Houston Product Liability Attorney

The Best Product Liability Lawyers in Houston are Ready to Fight for You and Your Family!

Dangerous and defective products cause thousands of injuries and deaths every year. Product liability refers to a manufacturer or seller’s responsibility for putting a defective or dangerous product in the hands of consumers. Our team of Houston, TX based product liability attorneys are here to help navigate the legal process and bring those responsible to justice.

When Should You Hire A Houston Product Liability Attorney After Being Injured by a Product?

In very general terms, a product designer, manufacturer, supplier, retailer, or distributor of a product could potentially be liable if you suffered an injury while using a product as intended or as predicted. 

In most cases, you will have trouble holding a manufacturer financially accountable if the product had clearly visible, explicit warning labels discouraging purchasers from using it in the way you did. 

For example, if an aerosol hairspray has a warning label that says, “Keep away from open flame,” and you sprayed it into a candle, you may have trouble successfully suing for the resulting injuries.

There are exceptions to every rule. Scenarios could arise where a product is deemed to be particularly attractive to small children who can’t be expected to read a warning label. Or the warning label might be so small that it’s indecipherable. Or a warning label explaining risks could be buried deep in a user manual where purchasers are unlikely to see it.  

A manufacturer might also be liable for injuries caused by the foreseeable misuse of a product. Manufacturers do have a legal responsibility to warn purchasers of dangers posed by the improper use of their products. 

Office chairs with wheels are one possible example of foreseeable misuse claims. Someone might stand on an office chair to reach a high shelf or change a lightbulb. Chairs aren’t designed to be safely stood upon, but some people will use them as step ladders. If a chair manufacturer doesn’t include some kind of warning to not stand on the chair, and someone is injured, the manufacturer could potentially be liable. 

Types of Claims Our Houston Product Liability Attorneys Will Represent 

Most product liability claims fall into one of three broad categories: design defects, manufacturer defects and failure to warn (or marketing defects). 

A design defect is a problem with the actual design of a product. If a poorly designed latch on a stroller causes it to collapse while a baby is sitting in it, the manufacturer might be liable in a design defect claim. 

A manufacturing defect is an issue in which a properly designed product is compromised during the manufacturing process. Maybe the stroller latch design is structurally sound, but the plastic used to make it is brittle and breaks after a couple months of use, leading to injures. 

A failure to warn is most commonly an injury caused by a lack of adequate warning labels on a product. If the stroller has a weight limit of 45 pounds, but there’s no label that explicitly states a weight maximum, and it collapses when a child that weighs 50 pounds is riding in it, the parents may be able to bring a successful product liability claim. 

Who Is Liable for Dangerous Product Injuries? 

The liable party is usually the company that was responsible for causing the injury. If a poorly designed stroller latch leads to children being injured, the designer will likely be liable. 

If the design was adequate but a manufacturing mistake led to the latch’s failure, the manufacturer would be liable. Other parties might also be named as defendants, such as any third-party companies the manufacturer hired to perform quality assurance or safety checks. 

If the manufacturing defect can be traced back to compromised materials used in the manufacturing process, the material supplier might also be liable. 

It’s not uncommon for many different companies to share liability in dangerous or defective product cases. Injuries may be the result of many failures along the design, supply, manufacturing and quality assurance production line.