San Antonio Defective Product Attorney

Have You Been Injured By a Defective or Faulty Product? Discuss Your Injury Case With A San Antonio Defective Product Attorney

Have you suffered harm due to a faulty product or badly made item? Did you know that you can bring a suit against a manufacturer for product liability, targeting the manufacturer of that product?

If you have been injured in such a case, contact San Antonio defective product attorney Michael Grossman so that you may be able to claim full compensation for your resulting injury. By bringing in our proven legal assistance, you will be able to navigate through the often difficult maze of laws and precedents regarding product liability and personal injury cases in Texas. Allow our 20 years of experience to work for your cause. Now, let us explain the law on defective products when you bring a personal injury and defective product case against a liable defendant.

Federal Safety Standards for Products

Federal law says that all manufacturers must take steps to make sure their products are safe for people and for general use. Companies that are spreading defective or faulty products which cause people harm can be held liable for damages caused by their wares. The plaintiff – the injured party – can then seek compensation from this defendant company. Depending on the circumstances of a particular injury, product liability claims may be based on negligence or strict liability.

Defective or Faulty Products and Negligence

Incidents of neglect occur when the manufacturer of the product does not meet federal safety product standards and rolls out a faulty or defective product on the market. If the manufacturer has not been able to do something about the safety problems that were foreseeable and imaginable about their product before releasing it to the public and it causes injury, the company may be responsible for those injuries. As a result, the injured party may seek compensation from the offending company.

Negligence can be held if the manufacturer has used low quality materials or dangerous techniques to create the product that results in bodily injury. Another example of negligence can be established if the user of a product is not sufficiently aware of the risks and side effects in using the product. For example, if you were to use a particular drug and experienced acute headaches, but this symptom was not observed on the vial of the drug as a possible side effect, you may be able to hold the manufacturer responsible for your pain.

Strict Liability Regarding Defective Products

Strict liability actions do not actually have to prove that the manufacturer was negligent. The manufacturer may have reached all federal safety standards, used quality materials and processes to manufacture your product, and has enough information offered to users about the risks that may come with their products. However, the product itself can be dangerous. Simply put, they have done everything right in making and marketing it, but the product is not safe for general public use. An obvious example of strict liability for defective products would be a trampoline without any padding on the frame.

What Damages Are Available for a Defective Product Claim?

The expected value of a Texas personal injury lawsuit is ultimately based on the financial losses you’ve experienced as a result of your injury. The legal term for these economic losses is damages. Texas recognizes two distinct injury damages in a case like this: general damages and special damages.

General damages are those intangible damages that have no specific value associated with them. General damages are more subjective than special damages. They are different from one case to another in the way they are calculated. General damages can include:

• Pain and suffering
• Disfigurement
• Disfigurement
• Loss of Consortium
• Mental stress and suffering
• Physical disabilities

As an example of the subjectivity of general damages, imagine that an accident occurred due to a catastrophic failure of a defective product like a pressure cooker. In this accident, there were two victims, both badly burned by the hot liquid and shrapnel. The first injured party was knocked into long term unconsciousness and, despite serious burns over much of his body, he doesn’t awaken until he’s mostly healed. The second person suffered similar burns but never lost consciousness and went through the healing, dealing with the incredible pain of burn therapy. Although these two victims could find themselves incurring similar medical expenses, the second victim experienced a much higher level of pain and suffering. Consequently, they deserve different amounts in damages. General damages are also subjective in regards to an injury’s effect on a person’s life. For example, a professional model who is scarred by a defective product could make a much larger claim for loss of future earning potential than could a professional construction worker who suffers the same type of injury. The injury more adversely affects the model’s ability to work than it does the construction worker’s.

Special damages, also referred to as economic damages, are clearly measurable in terms of amounts of money. They often have bills or invoices attached to them. Examples of special damages are:

• Lost wages
• Medical expenses, past and future
• Court costs
• Loss of earning capacity
• Damage to property

For an example of special damages, imagine a plaintiff who worked as a teacher making $60,000, but lost her ability to work after an accident caused by a defective eye drop leaves her blind. Naturally, she can no longer continue her work as a teacher, and as such, loses her income during the remaining 20 years of her career. Therefore, she could seek $1,200,000 in damages for lost wages, plus her teaching pension, in addition to all the other relevant damages. An experienced work injury attorney would also know to take into account such issues as likely future raises or bonuses. One of the characteristics of a well-trained and experienced personal injury lawyer, wrongful death lawyer, or product liability lawyer is the ability to correctly identify and account for all damages and compensation to which you are entitled to. San Antonio defective product attorney Michael Grossman can carefully evaluate each case to maximize the value of possible compensation.

Evidence Collection to Make a Case

You need evidence if you want to show the manufacturer made a defective product. We need to examine all the evidence to ensure that the perpetrators can be properly identified and the cause of your injury can be shown to the jury. We will work hard to find the evidence needed to make the case, to make the connection between your injury, and to prove the damages you suffered deserve the compensation we ask for. It is essential to act quickly to investigate your complaint. Robust, ample evidence usually means that the case is stronger and likely stands a better chance in court of a favorable outcome for a plaintiff. When one of our attorneys is on your side, we will investigate the accident as thoroughly as possible in order to ensure that all liable parties are held properly accountable.

Proving Your Case

Although we know that the defective manufacture of a product caused your injury, we need to prove it in court. Four primary elements must be proven: duty, breach of duty, causation, and damage.

Manufacturers should work toward ensuring that their products are safe for public and general use. It’s the manufacturer’s responsibility to use all data, research and bodies of knowledge to make a product safe. When their products are not safe, they have not kept their duty of care. This is their duty to follow a standard of conduct that prevents exposure to potential risks for people.

The next part is a violation of a duty of care, i.e. when a manufacturer does not meet the level of reasonable measures for the safety of their product and an injury occurs due to the product’s use. The breach of duty, for example, is when a manufacturer falls short of reaching that reasonable standard.

Now you must prove the defective product caused the damages incurred. Causation is required to prove that the defendant's negligence was the cause of the injury. If you have no evidence that the defendant caused the injury in your case, you will not win in court.

Finally, you must prove damages. This requires a careful and deliberate effort to calculate the total amount of your injury and to determine a fair and just amount. We discussed earlier all the damages this can include. The judge and jury need convincing evidence and arguments supporting your damages request. Placing a specific number on the compensation you should receive is usually not an easy task for the layman. Proving up damages in a Texas personal injury case can even be challenging for lesser-experienced personal injury attorneys. If you do not have evidence and a compelling case for your damages, you will very likely not receive a favorable outcome. Our San Antonio defective product attorneys can help you create a strong and robust case that shows why you’re entitled to specific compensation based on the total amount of damages you’ve incurred due to an injury caused by a defective product.

Have You Been Injured By a Faulty or Defective Product in San Antonio, TX?

If you have been injured due to a defective product, or if you have questions about a faulty product and how it could be involved in your injury, call San Antonio defective product attorney Michael Grossman and Grossman Law Offices toll free at 1-855-393–0000. We can offer you free advice regarding the details of your case. Remember to contact us as soon as possible following an injury caused by a product defect so we can begin to preserve evidence that will likely be useful for compensation claims. If you wait too long, testimony, evidence and other important details may be lost in time.

Pursuit of these lawsuits requires a very specific and technical knowledge, particularly with regard to product liability law. Our 20 years of experience involving cases of product liability and personal injury lawsuits can work for you to ensure that you can seek reasonable compensation. Contact San Antonio defective product attorney Michael Grossman today so that you may be able to know your legal options to claim compensation for injuries caused by a defective product.