Product Liability
Product liability is an area of tort law that holds manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, and other parties in the chain of distribution responsible for injuries caused by defective or dangerous products. Unlike general negligence cases, product liability claims can be brought under theories of strict liability, negligence, or breach of warranty, giving injured plaintiffs multiple potential avenues to establish the defendant's responsibility. Product liability law plays a critical role in incentivizing companies to manufacture safe products.
There are three primary categories of product defects in product liability cases. A design defect occurs when the product's basic design is inherently unsafe, even when manufactured correctly — for example, a car with an unstable center of gravity prone to rollovers. A manufacturing defect occurs when an individual product deviates from its intended design due to an error in the production process. A warning defect occurs when a product lacks adequate instructions or warnings about known risks that are not obvious to ordinary users.
Under strict product liability, the plaintiff does not need to prove the defendant was negligent — only that the product was defective, the defect existed when the product left the defendant's control, the defect caused the plaintiff's injuries, and the plaintiff suffered damages. This doctrine, first articulated in the landmark Greenman v. Yuba Power Products case (1963), dramatically simplified product liability litigation by removing the need for plaintiffs to trace their way through complex manufacturing and distribution chains.
Product liability cases are often large-scale litigations, particularly when a defective product has caused widespread injuries. Mass tort and class action procedures allow thousands of injured plaintiffs to consolidate their claims against a manufacturer, sharing the costs of expensive expert witnesses, discovery, and litigation. Notable product liability cases have involved asbestos, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, motor vehicles, and consumer electronics, resulting in some of the largest jury verdicts and settlements in American legal history.