Product Liability Claims in Pennsylvania: Defect Rather Than Carelessness

Three kinds of defect

Design cases are the largest and the hardest, because they attack the product line rather than one bad unit, and manufacturers defend them accordingly.

Preserve the product

This is the whole ballgame. Do not repair it, return it, discard it or let anyone take it away, including the retailer offering a replacement.

Photograph it as it is, keep the packaging, the manual and the receipt, and record the model and serial numbers. A product case without the product is dramatically harder and sometimes impossible.

Who is in the chain

Manufacturers, component makers, assemblers, distributors and retailers can all sit in the chain of distribution. That matters when the manufacturer is overseas, dissolved, or beyond practical reach, since another party in the chain may still be answerable.

Common defenses

• Misuse. That you used it in a way not intended. Foreseeable misuse is generally still the manufacturer’s problem.
• Alteration. That the product was modified after sale. Whether a guard could be defeated while the machine still ran is a design question, not just a modification one.
• State of the art. That the risk was not known when it was made.
• Obvious danger. That no warning was needed.

Recalls

A recall is useful evidence and it is not required. Products injure people without ever being recalled, and a recall issued after your injury still speaks to the defect. Check whether one exists, but do not treat its absence as an answer.