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Product Liability Lawyer in Augusta GA

Home Product Liability Lawyer in Augusta GA

Our attorneys at The Eichholz Law Firm have a solid understanding of the laws that protect consumers who have been harmed by defective products. Whenever a consumer suffers an injury related to a defective product, various parties can be held responsible. They are liable for the significant risk posed to the people who use their product.

The liability of the companies and people involved in the commerce chain, as the product is passed to the consumer from the manufacturer, is determined by the jurisdiction in which the product liability lawsuit is filed. A company or a person can be held accountable for numerous products, such as defective medical devices or contaminated foods that can make people sick.

If a defective product injured you or someone you love, you might be able to receive compensation. Our product liability lawyers have successfully litigated product liability lawsuits in Augusta GA, and recovered thousands of dollars in compensation for their clientele. Fill out our no-obligation case review form today to see if our attorneys can help you. It’s entirely free and only takes several minutes to complete.

Types of Product Liability Defects

According to Georgia law, if a faulty product injures someone, the manufacturers can be held strictly liable for their injuries. Financially, a product manufacturer can be held responsible for a defective product regardless of whether the manufacturer knew it was defective.

While there are some injuries that product manufacturers are not liable for, they can be held strictly liable for any damages resulting from defective products.

The following defects can form the basis for a strict liability claim:

  • Defective Design – The product may have been designed defectively.
  • Defective Manufacturing – The product may have been incorrectly manufactured, no matter how safe the design was. Contamination, using broken parts, or incorrect assembly can lead to a manufacturing defect.
  • Failure to Inform – By law, product manufacturers must warn consumers about any risks, dangers, or side effects that may be associated with using one of their products.

The success of a product liability lawsuit in Augusta GA, is based on ensuring that you preserve your product. The product’s origin and any paperwork associated with the product need to be kept intact and made readily available to the court. It wouldn’t hurt to keep any receipts of purchase or repair records on hand, as they can also help you prove your claim. An experienced lawyer will help you support your claim by gathering and preserving any relevant evidence associated with your defective product.

Filing a Product Liability Lawsuit in Augusta GA

Each case has a different set of specifics, but in general, the parties who are potentially liable include retailers and wholesalers, and manufacturers. Depending on the case’s details, it can become quite complicated to name a singular defendant in a lawsuit. Some entities within the distribution chain, like part manufacturers, could also be held responsible.

Manufacturers: A defective product manufacturer could include any entity responsible for designing and marketing the product, a small businessman running his shop out of his garage, or a large, internationally known corporation. If a different manufacturer made one of the parts in the item, they could be included in the suit in addition to the manufacturer who made the entire product.

Wholesalers: Wholesalers are middlemen who work between the vendor and the manufacturer. Individual salespeople typically work under a wholesaler and will place and arrange product orders with various retailers.

Retailers: A product is considered safe and suitable for use whenever advertised by a retailer for sale. If the defective product injures a customer, the seller can still be held responsible even though they didn’t manufacture the product.

Successful Claims

For a plaintiff to successfully win a product liability lawsuit in Augusta GA, the following elements must be proven in a court of law in front of a judge and a jury:

  • The plaintiff was either injured or suffered monetary loss – A plaintiff must show that they lost money or suffered an injury as a result of using the defective product. If there is no proof of injury or actual damage, there cannot be a claim.
  • The product is faulty – A plaintiff must show that the item that caused their injuries was designed defectively, had a manufacturing defect, or the packaging and instructions did not provide any warnings about the risks or dangers associated with the product.
  • The defective product caused the person’s injuries – It must be proven in court that the defective product caused the plaintiff’s injuries. The resulting injury would not have occurred had the item not been faulty in the first place.
  • The product was used as indicated in the instructions – The plaintiff used the product as intended or expected.

Warranty Breaches

Warranties are broken down into two different types. A warranty breach likely occurred if a product does not meet the appropriate standards outlined in an implicit or explicit warranty.

Explicit warranties are claims that the seller or the manufacturer of the product made that indicated that their products would work in a specific way. A medical device manufacturer can explicitly state that their pacemaker will work for a certain amount of time before it needs to be replaced. If the device happens to fail before the explicit warranty expires and the person using the device becomes injured, they can file a breach of warranty lawsuit against the manufacturer.

Product sales in Georgia are covered by another type of guarantee known as an implied warranty. Implied warranties are covered on products that don’t have any explicit warranty attached to them. Georgia law (GA Code § 11-2-314) says that any merchantable products are of above-average quality and are appropriate for their intended use.

Augusta GA Statute of Limitations - Product Liability

If a defective product caused you any harm, you have the right to pursue a lawsuit to recover damages and hospital bills from the manufacturer that marketed, designed, or made the product. You will need to keep in mind that your window of opportunity to file a product liability lawsuit in Augusta GA, is relatively short.

In the state of Georgia, if you were injured as a result of using a defective product, you have only two years to pursue a personal injury lawsuit against the manufacturer. Some laws can either limit or extend this rule, depending on the circumstances.

  • The statute of limitations begins with the discovery rule. In this case, you discovered that your injuries resulted from the defective product you were using. In Georgia, you have two years from the date that you discovered, or should have been aware of, the injuries you sustained from the defective product.
  • The product must have been purchased within ten years when it was first sold to file a lawsuit. This statute of repose does not apply if you were hurt due to a company failing to warn about possible dangers before the product’s sale. Still, it does apply to some types of personal injury lawsuits, according to GA Code § 9-3-51.

Should the limitations or repose statutes expire, the company will bring this to the judge’s attention in court. The court will side with the company and ultimately dismiss your case, and you won’t be able to recover any compensation as a result.

Contact a Product Liability Lawyer in Augusta GA

Defective product injuries can result in significant emotional, financial, and physical stress. If you or someone you love was injured by a defective or faulty product, one of our experienced product liability lawyers in Augusta GA can help. You can contact our legal team through our free, no-obligation case review form.            

Please seek the advice of a medical professional before making health care decisions.
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