You may have heard the phrase caveat emptor, meaning "let the buyer beware." Over a hundred years ago, this doctrine used to be the law of the land regarding defective products. For instance, if you purchased a kerosene lantern that blew up in your face because it was incorrectly designed, you were out of luck - once you bought it, it was your problem, and no one else could be blamed.
Fortunately, this doctrine was replaced with an area of law called product liability, making it possible for thousands of people to collect damages for injuries caused by defective or dangerous products. Each U.S. state applies its own rules, although many of their laws are quite similar, modeled on the Uniform Commercial Code. In Texas, legal action must be taken within two years of the date the injury was sustained.
In a products liability case, legal action may be taken against the manufacturer or seller of a product that causes personal or property damage if that product is shown to be defective. A manufacturer may also be held liable if it falsely represents that the product can be used in a particular way when, in fact, it cannot. For example, if a car manufacturer states that its new XYZ car is great for off-roading but it rolls over just driving through a shallow ditch, the manufacturer misrepresented the XYZ car's ability for that purpose, possibly breaching an implied warranty for a particular purpose.
The manufacturer is not the only party that may be held liable for a dangerous product. Any party in the distribution chain may be responsible, from the creator of each small part that makes up the product (e.g. the designer of the bolts that hold the car frame together), to the distributor (e.g. the company that sold you the car), and all the parties in between (e.g. the wholesaler who sold the car to the distributor).
There are numerous, complicated aspects to product liability law including:
- Types of defects
- Legal theories to prove liability
- Defenses to product liability claims
- Responsible parties
- Unavoidably? unsafe products
If you have been injured or your property has been damaged, and you suspect the product used is defective, seek the advice of an attorney knowledgeable in the intricacies of product liability law.
