Product Liability Lawyers in Reading, MA

Holding Manufacturers Accountable Throughout Massachusetts

The products you purchase and use every day should not hurt you. Unfortunately, designers and manufacturers sometimes make mistakes or cut corners, and innocent consumers pay the price. This is why product liability law exists.

Product liability attorneys like those at the Law Offices of Stephen M. Hughes, P.C. hold negligent manufacturers, consumers, and even salespeople accountable for injuries caused by defective products. If you have been hurt by a faulty chair, a dangerous medication, or even a broken auto part, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Types of Defective Product Cases

Products liability is the legal liability manufacturers and other parties accept when defective products cause harm. Product liability law is the legal process that determines this liability.

In general, product liability cases branch off into 3 subsections or types of cases. These types of defective product cases include:

1. Design defects
2. Manufacturing defects
3. Marketing defects

Design Defects

Design defects occur when the product is first being imagined. Before the product is even manufactured, some aspect of the design is inherently unsafe. All products are usually affected. For example, consider a knife designed without a protective handle.

Manufacturing Defects

Manufacturing defects happen while the product is being built or assembled. Sometimes, manufacturers use defective materials to save money and other times, they simply make errors during the production. In many cases, manufacturing defects affect a single product or a batch of products.

A good example of a manufacturing defect is a knife with a handle that slips off – or an oven mitt made of flammable material.

Marketing Defects

Some products are dangerous, but only if you don’t use them as instructed. Marketing defects occur when a company fails to warn you about a hazard or instruct you on the proper use of its product. Consider the knife once more – a marketing defect might occur if the knifemaker did not warn users that the knife is sharp and should be handled with care. Marketing defects are especially common with medications that fail to warn consumers about side effects and mislabeled food items.

Common Product Defects

As scary as it seems, any kind of product can have any of the defects we explored above. Some of the most common product defects we see at our firm include:

• Defective auto parts (brakes, air bags, etc.)
• Tainted food or drugs
• Unsafe appliances
• Dangerous children’s toys
• Undisclosed side effects
• Defective medical devices
• Labeling errors
• Carcinogenic (cancer-causing) substances
• Defective machinery or equipment
• And more

All too often, companies care more about turning a profit than they do about consumers. If a company’s carelessness or cost-cutting causes you harm, our Reading product liability attorneys are here for you.

Determining Liability

Anyone involved in the defective product’s chain of distribution can face liability. These parties often include:

• The product’s manufacturer
• A manufacturer of component parts
• Assembly or installation workers
• Wholesalers
• The retail store that sold the product

When liable parties realize their mistake, they sometimes try to correct it with an announcement or a quick recall. This is because Massachusetts is a “strict liability” state for product liability claims, and the at-fault parties want to limit their liability as quickly as possible.

Call us at (781) 350-9342 to tell us what happened and begin your free consultation today.