Practice area

Product Liability

Product liability cases take many forms. There are cases where many people are injured as the result of an inherently dangerous quality of a product, and cases where one machine on one job site takes one worker's hand.

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Three ways a product can be defective

Design defect. The product was built exactly as intended, and the intention was unreasonably dangerous — a machine with a guard that can be removed to work faster, a tool with no interlock, a vehicle that is unstable by design. New York asks whether a safer alternative design was feasible.

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Manufacturing defect. The design was sound but this particular unit came off the line wrong.

A single flawed weld, a bad batch of material.
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Failure to warn. The danger was known and not adequately disclosed, or the instructions made a foreseeable misuse likely.
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What makes these cases different from ordinary negligence is strict liability: a manufacturer or seller that puts a defective product into the stream of commerce can be liable to the injured user without anyone proving carelessness. And liability is not limited to the manufacturer — the distributor, the retailer, the company that rebuilt or modified the machine, and sometimes the installer are all in the chain.
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These cases turn on preserving the product itself.

Once a machine is repaired, scrapped or returned to the leasing company, the case usually goes with it. If you were hurt by a machine or a tool, tell your employer in writing not to alter it, and call us immediately.

Products that cause the injuries we see

Industrial machinery

Presses, balers, recycling and packaging equipment with missing or defeated guards. The firm recovered $1,105,000 for a machine operator whose arm was caught in a recycling machine.

Power tools and equipment

Saws, grinders and lawn equipment. The firm recovered $350,000 for a client who suffered a partial foot amputation after stepping into the path of a lawnmower.

Ladders and lifts

Defective ladders and aerial lifts often support both a product claim and a Labor Law claim.

Vehicle parts

Tires, brakes, airbags, seat backs and restraint systems — including a $2.25 million verdict obtained against a repair shop whose negligent work disabled a vehicle on the highway.

Consumer products

Household goods, appliances, furniture and children's products, including recalled items still in use.

Building materials and fixtures

Failures that cause collapses, falls and fires.

Verdicts and settlements

Product and machinery recoveries

$7,500,000

Verdict for wrongful death, against landlord, caused by fire that spread through apartment that was without smoke detectors.
$1,105,000

For a machine operator that got his arm caught in a recycling machine causing multiple fractures which required surgery.
$350,000

For client who sustained partial amputation of his foot after having stepped into path of a lawnmower.

All results

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is different, and the result in any case depends on its own facts.

Product liability questions

Not answered here? A lawyer will answer it, free and at any hour.

Ask us directly

The machine belonged to my employer. Can I still bring a claim?

Yes — against the manufacturer, distributor or the company that modified it. You cannot sue your employer, but the product claim is a separate case that runs alongside your workers' compensation.

I threw the product away. Is it hopeless?

Harder, but not always hopeless. Photographs, the model and serial number, purchase records, recall history and other reported incidents involving the same product can still carry a case.

Does a recall prove my case?

It helps considerably, but it is not automatic. You still have to prove the defect caused your injury. The absence of a recall does not defeat a case either.

How long do I have?

Three years from the injury in most product cases, with a different rule for injuries caused by exposure to toxic substances. Preserving the product matters more than the calendar.

Where we handle these cases