New York Product Liability Lawyer
Corporations behind dangerous and defective products can be held legally responsible for consumer injuries and deaths. A New York product liability lawyer from The Lanier Law Firm can help you seek damages for medical bills, lost wages, suffering, and other losses if you’ve been injured because of an unreasonably unsafe product.
Legally Reviewed By: Evan JanushWhat are the three main types of product defects?
Product Liability Cases We Handle
Product Liability and Wrongful Death in New York
What’s the statute of limitations for product liability cases in New York?
How much compensation can I get if I file a product liability lawsuit?
Trusted New York Product Liability Lawyers Ready to Fight for You
Did a defective product recently cause you to become injured or ill? You may have the right to recover compensation for the high costs of medical treatment, your loss of income, and the suffering you’ve endured. The experienced New York product liability lawyers at The Lanier Law Firm can help you stand up to the manufacturer and fight to get the money you deserve.
Since 1990, The Lanier Law Firm has been a leading advocate for injured consumers in New York and across the nation. Standing up to powerful corporations and insurers, our award-winning New York trial attorneys have won over $20 billion in life-changing financial awards on behalf of deserving clients like you.
Don’t settle for less than you deserve. Call our New York City law office, and let us make things right. We offer a free consultation, so reach out to our caring legal team today.
What is product liability?
Product liability refers to consumer protection laws that give you the right to file a lawsuit if you are injured because of a defective or unreasonably dangerous product.
Since there’s no way to independently inspect or test every product before it’s sold in the United States, that responsibility falls to the manufacturer. Under New York’s product liability laws, a company that sells, manufactures, or designs a product can be strictly liable if that product is defective.
Strict liability means that you don’t have to prove that a company was negligent when it designed, manufactured, or sold a product.
Instead, liability—legal responsibility for your injuries—automatically attaches if you can establish:
- The product was defective.
- The defect caused you to sustain an injury or become sick.
The specific elements that you’ll have to prove to win your product liability case will depend on the type of defect that affected your product.
What are the three main types of product defects?
There are three primary types of product defects: design, manufacturing, and marketing.
Design Defect
When a product suffers from a design defect, it means that it is inherently unsafe because of its blueprint or design. No matter how carefully the product is put together or how extensively it’s tested, it will continue to pose a threat to consumers because of an aspect of its design.
A product might suffer from a design defect because it calls for a dangerous ingredient or component, and a reasonable alternative design could have been adopted.
For example, recent research suggests that cow’s milk formula increases the risk of NEC (necrotizing enterocolitis) in infants. Lawsuits allege that many infant formulas suffer from a design defect because they contain cow’s milk when there is a reasonably safe swap for the unsafe ingredient.
Manufacturing Defect
A manufacturing defect exists when a problem with a product arises when it is assembled, built, or constructed. The design is safe, and the product would have been safe if manufactured properly.
Manufacturing defects can affect an entire assembly line or batch of products, or just a single item in development.
For example, a manufacturing defect might exist if electrical wiring is installed improperly or if the wrong parts (or inferior parts) are used during construction.
Marketing Defect (Failure to Warn)
Almost all products carry potential risks. Not all of these risks are apparent or clear to consumers. Under New York state law, companies assume the duty to warn consumers about risks, hazards, or side effects associated with the normal use and operation of their products that might not be obvious.
Suppose a company knows about a risk — or should know about a risk through appropriate safety testing — and fails to pass that information on to consumers. In that case, it can be financially responsible for the resulting trauma.
For example, safety studies have shown that Tylenol can increase the risk of autism in young children. However, McNeil Consumer Healthcare and Johnson & Johnson never disclosed this potential risk to parents or parents-to-be, which deprived them of the opportunity to make an informed decision about whether to use the drug. Now Johnson & Johnson and other companies that have sold generic acetaminophen are facing product liability lawsuits for their failure to warn (marketing defect).
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How can a New York City personal injury lawyer help if I’ve been hurt because of a defective product?
How can you prove that the product was defective? How can you establish that there was an alternative and reasonable design? What evidence will you need to back up your case? What happens if the company tries to say that you weren’t using the product as intended or simply refuses to take your case seriously?
You don’t have to tackle these (and other) important issues on your own. Spend this time focusing on your physical health and emotional well-being, and let our New York personal injury lawyers take on your product liability claim.
We’re nationally acclaimed litigators with a demonstrated ability to win tough product liability cases like yours.
Our top-rated legal team will:
- Investigate the circumstances surrounding your injury or illness
- Consult with industry specialists and injury experts
- Determine if the product in question has been recalled or caused other similar
injuries in other consumers - Gather evidence that can be used to build and strengthen a claim for damages
- Negotiate with the manufacturer, its insurance company, and other parties on
your behalf
If the manufacturer refuses to admit fault or accept responsibility for the harm you’ve suffered, our New York City personal injury attorneys won’t hesitate to bring your case to trial. We are ready to invest whatever time, resources, and manpower will be needed to get you the results you deserve.
Call our law office in New York City to schedule a free consultation today.
Product Liability Cases We Handle
Our New York product liability attorneys handle product liability cases involving:
Heavy machinery
Industrial equipment defects
Power tools
Hand tools
Pesticides and chemicals, including Roundup weed killer
Personal care products, including talc powder
Prescription medication, including birth control, Xarelto, and PaxilOver-the-counter medications, including Tylenol, Zicam, and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs)
Medical devices
Medical equipment
ToysClothing
Infant formula
Infant and child car seats
equipment defects
chemicals, including
Roundup weed killer
Xarelto, and Paxil
and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs)
car seats
If you’ve experienced an injury or been diagnosed with a serious medical condition because a product you used was defective or the manufacturer failed to warn about known risks, contact The Lanier Law Firm. We can listen to your side of the story and help you understand what legal options might be available to you.
Product Liability and Wrongful
Death in New York
Defective products can cause severe and catastrophic injuries. In some situations, these injuries can be fatal. When you lose a family member because a product is defective, the manufacturer can be held legally accountable.
In a wrongful death action, surviving family members step into the victim’s shoes and pursue compensation from the company that is responsible for designing, manufacturing, or selling the dangerous product.
Under New York state law, families can recover economic damages associated with their loved one’s death, which can include money for:
- Medical bills
- Funeral and burial expenses
- Loss of inheritance
- Lost wages
If your family member survived their fatal injuries for any period of time, then additional compensation may also be available through a survival action. Damages for pain and suffering, as well as compensation lost during their fight to survive, can also be awarded.
What’s the statute of limitations for product liability cases in New York?
In New York, the statute of limitations for product liability lawsuits is just three years. So, you’ll generally have three years from the date you were injured to pursue compensation.
The statute of limitations can be tolled in situations where there’s a reasonable delay in the discovery of an injury. This is common in cases involving dangerous drugs or medical devices, where an injury might not be evident right away.
Once the deadline comes and goes, you give up the right to demand financial accountability from the product manufacturer. To preserve your legal rights, contact our experienced product liability attorneys in New York immediately upon discovering an injury.
How much compensation can I get if I
file a product liability lawsuit?
Both economic and non-economic damages can be awarded to victims in a product liability lawsuit in New York.
Economic damages are awarded to offset the financial costs of an injury, while non-economic damages help victims cope with the trauma and suffering they may endure.
Commonly awarded compensatory damages include:
- Present and future medical bills
- Reduced earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Disfigurement
- Rehabilitation
- Loss of income and wages
- Lost job opportunities
- Property damage
- Nursing assistance
- Loss of consortium
- Reduced quality of life
Punitive damages can also be awarded in product liability cases where it’s clear that a company intentionally concealed information related to potential risks or hazards.
There’s no standard value for product liability cases in New York. Instead, factors specific to your case will determine how much money you might be able to receive when you win your case.
Important considerations include:
- Your age
- Your earning capacity before and after you become injured
- Shared responsibility for the trauma
- The type of injury you’ve suffered
- Whether your injury is catastrophic
- How the trauma of your accident has affected your day-to-day life
Your choice of product liability lawyer in New York can also affect your financial recovery. When you choose a law firm like The Lanier Law Firm, you’ll put decades of experience and a team that’s won billions of dollars in your corner. This shows the manufacturer that you’re serious about winning your case and will reject lowball offers and try your case before a jury, if necessary.
Trusted New York Product Liability Lawyers Ready to Fight for You
If you have suffered debilitating or catastrophic injuries while using a defective product, The Lanier Law Firm will help you stand up and fight to make things right.
Our New York product liability lawyers understand how important a financial recovery can be after you’ve been injured by a dangerous product, and we’ll work hard to ensure that the company takes full responsibility for the harm it has caused.
We offer a free case evaluation and work on contingency, so there’s no cost for us to represent you. We get paid only if we win your case. Contact our law office in New York City to learn more.
By submitting this form, you agree to our terms & conditions. Please read the full disclaimer
