Product Liability Law

Every year, millions of Americans buy a range of diet and exercise products. After obesity became one of the most prominent health concerns in the United States, the market for these products exploded. Unfortunately, each year a number of these products is discovered to have a harmful effect on the health of the person using them. So what do you do when you find out that your diet pills are hurting your health?

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people are injured while using a power tool. Many of these injuries are self-inflicted and the result of inexperience or recklessness. Still, others are the result of a defectively designed or manufactured product. So, what should you do if you fall into the second category and have been injured by a faulty power tool?

Everyday, millions of women have various services performed at beauty salons. Hair cuts, dying, threading, manicures and pedicures, massages, and a host of other services are now available. While one rarely thinks about it, though, beauty salons are actually very dangerous environments. So what should you do if you are injured at the beauty salon?

The phrase “consumer rights” is thrown around rather freely these days. But what are consumer rights? Are they written down somewhere? Where do they come from? What are the rights?

Food poisoning is in the news again, and it seems to be an increasingly common occurrence as more and more of us eat meals prepared by others on a regular basis. So what should you do if you have become ill after eating contaminated food? The answer will depend on the particular circumstances of your illness.

Have you or someone you know been involved in a car accident? Was the accident caused or made worse by a defective part? We expect our cars to keep us and our families safe, but with a system of hundreds of moving parts, it is not uncommon for something to fail, often with dangerous results. Indeed, each year, millions of cars are recalled because of manufacturing defects or defective parts that can cause fatal car crashes.

Articles written by attorneys and experts worldwide discussing legal aspects related to Tort and Personal Injury including: animal bites, asbestos mesothelioma, back and neck injury, bicycle accident, birth injury, brain injury, burn injuries, catastrophic injuries, construction accidents, construction injuries, defamation, libel and slander, defective products, industrial injuries, mass tort, negligence, nursing home abuse, pedestrian accident, personal injury, premises liability, product liability, sexual abuse, slip and fall, spinal cord injury, torts, toxic mold, toxic torts, workplace injuries and wrongful death.

We are an open, friendly and diverse Committee, combining lawyers of all ages and backgrounds, who come from around the country and work in different practice settings. We are not so large that you will feel lost in the crowd; and large enough with enthusiasm to spare to mount significant CLE programs and other member benefits.

As the twenty-first century unfolds and commerce becomes more and more globalized, there is a need to harmonize the law of products liability across nations. So far, unfortunately, efforts at harmonization have too often been in the direction of reproducing the costly features of United States tort doctrines—doctrines that have imposed spiraling costs on American manufacturers.

This website was created to help lawyers investigate potential automobile defect cases and other product liability claims. Using this website as a resource should help you make an initial determination about whether there is a product liability case.

In 1997, the American Law Institute ("ALI") adopted the Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability ("Restatement (Third)"). (3) After over thirty years as the definitive, yet somewhat confusing road map along the products liability highway, the Restatement (Second) of Torts ("Restatement (Second)") was turned on its head. Before new case law involving the Restatement (Third) has been given a chance to develop, commentators have risen either to praise the Restatement (Third) as a clear guide to the chaotic products liability maze, (4) or to reject it as a pro-defense, industry-favoring curtailment of manufacturer liability.

There are instances when some products may be faulty or defected and as a result they cause serious personal injury to consumers. This is why there is a need for a stringent product liability law to be in place.

The legal concept of product liability is the same in the European Union as it is in the United States, although the scale of award in the United States is considerably higher.

The ALFA Product Liability Practice Group (the “Group”) is one of the most active of the ALFA International Practice Groups. Membership in this Group includes 175 lawyers from 80 member firms. This network of product liability lawyers is well-suited for clients whose products are distributed and used nationwide or worldwide

This Convention shall determine the law applicable to the liability of the manufacturers and other persons specified in Article 3 for damage caused by a product, including damage in consequence of a misdescription of the product or of a failure to give adequate notice of its qualities, its characteristics or its method of use. Where the property in, or the right to use, the product was transferred to the person suffering damage by the person claimed to be liable, the Convention shall not apply to their liability inter se. This Convention shall apply irrespective of the nature of the proceedings.

As the voice of the U.S. standards and conformity assessment system, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) empowers its members and constituents to strengthen the U.S. marketplace position in the global economy while helping to assure the safety and health of consumers and the protection of the environment.

ISO is a non-governmental organization that forms a bridge between the public and private sectors. On the one hand, many of its member institutes are part of the governmental structure of their countries, or are mandated by their government. On the other hand, other members have their roots uniquely in the private sector, having been set up by national partnerships of industry associations.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from more than 15,000 types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $800 billion annually. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard or can injure children. The CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products contributed significantly to the 30 percent decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.

Latest news on Product Liability law presented by the ABA.

Law Journal Newsletters, a division of ALM, publishes 21 best-selling newsletters aimed at the diverse needs of attorneys in every field of endeavor, from Medical Malpractice to Legal Tech to Internet Law & Strategy to Commercial Leasing — and more. Located in Philadelphia, this division draws on decades of experience in publishing and the law. Edited by lawyers, for lawyers, each newsletter features articles written by the top experts in their respective fields. A professional staff of attorneys and seasoned editors makes sure that the latest cases, precedents and rulings are analyzed and presented to our readers in a timely and easy-to-read manner.

The ICJ has continued its efforts to understand the tangible economic effects of product liability suits by studying effects on product sales, stock prices, and media coverage in the automobile industry. This research has revealed that, although product liability verdicts generate substantial press coverage, particularly when juries award punitive damages, verdicts do not typically dampen sales.

The topic of product liability law arises so often in the media today that some brief explanation of its scope, origins, and impact might prove useful. This short essay is intended to be a primer for those who appreciate the importance of the topic, but would like some guidance on how to think about it more rigorously.