Product Liability: How we help

When something you bought injures you, the case is different from most injury claims in one crucial respect: the evidence is an object, and you probably still have it. What you do with it in the first days matters more than almost anything else.

Do Not Throw It Away

The single most damaging thing that happens in these cases is that the product is discarded, returned, or repaired before anyone examines it.

People throw away the appliance that caught fire. They return the item to the store for a refund. They let the manufacturer collect it for inspection. Each of these is understandable and each can gut a claim, because without the product, establishing what was wrong with it becomes extremely difficult.

Keep it. Keep the packaging, the manual, the receipt, and any remaining parts, including debris after a fire. Store it somewhere it will not deteriorate further, and photograph it as it is now. If a manufacturer asks you to send it to them, speak with someone first.

What Makes a Product Defective

Product cases generally involve one of three problems, and identifying which one applies shapes the entire investigation.

A design problem means the product was unsafe as intended — every unit shares the flaw. A manufacturing problem means this particular unit departed from its own design, through a bad batch, a missed step, or a substituted component. A warnings problem means the product carried risks that were not adequately communicated, or instructions that were inadequate for foreseeable use.

The distinction matters practically. A design case may connect to a broader pattern across many units. A manufacturing case is about this specific item and its production record.

Products We See Injure People

The range is wide, and the questions differ by category.

Vehicles and vehicle components, including tires, restraint systems, and fuel systems. Machinery and power tools, particularly where guarding was inadequate or absent. Household appliances, especially those involving heat or water. Lithium battery products, which fail in ways that cause severe burns. Children's products, from furniture that tips to items that present hazards to small children. Medical devices. Ladders and equipment used at height. Recreational products.

Tracing Who Is Responsible

There is usually more than one party in the chain between a product's design and your hands.

The manufacturer of the finished product. The maker of a specific component that failed, which is frequently a different company entirely. Importers and distributors. Retailers. Where a product was assembled or installed by someone else, that party as well.

Identifying the chain requires the product's markings, model and serial information, and often documentation from the retailer. This is another reason the physical item matters so much: it carries the information needed to find everyone involved.

What the Company Already Knew

A recurring theme in these cases is that the manufacturer was aware of the problem before it reached you.

Prior complaints, warranty claims, and returns for the same failure create an internal record. Recalls and safety notices, including for related models, are public. Testing records show what was evaluated before release and what was found. Design change histories sometimes show a company quietly correcting a fault in later production while units already sold stayed in service.

Establishing what was known and when frequently changes a case substantially.

Preserving the Scene as Well

Where a product caused a fire or a significant incident, the surrounding scene is evidence too.

Fire investigation often identifies an origin point that implicates a specific appliance or device, and that analysis has to happen before the area is cleared or repaired. Insurers and their investigators may move quickly, and if the other side examines a scene that you were not able to examine, that asymmetry is difficult to correct.

Tell us early if there is a scene as well as a product, so it can be documented before it is cleaned up.

Recalls, and What They Do Not Mean

People often ask whether a recall settles the question. It helps, and it does not decide anything by itself.

A recall establishes that a manufacturer recognized a problem, and the timing relative to your injury matters. But the absence of a recall does not mean a product is safe. Many defective products are never recalled, and recalls frequently follow injuries rather than preventing them.

We check recall history for the product and for related models as a matter of routine, and we look at whether notice of a recall ever actually reached the people who owned the item.

Used, Modified, and Second-Hand Products

Products change hands and get altered, and both affect the analysis without necessarily ending it.

Where a product was bought used, the questions about the original manufacturer generally remain, though the chain of custody needs establishing. Where a product was modified after sale, the question becomes whether the modification caused the failure or whether the underlying defect did, and whoever performed the modification may be involved.

Do not assume that buying something second-hand or having had it serviced means nothing can be done. It means there are more parties to identify.

Working With Our Firm

We handle product liability claims on contingency, with no fee to speak with us and no attorney fee unless we recover for you. We work throughout South Florida, in English and Spanish.

If a product injured you, put it somewhere safe and call before returning it, repairing it, or handing it to anyone. That one decision determines what is possible afterward.