Bay Area San Francisco, CA — Each year, approximately 13.7 million people are injured badly enough to be treated in an emergency room and nearly 4,500 die due to issues with consumer products.* According to reports from the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission hundreds of products are recalled annually. Unfortunately, many of these injuries are sustained from defective or misused children’s toys and goods. The vast array of recalled products also includes vehicle parts, appliances, safety equipment, and other commonly used items. Billions of dollars in costs are associated with defective products and passed on to the general public on an annual basis. Mary Alexander & Associates provides compassionate service in representing victims of injuries sustained from defective products.

California personal injury laws help protect victims of injuries caused by defective products, or those with incomplete instructions or guidelines. When products fail due to defects that prevent safe use, even when instructions are followed properly, scarring, paralysis, blindness, and other very serious injuries can occur. In these and other related cases, it is important to have an attorney who fully understands your rights represent you in your personal injury claim. Our San Francisco Bay Area firm advocates for victims rights in San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland, California.

Defective products are defined as those that do not meet safety standards and have the tendency to cause physical harm beyond that which the general public could foresee, with ordinary knowledge of the product. Each case is unique, so it is up to the courts make the final determinations about products being deemed defective. Factors used to make such determinations include:
•    How a product is packaged
•    How a product is marketed
•    Instructions for use provided with product
•    Warnings and reasonable expectations about the product’s use
•    Would the injury have occurred if not for the use of the defective product
•    Did the manufacturer use due care to the consumer in the manufacture of the product.

Product liability claims can include several categories such as strict liability, negligence, or breach of warranty. Establishing strict liability involves proving that a product is defective and as a result unreasonably dangerous, causing one’s injuries. Negligence is much more difficult to prove than strict liability.  It is often impossible for a consumer to know where a manufacturer failed to meet its obligation to use due care in the process of creating the product.
San Francisco attorneys Mary Alexander & Associates have years of professional experience helping clients with difficult personal injury cases, getting them just compensation for physical, emotional, and other injuries caused by defective products. Contact us today for a review of your case.

*According to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission

This entry was posted on Monday, April 14th, 2008 at 11:55 pm and is filed under Defective Products. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.