ATLANTA DEFECTIVE PRODUCT ATTORNEY

To file a convincing personal injury lawsuit that seeks monetary damages, defective product lawyers in Atlanta might have to prove the existence of the four elements of negligence. Before proving the first element of negligence, your attorney must determine which of the two types of defects caused you harm.

Design Defect

Manufacturers usually put products through two stages of development. The first stage of product development concerns designing a product. Product designers work closely to create a template for the construction of every similar type of product. Despite completing a flawless manufacturing process, a simple design flaw can turn what should be a high-performance product into a defective product. For our commercial lawnmower example, a design flaw such as locating the engine too close to other vital internal parts can cause a serious malfunction due to prolonged exposure to excessive heat.

Manufacturing Defect

Manufacturing defects occur either during the production or assembly phase. Since most manufacturing plants have converted to mostly or all automated systems, a defect typically results in a breakdown of the software used to manage the manufacturing process. Although the assembly process also is sometimes automated, assembly defects usually happen because of human error. To prove a company should assume legal liability for a manufacturing defect, product defect lawyers in Atlanta must demonstrate the product defect developed before the company released the product for consumers to purchase.

During a free case evaluation with one of the defective product lawyers in Atlanta from Morgan and Morgan, the attorney assigned to your case must determine the type of product liability lawsuit. Your legal representative has three options to choose from before moving forward with your case.

Strict Liability

Strict liability represents the most common type of product liability lawsuit. All your product liability attorney has to do is prove that a design or manufacturing defect of a product caused you to sustain one or more injuries. The lawyer from Morgan and Morgan assigned to your case submits physical evidence that describes in detail how a product should have performed and physical evidence that describes how the same product performed when used by you or a loved one.

Negligence

Negligence requires defective product lawyers in Atlanta to prove four elements. The first element is called duty of care, which means the manufacturer of a product is legally responsible for manufacturing a product that does not cause an illness or injuries. After demonstrating a duty of care, your lawyer presents evidence that proves the manufacturer breached the duty of care doctrine. This is the most difficult element to prove because it requires the submission of compelling physical evidence. The last two elements to prove negligence are causation and financial losses.

Breach of Warranty

Not every product liability case involves a consumer sustaining injuries or developing symptoms of an illness because of using a product. Breach of warranty cases refer to a manufacturer failing to fulfill the guarantees written in a warranty. A warrant is similar to a contract without both parties signing a formal agreement. An express warranty represents the guarantees made by a manufacturer concerning how well a consumer should expect a product to perform. Many manufacturers include a short pamphlet with each product purchased by consumers that describes the promises made by the manufacturer. For example, if a manufacturer guarantees a certain model of a motor vehicle achieves 25 miles per gallon in fuel efficiency and the car gets only 20 miles per gallon, the manufacturer has violated a clause in the express warranty agreement.

One of the many benefits of hiring one of the defective product lawyers in Georgia from Morgan and Morgan is to file a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages before the expiration of the statute of limitations. Every state has established a deadline for filing a personal injury lawsuit, with most states setting the deadline between two and four years. A handful of states go as long as six years and as short as one year. 

Georgia has established a deadline for filing a product liability lawsuit at two years for personal injury claims and four years for property damage claims. This type of arrangement differs from most states, which set the deadline for filing a personal injury lawsuit the same for injury and property damage claims. According to the discovery rule in Georgia, the clock starts ticking on filing a personal injury lawsuit on the day when the plaintiff discovered or should have discovered an injury and/or property damage.

Two years is more than enough time to file a personal injury lawsuit in Georgia, but you should not wait until the deadline approaches to take legal action. Waiting too long can put you in a deep financial hole, as you are responsible for paying off medical bills and the receipts for property damage. Acting with a sense of urgency helps you pay off debts much faster than if you wait until the last minute to file a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages. Your attorney also wants to take swift legal action to obtain the most accurate versions of events from witnesses. Witness accounts tend to become less reliable the longer they are given from the date of a personal injury incident.

If you fail to file a product liability lawsuit before the expiration of the statute of limitations in Georgia, you can expect a court clerk to dismiss your case.

Atlanta is home to some of the highest-rated law firms in the United States. How do you connect with the best attorney to represent you during a product liability case?

Experience Handling Product Liability Cases

If a defective product caused you or a loved one harm, you do not want to hire a slip and fall attorney. You should hire a personal injury lawyer who specializes in litigating product liability cases. With a national presence, Morgan and Morgan’s personal injury team of litigators consists of several attorneys who specialize in handling defective product cases. This means you do not have to worry about working with a lawyer who possesses limited experience filing product liability lawsuits.

Proven Record of Success

The number of years of experience is not enough to qualify an attorney as one of the best defective product lawyers in Atlanta, Georgia. Working with an attorney who has compiled an impressive record of winning product liability cases and getting insurance claims approved is more important than the number of years a lawyer has practiced law. At Morgan and Morgan, the $14 billion in monetary damages that we have recovered for clients demonstrates our ability to get our clients the compensation they deserve.

Support You All the Way

When you meet with one of the defective product lawyers in Atlanta for a free case evaluation, you should expect the same attorney to provide support during the entire legal process. Unfortunately, far too many personal injury lawyers meet clients for a free case evaluation, only to delegate many of the legal responsibilities of litigating a case to a less experienced attorney. At Morgan and Morgan, the product liability attorney assigned to your case works with you during every step of the legal process, from the day of a free case evaluation to the day when your case gets resolved.

Effective Communication Skills

Product liability lawsuits can change direction without any warning. For example, perhaps the attorney representing the defendant prefers to negotiate a settlement instead of taking your case to the trial phase of the litigation process. This means you must choose a litigator who responds promptly to all forms of communication. Whether you leave a phone message or send a text message, you should receive a response on the same business day. If you try to contact one of the defective product lawyers in Atlanta from Morgan and Morgan after business hours, you should receive a response first thing the next morning.

Take legal action for a defective product case by scheduling a free case evaluation with one of the product liability attorneys at Morgan and Morgan.