What is a Product Liability Attorney?

A product liability attorney is a lawyer who represents clients in cases where consumer products have caused harm through defect or malfunction. This specialized kind of law is a common part of the U.S. judicial system, where courts consider lawsuits against companies when their products are not considered safe. Product liability attorneys help clients to sue for compensated damages from the products that cause harm.

A product liability attorney will have specialized skills and knowledge about how market products can carry liability for a manufacturer or distributor. These kinds of legal professionals may have experience in dealing with consumer product recalls, where safety risks are evident to the public. They may also be used to dealing with more subtle product liability cases where the burden of proof is on the user of the product. In these cases, a product liability attorney can help build a case and establish evidence.

A product liability attorney might also have knowledge of specific legal terminology for cases where consumer product liability is not clearly evident, or defined. In some of these cases, the issue is not the inherent hazard of the product, but it’s educated used by the consumer. In these cases, issues like a lack of warning labels may be central to a product liability case. In this situation, a product liability attorney will seek to show that insufficient education for the consumer equates to negligence on the part of the manufacturer or distributor.

A product liability attorney must be qualified to practice law in the state where he or she is working. The lawyer must be able to appear at a court case if necessary, which leads to specific qualifications and requirements for the job. Product liability lawyers may form a collective legal practice to showcase their talents and abilities together, combining the cost of advertising and other overhead. These legal teams utilize many different kinds of advertising to demonstrate to the public that they can work on their clients' behalf in a product liability case.

Product liability cases vary a great deal. A product liability attorney may engage in fact-finding about medications and side effects, auto safety, equipment failures, electrical wiring, or any number of health and safety issues. Analyzing and evaluating general and specific risks is a large part of what a product liability attorney may do for a particular client. Another main service of these legal professionals is in counseling their clients as to the options for pursuing a case, the likelihood of specific outcomes, information on how local courts schedule hearings and trials, and how or whether to build an individual or class action lawsuit against a company.