Defective Products Attorney in West Hartford, CT
Those who are most at risk of harm from a defective product are children and the elderly, but anyone can suffer injuries from a particularly faulty item. If you’ve been harmed and need a defective product attorney in West Hartford, Connecticut, you can contact Kennedy Johnson Schwab & Roberge for help.
When you purchase any kind of product, be it a household item or a brand-new car, you expect it to work as it should and not put you in any danger. But that’s not always the case.
It’s an unfortunate truth, but defects often cause products to harm their users. In fact, an average of 12.7 million people end up receiving treatment in emergency rooms across the United States each year, all because of injuries consumer products have caused. And in some instances, these injuries are ultimately fatal.
Understanding Product Liability in Connecticut
Before taking any action, it’s crucial to first understand what makes a product defective, as dangerous products are not automatically defective. Think of a chainsaw, for instance. It’s a dangerous tool, but it’s only defective if it’s missing a safety guard or something similar.
A product defect can fit into one of these three categories:
- Design defect
- Manufacturing defect
- Marketing or labeling defect
Design defects are those that are present right from the product’s initial design stage. They make the product unsafe from the beginning, and any iterations of the products that follow that design will be inherently faulty.
A manufacturing defect occurs when the design is correct but something goes awry during the actual creation of the product. Let’s return to the chainsaw example: It would be defective in its manufacturing if the safety guard was present in the initial design but not in the finished product.
The third type of product defect occurs during the labeling or marketing of the product. If the product is missing key information, such as consumer instructions, safety warnings, and side effect warnings, it is ultimately defective.
Under Connecticut product liability laws, you can turn to negligence, warranty, and strict liability claims when injured by a defective item. That being said, the majority of cases fall under the umbrella of strict liability, which means you won’t have to prove negligence when filing a claim. Whether the party who designed, manufactured, or marketed the product wanted to harm you or not, it makes no difference with regard to the claim.
What does matter, however, is proving that the product had a flaw and that it was what caused you the injuries that you hope to be compensated for. You must also show that you were using the product as intended and that you made no modifications that couldn’t have been reasonably expected.
There are also statutes of limitations you have to worry about when filing a product liability claim. For most claims, you have up to three years, but there are exceptions. All of these complexities make turning to a defective product lawyer essential.
John Kennedy Jr.
Founding Partner
John J. Kennedy, Jr., is the founding partner of Kennedy, Johnson, Schwab & Roberge, P.C. In 1988, John formed Kennedy & Johnson, along with David Johnson. John is an accomplished trial attorney, spending most of his more than 42 years practicing in Connecticut, representing injured clients before juries.
Assistance That a Product Liability Attorney in West Hartford, CT, Offers
When you turn to defective product attorneys in West Hartford, such as the team at Kennedy Johnson Schwab & Roberge, we’ll begin by first carefully assessing your claim to ensure we’re able to help.
If so, we’ll then start gathering all of the necessary evidence that can help prove that the product was defective and that it led to your injuries. To do so, we’ll get medical records and speak with professionals who know how the product is supposed to work.
Once we’ve gathered the evidence, we’ll reach out to the other parties involved and begin the negotiation process. This is usually the most difficult aspect of a product liability lawsuit, and it’s one reason why you don’t want to file these kinds of claims on your own.
When dealing with manufacturers and big companies, you can expect to have a team of lawyers ready to try to invalidate your claim. If you don’t have a lawyer backing you up, it’s likely you’ll end up with a low settlement, if anything at all. With a lawyer, you have the chance to get your defective product lawsuit heard in court, which can help you receive the right compensation value.
Kinds of Available Damages in West Hartford, CT
In a product liability case, you can seek both economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages are those that are quantifiable, such as property damage and medical expenses. You shouldn’t have to worry about hospital bills, the purchase of medications or medical devices, or anything else that you require as a result of the injury.
Lost wages are another form of economic damage. If you were injured and needed to take time off from work to get treatment and to heal, you’d have lost the wages you would otherwise have made. Lost wages seek to compensate you for that. If the injuries are severe enough to keep you from working, you can also receive future wages.
Non-economic damages, on the other hand, are more subjective. The most common of these damages is pain and suffering. The severity of the injury and how it impacts your life will play a role in determining how much you can claim.
For those who’ve lost a loved one because of a product malfunction, asking for loss of consortium is also possible. This seeks to compensate you for the loss of companionship, love, and support you’ve had with your loved one until now.
Contingency Fees
At Kennedy, Johnson, Schwab & Roberge, P.C., we handle all Defective Products cases on a contingency fee basis. This means that we do not get paid unless and until you receive a settlement or a jury award.
Schedule a free, confidential consultation with a skilled Connecticut defective product lawyer today. Contact us online or call our New Haven law firm directly at 203-865-8430.
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15 N. Main Street #100 Suite 217
West Hartford, CT 06107
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