of the case, it will further strengthen the claim and possibly give cause for the court to award punitive damages.
Possible defenses to strict liability
The idea of strict liability may lead some people to believe that a product liability claim is easier to win than a negligence claim, but this could be a false assumption. There are still defenses that can be mounted against a claim that involves strict liability and the attorneys for most of these companies make their careers out of finding ways to use them.
The attorney for the defense may try to demonstrate that some level of carelessness on the part of the claimant caused or contributed to the injury. Aside from that, they might try to defend by saying that the plaintiff should have expected the potential for the injuries to occur when they purchased or used the product. They may also claim that an interaction by a third party played some causal role in the circumstances that led to the injury.
Defective product lawsuits in San Diego
To have a good chance at getting a fair settlement for one of these claims, it takes the skills of a personal injury that has a background in product liability litigation. The rule of strict liability may eliminate the need to demonstrate negligence, but your claim will have to survive the scrutiny of the defense and their attempts to reduce their own level of liability. Contact a San Diego product liability attorney to make sure that you have adequate representation for what can be a very tough legal fight.