Illinois Product Liability Lawyers

When businesses put profits before the safety and well-being of people, serious injury can occur. Faulty infant equipment and toys, poorly engineered electric appliances and other potentially dangerous products can cause thousands of disabling injuries each year.

Companies have a legal and ethical obligation to ensure that the products they make will not harm the people who use or purchase them. When an accident or injury occurs due to rushing a product to market, cutting corners or ignoring safety concerns, the company who makes, sells or offers the product has a responsibility to provide recovery to the innocent victim or their family.

At Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C., our team of product litigation attorneys is familiar with the physical, emotional and financial damage that a defective product can cause. Every year, thousands of consumers sustain serious injuries from defective products. Many of these injuries could be avoided if the manufacturers or distributors of these products took additional steps to ensure consumer safety.

Recently, Evenflo recalled nearly a half million infant car seats/carriers because of faulty handles. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported that more than 150 infants had been hurt falling out of the seats because the handles would release without warning. Our law firm handles product liability cases against manufacturers in circumstances just like these. If you have a question about this particular product recall or other similar cases please do not hesitate to contact us.

The main incentive to increase product safety is to avoid potential liability in product liability lawsuits which provide compensation for the personal injuries sustained from the use of a defective product. The damages the consumer is entitled to receive may include compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, loss of physical capacity, pain, suffering, and mental anguish. Punitive damages are also available in many jurisdictions to punish defendants in those cases involving particularly egregious conduct which demonstrates a reckless or wanton disregard for the safety of the public.

At Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C., we frequently hear of product recalls because of safety and design issues in car seats, ATVs, defective toys and food contamination. The Consumer Product Safety Commission reports over 22,000 deaths and 29 million injuries related to consumer products each year. Annually, consumer products cause more than $500 billion in deaths, injuries and property.

Victims injured by faulty products have the right to seek compensation, including economic damages (lost wages or medical expenses), non-economic damages (pain and suffering) and punitive damages (to punish reckless behavior). In addition to the monetary considerations of a favorable verdict, if you win your case you may find solace in the fact that those responsible for your situation will be brought to justice. Moreover, you will contribute to the public safety by making manufacturers accountable for safer and more dependable products.

When you file a product liability claim, you are suing the makers or sellers of injurious products. Anyone in the supply chain can be held responsible for damages, including the manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer. When their product was brought to market, the manufacturers and distributors became legally obligated to provide a well-designed product that is reasonably safe when used as intended. To win a strict liability case, your attorney must demonstrate that:

* The product had an "unreasonably dangerous" defect that caused your injury, and that the defect occurred in the product’s design, during its manufacture, or during shipping or handling.
* The defect caused your injury even though you were using the product in the way the manufacturer said that it was intended to be used.
* The product that caused damage had not changed “substantially” from its original sales condition.