Product Liability And Wrongful Death Law
When consumers purchase or use a product, they don’t expect to be injured while using it for the intended purposes and they certainly do not expect the use of a product to result in a fatality. While this may be an uncommon scenario, it does happen to thousands of people all over the country, every year. The products that have caused death can be wide-ranging and it can include everything from automobiles to baby products, medical devices, heavy machinery and sports gear. If one of your loved ones lost their life as the result of a dangerous or defective product, you might want to consider contacting a Dallas wrongful death lawyer to seek compensation.
PRODUCT LIABILITY AND WRONGFUL DEATH LAW
With that being the case, the claimant should seek a personal injury lawyer that has experience in both of these fields. This will help to ensure that you receive adequate representation in all aspects of the case.
In most wrongful death lawsuits, you would need to prove that the defendant caused the death through some level of intent or negligence. When the claim is that the death was caused by a dangerous or defective product, the level of proof changes because of the fact that the case will be governed by product liability law.
With cases that involve product liability, you don’t necessarily need to prove negligence or intent on the part of the manufacturer or distributor of the faulty product. If you can demonstrate negligence, it is all the better, but the case only needs to show that the product, through design or manufacture, contained some level of defect that made the product unreasonably dangerous.
However, demonstrating that the product contained some form of dangerous defect will not be enough. Once you have that fact established, you will also need to show that the product in question caused or in some way contributed to the death of the individual. As an example, consider a defective braking system in an automobile. If a defect in the braking system led to an accident that resulted in a fatality, the manufacturer could be held liable for the wrongful death.
Building a wrongful death case that is based on product liability can be somewhat difficult. The attorney will likely need to investigate the product and whether the manufacturer or distributor had knowledge of the defect. Much of the case may also rely on expert testimony, to help identify the defect and the fact that it caused the death of the person in question. Along with that, the wrongful death attorney will also need to demonstrate and value the damages that are connected to the incident. This can make for a complex case that has a lot of working parts.
The firm handles cases involving catastrophic personal injuries and deaths. Our work spans three decades of handling airplane and helicopter crashes, truck and car accidents, oilfield and construction accidents, and other devastating accidents. We try lawsuits throughout the country in both federal and state courts and have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for our clients. To date, we have handled or tried cases in 47 states, read more about our attorneys and firm.