Understanding The Theories Behind Product Liability
It is the duty of the manufacturer of goods to compensate for any harm or injury occurred due to the defective merchandise sold by the manufacturer
. In case an individual is harmed with the use of any unsafe or unhealthy product then they are given the cause of action against all the manufacturers, designers, vendor of the product. He or She can file a product liability case with suitable attorneys to gain compensations.
In USA, Consumer protection is an effective tool for the effective growth of product liability litigation. The law has been changed from strictly warning the vendor to the Strict Liability for manufacturing defective products that are actually dangerous for the users. In most of the jurisdictions a plaintiffs (a party who brings an action in a court of law) is usually based on one or more out of four theories: Negligence, Breach of warranty, Misrepresentation and Strict tort liability.
Negligence is the theory in which absence of adequate care and precaution cause any injury or harm. A manufacturer can be held guilty for negligence when the product designed, manufactured and sold by him actually caused harm due to lack of care while production.
Second theory is based on breach of warranty. According to this manufacturer is liable when he fails to fulfill his claims and promises about the quality and functioning of the product. The law states that the manufacturer must provide certain warranties with all goods he or she produces and later he or she must stand by all those warranties mentioned at the time of selling.
Misrepresentation refers to when a buyer claim that he or she bought this product because of its representation which provided false security about the product. The important key to recover loss due to misrepresentation is the plaintiffs capability to prove that he actually bought the product because of the representation. Misrepresentation can be considered under the category of breach of express or strict tort of liability.
Strict tort liability is the case when the manufacturer can be found guilty for causing the damage to the third party who were not having any direct relation with the product. They were harmed as they were in the close proximity of the product. The plaintiffs who will claim under this theory has to prove that the harm is done by the product contiguity to them, so that they can prove the case with the help of product liability lawyers.