Iowa City Product Liability Lawyers

Iowa Attorneys

When Defective Products Cause Serious Injuries

You shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not the products you buy are going to send you to the hospital. Yet product defects cause countless injuries each year across the country. If you’ve been hurt by a dangerously defective product, then you should know that there could be legal recourse for you to get paid for your injuries and related damages.

Recovering Millions in Iowa City Product Liability Cases Since 1958

Ball, Kirk & Holm in Iowa City can help you pursue compensation after a product hurts you or your family. We take pride in being able to challenge major corporations and manufacturers with intelligent strategies and comprehensive casework. Throughout our decades of legal experience, we have recovered millions for our clients in all sorts of cases and tough situations. Let us see if we can achieve great things for you, too.

Dial (319) 220-0416 to talk to our team about your product liability case in Iowa City.

A Product Injured Me. How Should I Proceed?

Medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering may be compensated if you were injured by a dangerous or defective product. In any case, product liability lawsuits can be complex affairs, so you should consult an attorney before moving forward. A competent product liability lawyer is a good place to start.

If You Have Been Injured by a Product, What Options Do You Have?

A person injured by a dangerous or defective product may be able to recover damages under one of the following theories of product liability:

• Strict product liability
• Negligence
• Breach of warranty

How Do You Prove Product Liability?

Proving that a product was dangerously defective usually depends on having an expert engineer inspect the product. This can be a problem if you don’t have the product with you anymore. It is important that you do not send the defective product back to the manufacturer until your attorney approves.

The product manufacturer is going to ask you to give them back the product for their inspection. While this might seem fine, it will take the best evidence of negligence out of your hands and give it to the defense, which might completely alter the product or lose it. You own the product, so you are not legally obligated to send it back to them. Keep it until your lawyer is certain you don’t need it anymore.

What are the 3 Types of Product Liability Claims?

Product liability claims are usually filed for one of three reasons:

• Design defects: A product is defective by design if some part of its design is unsafe, which means the product could never be used safely by consumers.
• Manufacturing defects: A product is defective by manufacturing if a mistake happens during the manufacturing process that results in the product becoming unsafe. Batches of products tend to be affected by a manufacturing defect, not an entire product line.
• Advertising defects: A product is defective by advertising if it does not give consumers enough warning about its dangers. Labels, instruction manuals, packaging, and even commercials can all be used to warn a consumer about a product’s hazards.

Famous Examples of Product Liability Cases

Three examples of famous product liability cases in recent years:

• Takata airbags: The Japanese auto part manufacturer Takata was at the center of the largest vehicle recall in history after its airbags were found to explode without warning, potentially killing people inside the vehicle. The airbags used an unsafe chemical component in their inflators, making them defective by design.
• J&J baby powder: Johnson & Johnson has been dealing with massive class action lawsuits for years now that its baby powder products have been linked to ovarian cancer. The talc powder in its products has been found to be contaminated by asbestos fibers, making them defective by a manufacturing error.
• Zantac: Ranitidine – sold most often as Zantac – has been found to expose users to extremely high levels of NDMA, a probable carcinogen. Zantac’s many manufacturers appear to have known about the cancer risk for decades but never warned consumers, making the product dangerous by advertising defects.

Will Your Product Liability Case Settle?

Corporations do not like it when their products get negative press. To try to minimize the damage that your lawsuit might cause to their reputation, the defending company might offer to settle your case, which can be done confidentially. However, this is not guaranteed. If you want to work towards a fair settlement, then you should start by working with our product liability attorneys in Iowa City, so you know that you are demanding a fair amount of compensation.

Find Out If You Have a Case Today

We should talk about your product liability case sooner than later. If you wait too long, then useful evidence could become unobtainable, or the statute of limitations on your case could expire. Our Iowa City product liability attorneys won’t pressure you into making any decisions, though. Your case is still yours, even when we are handling it, so you will be kept informed at every step along the way.

For more information, contact our firm at any time to speak with our product liability lawyers in Iowa City.