Product Liability Lawyer in Bonney Lake
What is Product Liability?
Product liability refers to the responsibility that product manufacturers and sellers have for the safety of their products. If a saleable item or component causes damage or personal injury, the manufacturers and/or sellers of the product may be accountable for a defective product. In general, product liability law addresses defects in product design, manufacturing, and warnings.
Washington Product Liability Act
Each state has its own product liability laws which work to protect consumers from defective products. The laws in Washington State provide a mechanism for consumers of defective or dangerous products to obtain due compensation. The Washington Product Liability Act (WPLA) puts forth many considerations used to determine if a product is defective or dangerous and includes the following types of claims:
- Duty to Warn: Product manufacturers must warn consumers of potential, reasonably- foreseeable harms, which could result in injuries to consumers. For example, if a glass cleaning solution is harmful or damaging to touch or ingestion, it should contain an adequate warning. Furthermore, if a manufacturer learns of a dangerous defect, they have a duty to adequately warn the public and recall the product.
- Manufacturing Defect: Products are sometimes sold to consumers that are materially different from other products of the same model. These products tend to be individual faulty products that find their way to consumers.
- Design Defects: When a manufacturer creates and sells a product that by its very design is unreasonably dangerous, it indicates a systemic problem with the product. A design defect, unlike a manufacturing defect, is not a flaw with a single item, but instead all products of the same design.
If a product has caused injury to you or a loved one, it may fall under one of the above types of claims. If you live in Auburn, Kent, Puyallup, or another city in Western Washington and want to learn more about product liability, contact Anderson Law, PLLC, in Bonney Lake today.
