Consumer Protection

Ayers Law Firm has years of experience dealing with consumer protection and products liability cases. The focus of our law firm is to compensate our clients for injuries that were no fault of their own.

Consumer protection and product liability places responsibility on the manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, and vendors for damages caused by dangerous or defective products. The goal of product liability laws is to help protect consumers from dangerous products, while holding manufacturers, distributors, and retailers responsible for putting into the marketplace products that they knew or should have known were dangerous or defective. Ayers & Engel is experienced in the many facets and avenues of product liability and they know how to get you the compensation you deserve.

The claims most commonly associated with Product Liability are negligence, strict liability, breach of warranty, and various consumer protection plans. The majority of product liability laws is determined at the state level and varies widely from state to state. Each type of product liability claim requires different elements to be proven to present a successful claim.

• Negligence: A basic negligence claim consists of proof of: (1) a duty owed, (2) a breach of that duty, (3) an injury, and (4) that the breach proximately caused the plaintiff’s injury.
• Strict Liability: Rather than focus on the behavior of the manufacturer (as in negligence), strict liability claims focus on the product itself. Under strict liability, the manufacturer is liable if the product is defective, even if the manufacturer was not negligent in making that product defective.
• Breach of Warranty: Breach of warranty-based product liability claims usually focus on one of three types: (1) breach of an express warranty, (2) breach of an implied warranty of merchantability, and (3) breach of an implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose.
• Consumer Protection: In addition to the above common law claims, many states have enacted consumer protection statutes providing for specific remedies for a variety of product defects. Statutory remedies are often provided for defects which merely render the product unusable (and hence cause economic injury) but do not cause physical injury or damage to other property; the “economic loss rule” means that strict liability is generally unavailable for products that damage only themselves.

There are numerous areas that are taken into account with Products Liability; Ayers & Engel will guide you in the proper direction for your case. A few of the most common problems include design defects, manufacturing defects, and marketing defects.

Questions of negligence and breach of warranty are also grounds for a claim for damages under product liability. In the case of negligence, if it can be shown that a company was negligent in testing its product adequately or in supplying directions for its use, the injured party probably has grounds for filing suit. Similarly, a manufacturer issues a warranty for use promising the product free from defect. If the item proves to be defective, the user can file a product liability case. In a case of negligence, it is important that the plaintiff be able to show that the product was defective when it was received.

If you or someone you know needs to file a products liability claim, contact Ayers & Engel for a products liability consultation. He will work to understand your situation and fight inside and out of the courtroom to see that you get all that you deserve.

To schedule a consultation please call our office at (760) 295-1209. Ayers & Engel look forward to aggressively protecting your rights.