Product Liability law is a world unto itself.
In Product Liability cases, the negligence or carelessness of the maker of the product is not too important.
This is unlike an auto accident case, for example, where you must show that the driver who caused the accident was careless or negligent.
Product liability cases involve what is called strict liability law. This means that if an injury or an incident occurs, and it is due to the defective design of the product, then there is no need for negligence to be proven.
Recently a Federal Judge allowed expert testimony on the defective design of a Winchester rifle.
The Winchester rifle discharged and severely injured a father and daughter during their hunting trip.
Why this case is so important is that it may open up the floodgates to allow injured victims of guns and rifles to pursue a claim against the manufacturer of the guns and rifles.
Because of this case, you may now be able to sue the company that made the rifle because it was designed in a defective manner.
Pittsburgh Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice, Slip & Fall, Product Liability, Car Accident and Criminal Defense Attorney Bernie Tully thinks you understand that these are not easy cases to prove.
An injured victim, through her attorney, must show in this example that the Winchester rifle was made improperly.
That it had a design defect that would likely cause this type of injury to an individual.
As Pittsburgh Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice, Slip & Fall, Product Liability, Car Accident and Criminal Defense Attorney Bernie Tully is sure you know, ordinary citizen testimony alone is not enough to allow the case to get to the jury.
Something more is needed in these product liability cases.
What you need is to have an expert who, through their education, training and/or experience, is able to testify within a reasonable degree of engineering certainty that the rifle was defectively designed.
How can this be shown?
Often times the expert will take apart a product, here the Winchester rifle, exam it scientifically, and figure out what caused the rifle to discharge prematurely.
Then the engineer will write a report based on her findings.
If she can conclude that the product was inherently dangerous to the point that it was likely for this type of incident to occur, you have yourself a case.
Of course the manufacturer of the Winchester rifle is going to come in with their own expert who is going to say that the rifle was designed properly.
Then it becomes a question for the jury to decide.
Again, why this case is so important is that it is the first time that Pittsburgh Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice, Slip & Fall, Product Liability, Car Accident and Criminal Defense Attorney Bernie Tully is aware that a Federal Judge allowed such testimony to be presented to the jury.
Usually the case never gets this far. Usually these types of cases are thrown out before they even reach the jury.
Let’s hope this opens up the door for victims of defectively manufactured products.
Yes our law firm handles product liability cases.
Call us at 412-281-8700 to discuss your claim. The call is FREE and there is no fee unless we get you a recovery.
Thanks for reading.
Bernie the Attorney