Who can I sue in a Products Liability Case?

In most products liability cases, you can put a number of people on the hook for your injuries. In fact, all entities or individuals on the chain of distribution can be liable in a potential action. This chain includes all actors from the very beginning of production to when the item reaches the customer’s hands. Here is a simple list to get you thinking about who could be responsible for your injuries:

• Manufacturer
• Distributor
• Retailer
• Sales Agents

Why is identifying all liable actors important in products liability cases? Well, different defendants can be at fault for different reasons. However, because of joint and several liability laws, they all could be responsible for your entire award. This means that if you only sued one of them then that person or company would still have to pay the entire amount even if they were only partially responsible for your injuries. Of course, expanding your list of potential defendants increases the likelihood that you will actually get paid. Therefore, it is very important to consider the range of parties that could have been on the chain of distribution.

Products liability cases are subject to strict liability. What does this mean? This means that any maker or seller of products is liable to you if you are harmed by them. However, there are a few checks. First, you must have used the item in a reasonable manner. Second, the product must be defective. Third, the defect must be the cause of your injuries. Fourth, the maker or seller must have directly sold you the defective product. Fifth, the defendant must be a business that sold you the item in the ordinary course of business.

Generally, plaintiffs pursue actions in negligence for their personal injury claims. Negligence weighs the reasonableness of both parties to determine who was more responsible for the plaintiff’s damages. However, with consumer products, this is an inapplicable test for a number of reasons. The main reason why negligence is inappropriate for product incidents is that companies generally have an extraordinary information advantage compared to consumers. It is much harder for a consumer to figure out whether a product is defective than it is for the manufacturer, distributor, or retailer. Similarly, we cannot expect injured consumers to prove what would have made the product safer or prevented their injuries. Therefore, to makeup for this disadvantage, the law established a system of strict liability where defendants are liable in these actions simply if their defective products injured consumers who were reasonably using them