If you want to file a product liability lawsuit, you need a legal theory (the legal basis for your claim) on which to anchor the claim. Here are some of the legal theories that can give rise to product liability claims:

Fraud

In this context, fraud is regarded as the intentional misrepresentation of facts, especially if you relied on the facts to buy a product that you wouldn't have bought otherwise. In this case, you need to prove that:

• The defendant knew the product was dangerous
• The defendant intentionally lied to you or omitted to inform you about the defect
• The defect caused your injury or damages

Consider an example where you buy a defective airbag from a mechanic, the airbag doesn't help you when it should, and you later learn that the mechanic knew about the defect all along. in this case, you have the right to claim damages from the mechanic using fraud as the basis for your product liability claim.

Breach of Warranty

A warranty is a promise or guarantees that a product will behave or won't behave in a specific way. For example, if a packaged product is labeled as good for three months from the date of manufacture, then you can say it has a three-month warranty. A manufacturer breaks or violates their warranty if the product fails to behave as promised by the warranty, and the failure leads to your injuries.

Consider a case where a can of juice goes bad before its three month expiry period is over, and you get food poisoning after drinking the juice. In this case, you may be able to use breach of warranty as the basis for making a product liability claim against the juice manufacturer. In this case, you will need to prove that you were using the product as intended by the manufacturer. For example, you may lose your claim if you were required to put the can of juice under refrigeration but you failed to do so.

Strict Liability

A strict liability claim applies when you don't have to prove that the manufacturer was negligent (did something or failed to do something), and the negligence is what led to your injuries. All you need to show is that you were injured by the product in question. Product liability laws typically apply on inherently dangerous products. This is to encourage manufacturers of dangerous products to be extremely vigilant with their products and to protect the victims of injuries caused by such products.

For example, if you are injured in an explosion caused by a truck ferrying fireworks, you may use product liability laws in your injury claim. This means you just have to show that you were injured by the fireworks; you don't need to show that the trucker or firework manufacturer was negligent. Contact a firm, like Prediletto, Halpin, Scharnikow & Nelson, P.S., for more help.

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