Product Liability Claims Explained, From Defect to Deadline

A product liability claim lets you sue the maker or seller of a defective product that hurt you, usually without proving anyone was careless. You do have to prove the product was defective when it left their hands and that the defect caused your injury. Deadlines can cut off a claim years before you're ever hurt.

What does strict liability mean?

Strict liability means the manufacturer pays for a defect even if it used reasonable care. The rule traces to Greenman v. Yuba Power Products, decided by the California Supreme Court on January 24, 1963.

William Greenman was turning wood on a Shopsmith, a combination saw, drill and lathe, when the piece flew out and struck his forehead. Experts blamed inadequate set screws. Justice Roger Traynor held a maker "strictly liable" when its product "proves to have a defect that causes injury to a human being."

The claim isn't limited to the brand on the box. Restatement §2 speaks of the "seller or other distributor, or a predecessor in the commercial chain of distribution." That can include a parts maker or a retailer.

What are the 3 kinds of defect?

Courts sort defects into manufacturing, design and warning defects. The Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability §2 defines all 3. The Iowa Supreme Court adopted its wording in Wright v. Brooke Group on October 9, 2002.

• Manufacturing defect. The product "departs from its intended design." Think of a ladder with a cracked weld that the other ladders on the line don't have. The maker is liable "even though all possible care was exercised."
• Design defect. Every unit is built as designed, and the design itself is unsafe. Under §2(b), the question is whether the risk "could have been reduced or avoided by the adoption of a reasonable alternative design."
• Warning defect. The product lacked "reasonable instructions or warnings" that would have reduced a foreseeable risk. A pressure cooker with no warning about opening it while pressurized would be one example.

A manufacturing defect can often be shown by comparing your unit with a good one from the same line. A design claim usually needs an engineer to propose the safer design that states like Texas require.

How do courts decide if a design is defective?

Many states weigh the design's risks against its benefits and ask whether a safer design was available. This is the risk-utility test in Restatement §2(b).

Texas writes it into statute. Under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §82.005, you must prove a "safer alternative design" existed. It must have prevented or significantly reduced the risk without "substantially impairing the product's utility." It must also have been "economically and technologically feasible" when the product left the maker. See our Texas page.

California gives injured people 2 routes. Under Barker v. Lull Engineering (1978), a design is defective if it fails to perform as safely as an ordinary consumer would expect. It is also defective under a risk-benefit test. Once you show the design caused your injury, the maker must prove its benefits outweigh its risks. See our California page.

How long do you have to file?

Two clocks apply. The statute of limitations runs from your injury, and it's 2 years for most injury claims in both Texas and California. Our statute of limitations guide covers other states.

The second clock is a statute of repose, which runs from the date the product was sold. It can expire before you're ever hurt.

• Texas. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §16.012(b) requires suit within 15 years after the date of sale. It's longer if the maker gave a written warranty of a longer useful safe life. A latent-disease exception covers some illnesses that stay hidden past 15 years.
• North Carolina. N.C. Gen. Stat. §1-46.1 bars claims brought more than 12 years after the product's initial purchase. See our North Carolina page.

Does the product need to be recalled?

No. You prove a defect with evidence about your product, not with a recall notice. Greenman and Restatement §2 both turn on whether the product was defective, and neither mentions recalls.

A recall still helps. It shows the maker or a federal agency identified the same hazard. Makers must report some hazards quickly. Under 15 U.S.C. §2064(b), consumer product firms must "immediately" tell the CPSC about defects that could create a substantial hazard. 16 C.F.R. §1115.14 defines immediately as within 24 hours.

Vehicle makers must file a defect report with NHTSA within 5 working days of deciding a defect is safety-related, under 49 C.F.R. §573.6(b). You can check a car by VIN on NHTSA's recall page. Search household products on the CPSC recall list.

A recall doesn't prove your case alone. You still must show your unit had the recalled defect and that it caused your injury.

Why must you keep the product?

Without the product, a defect claim is very hard to prove. Experts need to examine it, and the manufacturer will argue the failure came from misuse or wear.

Losing evidence can also hurt the side that lost it. California's jury instruction CACI No. 204 lets jurors decide that evidence a party "intentionally concealed or destroyed" would have been unfavorable to that party.

• Don't return the product to the store or mail it to the maker, even for a refund.
• Don't repair it, take it apart or throw away broken pieces.
• Keep the box, manual, receipt and any warning labels.
• Photograph it from every side, and write down where it's stored and who has handled it.
• If a car or appliance is at a repair shop or salvage yard, send a written request to hold it.

What to do next

1. Write down the model number, serial number and purchase date today. The purchase date starts the repose clock.
2. Check NHTSA or the CPSC for a recall on your model, and save a copy of any notice.
3. Report the injury on SaferProducts.gov or through NHTSA's complaint form. Those reports can help show others were hurt the same way.
4. Ask any lawyer you meet whether they've handled design defect cases, who pays expert costs, and what happens to those costs if you lose. Our guide to contingency fees explains how case costs are usually handled.
5. Compare local firms on our city rankings, which use Google Maps position and reviews.