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If you have been injured by a defective product in New Jersey, then you may be entitled to a large financial award for your injuries and losses through a settlement or verdict in a case brought against the manufacturer, distributor, and/or seller of the product. This is true regardless of the type of product that injured you – whether it be a defective drug, appliance, tool, or even vehicle – and even if you yourself did not purchase the product.
Winning your product liability claim in New Jersey will mean that you will have to be able to prove your claim under the New Jersey Product Liability Act (the “Act”), which provides several specific legal theories for a plaintiff to win damages. At Judd Shaw Injury Law™, our product liability attorneys are ready to jump into action at a moment’s notice to listen to your situation, discuss your injuries, assess your potential roads to legal recovery, and, if we are in a position to represent you, aggressively pursue the maximum financial recovery you are owed under New Jersey law.
Proving a Manufacturing Defect
One of the ways our attorneys can prove a claim of product liability on behalf of an injured client is to show that there a manufacturing defect, meaning an error in the way the specific product was manufactured which made the product “not reasonably fit, suitable or safe for its intended purpose.”
Specifically, in proving a manufacturing defect, it will be necessary to show, in the words of the Act, that there was a deviation “from the design specifications, formulae, or performance standards of the manufacturer or from otherwise identical units manufactured to the same manufacturing specifications or formulae.”
In bringing such claims, our attorneys can pursue a variety of legal strategies to make this showing, including obtaining documents and testimony from the manufacturer regarding the product’s manufacture as well as the use of expert witnesses who can provide insights on how the product was defectively manufactured.
Proving a Design Defect
Another common way to win a product liability claim in New Jersey is to prove that the product was defectively designed. Thus, rather than arguing a specific product was poorly manufactured (i.e. a worker failed to bolt in a protective guard properly), this argument is that the product as designed was unreasonably unsafe.
A key aspect of winning a product liability claim on a design defect dispute is to show that the defendant could have pursued a feasible, alternative design for a given product which would have been safer than the design of the product that actually caused the injury.
This can be a complex showing to make, but, again, our product liability attorneys will explore all legal strategies, including the use of expert witnesses who can provide compelling evidence regarding safer alternative designs, to make this showing on behalf of clients in pursuit of their maximum financial recovery.
Proving There Were Inadequate Instructions or Warnings
Finally, even where there was no manufacturing defect or no reasonably safer alternative design, an injured plaintiff can win recovery in a product liability suit if it can be shown that the injury was caused by the failure of the defendants to include adequate instructions or warnings regarding use of the product.
Defendants in product liability cases will often try to blame the victim by arguing that the victim failed to follow instructions, misused the product, or used the product in ways that were not intended. Plaintiffs, however, can still successfully pursue product liability recovery even if they used the products in unintended manners (so long as the use was foreseeable), and our attorneys can aggressively fight on your behalf to counter such arguments and win the recovery you are owed.
Speak With the NJ Product Liability Attorneys at Judd Shaw Injury Law™ Regarding Your Injuries
The experienced New Jersey product liability attorneys at Judd Shaw Injury Law™ have won over $90 million in compensation for our clients through settlements and verdicts. We are here to stand by your side as your allies and champions in winning the recovery you deserve from all potential defendants in your New Jersey product liability case. Contact us today to speak to a product liability attorney who can listen to your concerns and guide you towards your best options for financial recovery.
Content edited by personal injury attorney Judd Shaw. From the beginning, Judd established a set of Core Values laying out the pursuit for excellence in client service. He is a regular host of the Working The Wow podcast, with the belief that providing an exceptional client experience is just as important as delivering a quality service or product. You can find us in Red Bank and Tom‘s River, New Jersey.