Melbourne Product Liability Lawyer

We all rely on a wide range of consumer products in our daily lives. Unfortunately, not all of these products are safe for their intended uses. Whether because of a mistake in the design, manufacturing, or marketing process, a defective consumer product can cause serious injury–and in some cases even death–to an unsuspecting user.

An experienced Melbourne product liability lawyer can help you hold manufacturers, distributors, and retailers accountable for putting you and your family in danger by allowing defective products onto the market in the first place. At the Pendas Law Firm, we represent individuals who have been injured by consumer products that in many cases never should have left the factory, much less been sold to consumers at retail. We will fight to ensure you receive full and fair compensation from your losses arising from an accident caused by a faulty product.

When Is a Manufacturer Liable for a Defective Product in Florida?

Under Florida law, a manufacturer is “strictly liable” for injuries caused by a product under any of the following conditions:

• Defective design – In many cases a product is released exactly as the manufacturer intended, but the item still harms consumers. A manufacturer is therefore liable for defective design when a product fails to perform as safely as a “reasonable consumer” would expect when using the item in its intended or reasonably foreseeable manner.
• Defective manufacturing – Even the best and most safely designed product can still be defective if something went wrong during the actual manufacturing process. The manufacturer can still be held responsible if the product left its control in a defective state.
• Defective marketing – When a manufacturer or distributor fails to provide adequate instructions about the safe use of its products–or does not include sufficient warnings about a foreseeable risk of harm–it can be held responsible for any subsequent injuries to customers who were not properly informed of those risks.

It is important to note that Florida follows a pure comparative negligence rule in product liability cases. This means that a defendant in a product liability lawsuit can try and shift some (or all) of the blame to the victim for causing their accident. Fortunately, this is not an all-or-nothing proposition. Even if a jury finds a plaintiff partly responsible for their injuries, that only reduces the defendant’s obligation to pay damages by a corresponding percentage. For example, if a plaintiff is found 20 percent at-fault for an accident, the manufacturer would still have to pay 80 percent of the plaintiff’s total losses.

Contact The Pendas Law Firm Today

Florida also imposes strict time limits to file a product liability lawsuit. Normally this limit is 4 years from the date of the injury, or 4 years from when the defective product was (or should have been) discovered. But in many cases, a manufacturer is still immune from lawsuit if the injury occurred more than 12 years after the product was delivered to the first purchasers.

So you should never delay in taking action if you believe that a dangerous product has harmed you or someone that you love. Our skilled Melbourne product liability lawyers are here to help. Contact the Pendas Law Firm today to schedule an initial consultation.