The very products that make modern life easy and convenient can sometimes fail, causing significant injury and property damage. If you were hurt by a defective product, hiring an Opelousas defective product lawyer could be the key to recovering monetary losses for the harms you suffered. With help from a seasoned personal injury attorney, you may be able to seek compensation for past and future medical expenses stemming from the incident, loss of income from inability to work, pain and suffering reparations, and property damage.
Theories of Liability
A manufacturer could be held liable for harm caused by an “unreasonably dangerous” product used in a “reasonably anticipated way.” In this context, reasonably anticipated use means that the victim used the product as it was intended or designed.
For example, using a leaf blower to dry human hair is not a reasonably anticipated use of that product. On the other hand, a chair is designed to sit in, but someone might stand on a chair to reach an object on a high shelf. Depending on the type of chair and other attendant facts, this may or may not be considered a reasonably anticipated use of a chair.
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Causes of Product Defects
There are four main ways a product can be considered “unreasonably dangerous.” A product could be unreasonably dangerous when it is defective by design or manufacturing, when product labels or advisories fail to adequately warn users of dangers, or when the product fails to meet an explicitly stated warranty.
Defective design is a legal theory used when there is an innate flaw in the design of a product that makes it dangerous to an unreasonable degree. For this type of defect, a plaintiff must also prove that a safer, economically feasible alternative design existed.
The manufacturing defect theory suggests that the manufacturing process rendered a product unsafe despite its safe design. Failure to warn means that a manufacturer failed to properly inform or instruct users about the dangers the product posed to them.
A failure to meet an express warranty means that a product does not conform to a marketed promise about a product, its specified qualities, or its performance level. To recover damages, a plaintiff must prove that they used the product based on this assertion and that the product failed because the warranty was false.
Each defective products case is unique and requires forethought and strategy to determine which arguments to employ. An Opelousas product liability attorney could work to determine which approach would be best suited to a particular plaintiff’s case.
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Statute of Limitations in Opelousas
Under Louisiana Civil Code §3492, the statutory deadline for a personal injury claim is only one year. The clock starts running from the date the injury or accident occurred, so timely retention of a defective products lawyer is often key to a successful case in Opelousas.
However, there is an exception to this rule. If a plaintiff does not realize they have been hurt or had property damaged by a defective product, the one-year countdown begins when the plaintiff learns about or reasonably should become aware of the injury or damage.
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Call an Opelousas Defective Product Attorney for Help
Understanding your legal options after an accident with a defective product is often the first step towards obtaining a monetary recovery. A skilled attorney could strategize about how best to present your case and what kind of damages you could claim.
Failing to consult with a lawyer may mean that the one-year statute of limitations runs out and you lose the ability to recover any compensation at all. Get in touch with an Opelousas defective products lawyer today to get started on your case.
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