Kansas City Product Liability Lawyer
Request Free ConsultationWe use hundreds of purchased products every day and rarely think twice, but what about when a product causes serious harm even though it was used correctly and appropriately?
Manufacturers are under strict liability laws in Missouri and face financial accountability when a product causes harm. If you or a close family member suffered serious injuries from a product with a manufacturing error or faulty design, it’s time to hold the manufacturer accountable under product liability law. Call the experienced defective product attorneys at Miller & Hine today for the legal representation you deserve.
Why Choose Miller & Hine for Your Defective Product Claim in Kansas City?
At Miller & Hine, we treat our clients like family by taking the time to get to know them and personally observe the impacts of the injury on their lives. This enables us to make the most compelling claim for their compensation against insurance companies who commonly dispute, delay, or undervalue product liability claims in Missouri. Our Kansas City personal injury attorneys offer the following advantages to your case:
- Free case consultations for injury victims and no upfront fees—instead, you only pay us after we recover compensation for your damages
- An entire legal team with an in-depth understanding of Missouri’s insurance system and product liability law
- The dedicated attention of an attorney working diligently on your case
- Over five decades of combined legal experience lending a powerful voice to your compensation claim
- Open communication and availability with an attorney strategizing the best way to move forward to maximize the amount of compensation you recover in your claim
We are the Kansas City defective product lawyers who achieve large settlements and notable wins for injured clients through years of dedicated client advocacy.
Understanding Strict Liability in Missouri Defective Product Claims
Most personal injury cases rely on proving the at-fault party acted negligently, resulting in injury to someone else; however, manufacturers are under strict liability laws. This means injury victims do not have to prove a manufacturer’s negligence. Instead, a manufacturer is held financially accountable whenever they produce and market a product and that product causes injury to someone else as long as the injury results in consequences to the victim. These consequences are the victim’s “damages” in a defective product claim and typically include economic damages like medical bills and lost wages, and non-economic damages like pain and suffering.
What Are the Three Types of Product Liability Claims?
Depending on the details of a defective product claim, a successful case requires showing that the product was defective in one of three ways.
Design Defect:
When a product is inherently unsafe because of a significant flaw in its design, it’s a design defect case. Proving this type of product liability claim requires showing that even when the product is manufactured and used as intended, the flaw in its design makes it unsafe. Proving a design defect may also require showing that a safer design alternative exists so it is unnecessary for the manufacturer to produce and market the product with the defective design.
A Manufacturing Defect:
A manufacturing defect claim is appropriate when a product’s design is safe and effective, but an error occurs during the manufacturing process that makes an individual product or a group of products produced under a specific lot number unsafe for consumers. This type of product liability claim requires an investigation showing that a mistake occurred during the product’s manufacturing.
A Marketing Mistake:
When a product’s design is safe, and it was manufactured correctly, but the marketing department incorrectly labeled the product, included inadequate instructions or safety warnings, or otherwise “failed to warn” the consumer, manufacturer direct liability applies in the case.
Common Products Named in Missouri Product Liability Cases
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reported nearly 29 million injuries and over 1,000 deaths linked to defective products in the United States. Nearly any product can contain a defect that causes injury, but the most common products named in product liability cases include the following:
- Vehicles
- Vehicle components, including airbags, seatbelts, and components of brake and steering systems
- Medical devices
- Medications
- Children’s toys
- Infant sleep equipment and car seats
- Power tools
- Electronics
- Household appliances
- Farm equipment
- Workplace equipment and chemical products
Proving a defective product claim in Missouri requires showing that the injury victim used the product correctly, or in a manner the manufacturer could reasonably have determined a consumer would use it, yet the product caused a serious injury with economic and non-economic damages to the victim. Your accident attorney in Kansas City can help with this process.
What Can I Get From a Product Liability Claim?
When a serious injury occurs from a defective product, the injury victim may quickly face financial hardship. Often, medical bills begin piling up at the same time the victim is unable to return to work in their previous capacity—or at all. If you’ve experienced these impacts from a defective product injury, you deserve compensation for your damages. Common compensation in product liability claims can include any or all of the following:
- Reimbursement for medical costs
- Future medical expenses related to the injury
- Lost income
- Future income loss
- Lowered earning capacity due to disability from the injury
- Pain and suffering
- Any other non-economic damages that apply in individual circumstances such as loss of one of the senses, disfigurement, scarring, loss of limb, or loss of enjoyment of life
It’s relatively easy to determine the value of tangible economic damages like lost income and medical expenses, but it’s often the non-economic damages that are the worst aspect of a preventable injury. Financial compensation cannot erase the injury or its physical effects but it can ease undue financial burdens and bring injury victims a sense of justice and accountability.
Call Miller & Hine Attorneys at Law Today
You and your family shouldn’t have to shoulder the costs of an injury caused by a defective product. At Miller & Hine, our Kansas City personal injury attorneys and legal team have years of experience navigating the challenges of investigating the injury, determining the defect, and establishing whether the defect is an inherent defect in the product’s design, a manufacturing error, or a marketing mistake. We also carefully calculate damages to ensure you make a claim for the maximum compensation available to you. We are skilled negotiators as well as trial lawyers who will assertively seek a large settlement or take your case before a jury.
Contact the Kansas City product liability lawyers at Miller & Hine today so we can take prompt action on your financial recovery while you work on your physical recovery.