Lawyer for Injuries Caused by Defective and Dangerous Products in Joliet
When products are made available for purchase in the United States, they must meet certain safety standards to ensure that they can be used correctly without causing harm to people. Typically, the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC), UL, or some other inspecting agency tests and verifies that products are safe for their intended use. Unfortunately, far too many products fail to meet these standards and enter the stream of commerce anyway, where they are sold to consumers who sustain injuries because those products are defective or when they malfunction. Those who are injured by defective or dangerous products may be unsure about their options, but by working with a knowledgeable Joliet product liability attorney, they can determine which persons and corporations are responsible, and they can take legal action to hold these parties liable for the damages they have suffered.
Michael J. Lichner has more than a decade of legal experience, and he has successfully represented clients in a wide variety of personal injury cases. He believes in fighting to achieve justice for injured victims and holding negligent people and companies responsible for the harm they have caused. Our firm has the resources to take on complicated cases against large corporations with teams of attorneys, and we have a record of success in these types of cases, with millions of dollars recovered on behalf of our clients.
Types of Product Liability
There are a wide variety of products that can cause serious injuries when they are defectively designed or malfunction. Defective auto parts can cause serious car crashes. Defective toys, appliances, or household products may cause injuries to children or other family members. Lithium-ion batteries, which power many modern devices such as cell phones, laptop computers, e-cigarettes, and vape pens, have been known to overheat, catch on fire, and explode, most often causing serious thermal and chemical burn injuries. Defective medical devices, such as surgical instruments, implants, or joint replacements, can cause serious injuries to patients. Tools and equipment that do not function properly can lead to construction site injuries. Contaminated food products can lead to food poisoning and life-threatening illnesses.
The State of Illinois follows the principle of “strict liability” in cases involving defective products. This means that a product’s manufacturer, distributor, or seller may be liable for injuries caused by the product, even if they did not act negligently or intend to cause harm. A person who has been injured by a defective product may be able to pursue a product liability claim based on:
- Design defects – Flaws in the way a product was designed can still cause injuries even if the product is used as intended. For example, the design of a medical implant may not have accounted for the stress that would be placed on it, causing it to wear prematurely or to fail entirely and injure the patient.
- Manufacturing defects – Errors during the manufacturing process may cause a product to become weak, defective, or simply dangerous. For example, if the wrong materials are used when manufacturing auto parts such as brakes, these products may fail under stress, causing a driver to lose control of his or her vehicle and to collide with other motorists.
- Inadequate warnings or instructions – If consumers are not provided with instructions about the proper use of a product or warnings about the risks they face when using a product, the manufacturer, distributor, or retailer may be liable for injuries that occur as a result. For example, if a home improvement store sells a saw that was the “floor model,” the consumer may be unaware that certain protective safety devices like a guard covering the saw’s blade were removed or not installed by the store’s personnel so that the model was more appealing or easier to display to consumers.
- Improper use or deceptive marketing – If consumers are not provided with instructions about the proper use of a product, then they can be seriously injured while using that product. For example, if a local vape shop sells a consumer a lithium-ion battery that is marked as suitable for use in vape pens, but the manufacturer specifically designed that battery to be used only in a close-cell application where the user had no access to the battery and it could not be removed, then the battery was not designed with the proper protections to prevent it from short-circuiting when it comes into contact with other common items like a belt buckle, pocket change, or keys. The result is that it abruptly catches on fire or explodes, seriously injuring the consumer. In these cases, most often distributors and retailers are at fault and can be held legally responsible for the harms they caused.
Contact Our Joliet Product Liability Attorney
If you have been injured when using a product that was defective, dangerous, or had improper or no warnings at all, Michael J. Lichner can help you take the right steps to pursue compensation from the people and companies that were responsible. We will fight to make sure you are fully compensated for your damages. We have the requisite knowledge and resources to take on large insurance companies and the sophisticated multi-billion-dollar corporations they insure and win. Contact us today by calling 815-258-7877 and scheduling a free consultation. We handle product liability cases in Joliet and throughout the Will County area, as well as in Cook County, DuPage County, and other surrounding counties in Northern Illinois.