Augusta Product Liability Lawyer
Every day, we trust manufacturers by using products that we assume to be safe. But, unfortunately, sometimes these manufacturers produce and sell consumer goods that put the user’s health at risk. Defective products can cause serious injuries and even death. The manufacturers that produce and sell these products bear responsibility for compensating people who were harmed or lost a loved one because of a defective product.
If you faced injuries from a defective product, the company that made it may bear liability. They may bear financial responsibility for related losses, such as medical expenses, loss of income, and pain and suffering. An Augusta product liability attorney with The Hawk Firm can assist you in seeking financial compensation, otherwise known as damages, from one or more parties responsible for your injuries. Contact us today to learn more. Contáctenos us for more information.
Table of Contents
- How Long Do I Have to File a Product Liability Lawsuit?
- A Defective Product Injured Me, But How Do I Know if I Have a Case?
- Common Types of Defective Products in Augusta
- ¿Qué tipos de lesiones pueden resultar de un producto defectuoso?
- ¿Necesito un abogado para presentar una reclamación de responsabilidad de productos?
Benefits of Working With a Product Liability Attorney in Augusta
When you work with an attorney at The Hawk Firm in Augusta, you gain an advocate who can fight tirelessly for your rights. Standing up to a large company on your own might seem daunting, but it can feel doable when you have a law firm.
Our product liability lawyer can:
- Listen to your story: We want to hear what happened to you in your words. The at-fault manufacturer may brush you off, but we can listen to the details of your injury and the losses you suffered.
- Investigate your case: We can investigate the product that harmed you, research whether others faced harm in similar incidents, and document your injuries and losses.
- Identify the at-fault parties: We can determine how many manufacturers contributed to the product that harmed you and identify each responsible party.
- Estimate your damages: We can collect evidence documenting your losses and use it to estimate your damages. We can collect medical bills and receipts, medical records, property repair bills, past wage and tax documents, funeral and burial bills, and more.
- File a claim for you: We can collect supporting documents and file an insurance claim with the insurance provider for each responsible party.
- Negotiate a settlement: We can negotiate a settlement with each insurance provider, ensuring you seek full compensation for your losses.
- File a lawsuit on your behalf: We can sue every responsible party and represent you in court.
Can I Afford a Product Liability Attorney in Augusta?
Clients often assume that hiring a lawyer is always expensive. If your injuries left you out of a job, you may worry more about keeping the debt collectors at bay than hiring a product liability attorney. But our team at The Hawk Firm understands your situation and the situation of so many other personal injury victims. That is why we structure our payments so anyone can get legal help.
Our team works on contingency, which means that our payment depends upon winning your case. If we don’t win your case, we don’t get paid. It’s that simple. We collect our fees from a portion of your jury verdict or insurance settlement, so you never have to pay anything upfront or out of pocket. No matter your financial situation, you can afford a lawyer with The Hawk Firm.
How Long Do I Have to File a Product Liability Lawsuit?
The state of Georgia limits how much time you have to file a lawsuit against the manufacturer or manufacturers of the defective product that injured you. According to Georgia law, you have ten years from the date you purchased or consumed the defective product. Once ten years have passed, you forfeit your right to sue even if the defective product caused your injuries.
A few exceptions to this deadline exist. For example, the ten-year deadline may not apply if the product caused a birth defect or disease or if the manufacturer showed willful, reckless, or wanton disregard for life or property by manufacturing and selling the product. Product liability cases can prove complex, but you can trust that our attorneys can thoroughly investigate your case and determine how this law applies to you.
What Is a Defective Product?
A defective consumer product can include anything from medication to car parts, but the defect makes it flawed. So, anyone who buys it may risk harm—even when they use it according to the instructions. Some consumer products contain flaws from the start because of poor design, while others become flawed during production.
Products can prove defective through:
- Defective design: A defectively designed product is inherently dangerous because of flaws in its conception. For example, a children’s toy made to have small parts that pop off, posing a choking hazard to small children, contains a defective design.
- Defective manufacturing: A product could have a safe design, but something might go wrong during its production that makes it unsafe. For example, a batch of over-the-counter painkillers could be contaminated with another substance that makes people sick.
- Missing or inadequate warning label: Some products are safe when used as directed but dangerous if used in other ways. Manufacturers must label their products with clear, unambiguous safety warnings informing consumers of potential risks. For example, household cleaners often come with a label warning people not to consume them. Painkillers often direct users not to take more than a specific amount within one 24-hour period.
Our attorneys serving Augusta can listen to your story, investigate the product that injured you, determine whether you have a valid case, and, if so, which type of product liability case you have.
A Defective Product Injured Me, But How Do I Know if I Have a Case?
Our team serving Augusta has years of experience handling cases like yours, so we have the knowledge and understanding necessary to determine whether you have a product liability case. During your free case consultation, our attorney can listen to your story, determine whether you could have a case, and advise you on the best path forward.
When we listen to the details of how the defective product injured you, we must determine if:
- The product has a defect from its design, manufacturing, or an inadequate or missing warning label.
- The product injured you, and it injured you because of its defect.
- Your injuries caused losses, such as medical bills, for which you can receive financial compensation.
- You used the product as intended when it injured you.
How Much Is My Product Liability Case Worth?
Our product liability lawyers serving Augusta can review your case’s specifics to estimate its potential worth. Every case comes with different circumstances, so we cannot predict how much you could get in your case until we thoroughly investigate your situation. Damages potentially available to you include:
Economic Damages in a Product Liability Case
Economic damages provide compensation for tangible losses you experienced because of your injuries.
These losses could include:
- Medical expenses
- Future medical expenses
- Medical equipment
- Home modifications
- Loss of income
- Property damage
Noneconomic Damages in a Product Liability Case
Noneconomic damages provide compensation for intangible losses like the physical and emotional pain you experienced because of your injuries. While no real price tag exists for your pain, our lawyer has experience determining the value of otherwise priceless losses.
You could recover noneconomic damages if you:
- Experienced severe, acute pain at the time of the injury
- Endure chronic pain because of the injury
- Require multiple treatments or surgical procedures
- Go through a long recovery
- Lose a limb or body part
- Become permanently disabled or disfigured
- Become clinically anxious or depressed
- Lose the ability to participate in hobbies or activities
- Become housebound
- Experience a reduced quality of life
Wrongful Death Damages in a Product Liability Case
Losing a loved one suddenly to a preventable cause can upend your life.
These damages are available to the immediate family of someone who died because of injuries caused by a defective product:
- Funeral and burial expenses
- Medical expenses for treatment your family member received before passing away
- Full value of your family member’s life, which includes their future earnings as well as services they would have provided such as childcare, household chores, maintenance, and more
Common Types of Defective Products in Augusta
Just about any product has the potential to harm consumers if it contains design flaws, manufacturing defects, or lacks adequate warning labels or any warning labels at all. Several governmental agencies—such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC)—regulate consumer products.
However, because of the sheer volume of consumer products in the USA, some defective products slip through the cracks.
Below, find more information about the most common types of defective products:
- Pharmaceuticals: Millions of Americans rely on drugs to maintain or improve their health. Unfortunately, some people don’t get the results they expect because they took contaminated drugs, medications that contain the wrong dosage, have incorrect labels, or lack warnings about potential side effects or negative drug interactions.
- Medical products: Many people rely on medical devices and equipment. Medical devices such as pacemakers, artificial joints, and breast implants can support a person’s internal function, or external function, such as with braces. Others use equipment like wheelchairs and scooters. People who have defective medical implants, such as pacemakers or breast implants, may experience pain or illness. People using defective devices such as motorized wheelchairs may face injuries in an accident.
- Automotive products: We rely on cars and trucks to get us where we need to go, but driving in a vehicle with defective parts can prove extremely dangerous. Defective components such as brakes, tires, steering components, headlights, and fuel systems can lead to an accident. Failing to protect the driver and passengers, defective seat belts, airbags, windshields, and windows can lead to injuries and deaths in an accident.
- Food products: Food preparation must meet strict standards to ensure food safety. In recent years, poor manufacturing practices led to outbreaks of Salmonella and E. coli, which can cause serious and even deadly food poisoning. Food can also become contaminated with pesticides and other chemicals or allergens that can cause severe reactions. Even properly prepared foods can prove dangerous if they do not have a label with the correct ingredients.
- Cosmetic products: Because consumers use cosmetic products on their bodies, they face a serious potential for a bad reaction. Defective makeup, soap, lotion, perfume, deodorant, and other cosmetics can cause rashes, allergic reactions, scarring, and other severe injuries. Contamination and improper labeling often prove common sources of defects in these products.
- Household products: Household products is such a large category that consumers could face a huge range of potential defects. Defective appliances can start a house fire. Poorly constructed furniture can collapse or tip over. Cleaning products can cause chemical burns or release dangerous fumes.
- Children’s products: Children may be too young to understand potential dangers. Defectively designed or manufactured children’s products put babies and children at risk of harm and can cause injuries and deaths. Babies have become trapped in cribs, had their fingers severed by strollers, choked on small toys and toy components, and ingested small magnets that cause internal injuries.
Who Bears Liability for Injuries Caused by a Defective Product?
Depending on the complexity of the product, more than one responsible party may bear liability in your product liability case. If one company manufactured the product but another company manufactured some of the parts, you could seek damages from both. For example, if you were hurt in a car accident because your brakes failed, you could seek damages from both the car manufacturer and the manufacturer of the brakes.
Our Augusta product liability lawyers can thoroughly investigate the supply chain that brought the defective product to you. We can identify every responsible party and help you seek damages from all of them.
¿Cuáles son los tipos de defectos en un producto?
Obviamente, hay muchas formas en que un producto puede ser defectuoso o inseguro, pero en su mayor parte, se pueden dividir en tres categorías. Los defectos de diseño son probablemente los más comunes. Se espera que los diseñadores tomen precauciones extremas y realicen muchas pruebas para asegurarse de que el producto funcione exactamente como se espera y no represente un peligro para los consumidores. Los defectos de fabricación son otro tipo común. Una vez que el producto está diseñado, debe fabricarse. Se deben realizar controles de calidad con regularidad para asegurarse de que nada se haya hecho incorrectamente. Cuando se pasan por alto estas pruebas, un producto puede enviarse con defectos inseguros. La tercera categoría está reservada para los defectos de comercialización. Básicamente, se trata de garantizar que la forma en que se instruye a los consumidores para que usen el producto sea correcta y se proporcionen advertencias. Si esto no se hace correctamente, las personas podrían lastimarse fácilmente. Si ocurre alguno de estos defectos, una demanda por responsabilidad de producto puede convertirse rápidamente en realidad.
¿Qué tipos de lesiones pueden resultar de un producto defectuoso?
Consumimos o usamos muchos productos cada año. Cuando un producto es defectuoso, no es solo dinero desperdiciado; podría poner en peligro su vida o la de un ser querido. Los productos defectuosos suelen provocar huesos rotos, quemaduras químicas, pérdida de la visión o incluso daño cerebral. Dependiendo del producto, podría ser mucho peor. Confiamos en los fabricantes para que creen nuestros productos de limpieza, ropa, juguetes y más. Cuando no toman precauciones de seguridad, los consumidores pagan el precio. Lamentablemente, la mayoría de estas empresas tienen una prioridad y no es su seguridad. Así es; es el dinero. Si saben que tienen un producto defectuoso, pero están muy avanzados en el proceso de fabricación; pueden elegir que algunas demandas valgan la pena por la cantidad de unidades que esperan vender. Esta es la razón por la que las demandas por responsabilidad del producto son tan importantes, para asegurarse de que estas empresas sean responsables.
¿Cuánto cobran los abogados de responsabilidad de productos?
Puede ser intimidante pensar en contratar a un abogado, especialmente cuando tiene ante usted una pila de facturas médicas y está perdiendo salarios por su lesión. La buena noticia es que los despachos de abogados de responsabilidad de productos defectuosos no le cobran ni un centavo por adelantado. Cuando se trata de presentar una reclamación de responsabilidad de productos defectuosos, su abogado trabajará de manera contingente y recibirá un pago de un porcentaje de lo que usted pueda obtener. Las reclamaciones de responsabilidad de productos defectuosos son complicadas, pero hay suficiente dinero en juego para que el arduo trabajo valga la pena para todas las partes.
¿Necesito un abogado para presentar una reclamación de responsabilidad de productos?
Si usted o un ser querido ha resultado gravemente lesionado por un producto defectuoso, un abogado de responsabilidad de productos defectuosos puede ayudarlo. Los abogados de lesiones personales tienen un gran conocimiento de las leyes de su estado y no se detendrán hasta que lleguen a la justicia. Cada caso es diferente, y un abogado de responsabilidad de producto probado utilizará técnicas específicas para ganar su reclamación.
If you or a loved one has been seriously injured by a product, we may be able to help you. Our personal injury attorneys bring a deep understanding of the law, medicine, and other professional fields to the table in order to achieve justice. We use our comprehensive knowledge and proven expertise to expand, create, and refine techniques based on the unique circumstances of each case.
The Hawk Firm Is Ready to Represent You in a Product Liability Case
A defective product can change your life forever, drowning you in medical bills and leaving you out of a job. If a defective product harmed you or your family member, you have the right to recover compensation from the manufacturer. Our product liability attorneys serving Augusta can help. Contáctenos The Hawk Firm today to get started on your free case consultation: (706) 724-8537.
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