Design Defect: The manufacturer of a product may fail to design it in such a way that it is reasonably safe for its intended and/or foreseeable uses.

Manufacturing Defect: In some cases, a product has been designed safely, but a problem in the manufacturing process has rendered it defective and unreasonably dangerous.

Inadequate Warnings/Packaging/Marketing Defect: Sometimes, products cannot be designed and manufactured in a way that all risks of injury to the user are eliminated. In such situations, the manufacturer of the product is required to place an effective warning on the product or its packaging which informs the user of the risk of injury, as well as how to avoid it. The maker of a product can be held liable for injuries caused by a hazard of which he was aware, but failed to warn the consumer or user.
The ability to recognize product liability issues is undoubtedly one of the most important skills of the successful product liability lawyer. Unfortunately, because product defects frequently do not cause the incident in which the injury is sustained, but instead make the injuries more severe, product defects are overlooked.
For example, consider a case in which drugs or alcohol was involved in a car crash. While intoxication caused the crash in the first place, the driver’s injuries from the crash may be more severe because of the vehicle’s lack of durability in a crash (i.e. “crash- worthiness”). Similarly, while cooking oil accidentally left on a stove may be the immediate cause of a household fire, a defective smoke alarm or security system may be the cause of death by smoke inhalation or severe burns.

Product liability issues may be involved in many situations where a person has been catastrophically injured or killed. The products liability attorneys of Means Gillis Law, PC have handled the following types of products liability cases:

Consumer Products

• automobile crashworthiness litigation
• defective consumer electronics
• defective and dangerous household appliances
• defective and dangerous power tools and equipment
• defective and dangerous toys
• flammable clothing and sleep wear

Household Products

• prescription drugs
• over-the-counter drugs
• dietary supplements
• cosmetics and hair care products
• food

Industrial Products

• inadequately guarded punch press machines
• inadequately guarded die press machines
• inadequately guarded meat and poultry processing machines
• defectively designed forklifts and other loading machinery
• defectively designed scaffolding and other lifting systems