Strict product liability law in Texas provides a more direct path for an accident victim to collect damages for injuries and losses in a personal injury lawsuit. In most situations, a product’s manufacturer will be strictly liable for those injuries and losses regardless of their negligence in designing or fabricating the product.
This aspect of Texas product liability law might favor consumers who are harmed by hazardous products, but the consumer’s recovery of damages is neither automatic nor guaranteed. If a product has caused your injuries, a Dallas product liability attorney from Crowe Arnold & Majors, LLP can provide knowledgeable representation to help you recover the largest available damages award to compensate for your injuries.
How is strict liability different from simple negligence?
To recover damages in a personal injury lawsuit, an injured accident victim must show that the negligent party was somehow at fault for causing the accident. In a strict product liability case, there is no comparable element of fault. If an injured party’s lawyer demonstrates the required elements of a product liability case, that party can recover damages from the manufacturer with no similar consideration of fault.
What are the required elements of a Texas strict product liability case?
A personal injury lawyer will build a Texas strict product liability lawsuit around four basic elements:
- The manufacturer named as the defendant in the case built or fabricated the product. Distributors, wholesalers, and retailers are generally not responsible for an accident victim’s injuries other than where they modified or changed the product in ways related to the victim’s injuries or where they knowingly sold a defective product.
- The defect or condition that caused the victim’s injuries was present when the injured party bought the product. A manufacturer might defend a strict product liability lawsuit by attempting to show that the victim’s modifications of the product after it was purchased caused his or her injuries.
- The product defect or condition was the proximate cause of the victim’s injuries. A manufacturer might argue that the victim’s injuries resulted from an intervening cause or the injured party’s own fault or negligence.
- The injuries the victim suffered were reasonably foreseeable because of the nature and extent of those aspects of the product. Manufacturers are responsible for injuries caused by anticipated uses and misuses of a product, but not for misuses that could not be foreseen.
What defects are included in strict product liability law in Texas?
An injured party can claim strict product liability if a product was designed or manufactured defectively, or if the manufacturer failed to warn about known hazards and dangers or to give clear warnings. Texas has established a short two-year statute of limitations from the date of a product’s sale for product liability lawsuits. If you have any questions about your opportunity to file a lawsuit to recover damages, consult with a Dallas personal injury lawyer as soon as is possible.
Does Texas place any limits on strict product liability?
If the user of a product only experiences financial losses but no injuries, Texas law requires the user to prove that the manufacturer was negligent and that the negligence led to the financial losses. A spark from an electrical appliance must cause a fire that consumes a building, but if nobody were injured in the fire, the building’s owner would need to sue for negligence. The rules for strict product liability will not be applicable in that case.
Contact our team of Dallas product liability lawyers
You can improve your opportunity to recover the largest available damages award for your product-related injuries when you retain a law firm with substantial experience in handling strict product liability cases. We stand on our successes in recovering substantial damages for clients who have suffered injuries from defective products. Please see our website or call our Dallas office directly for a complimentary consultation with our team who can answer your questions about strict product liability laws in Texas.
