Common defenses in product liability cases

When a customer incurs harm due to a defective or dangerous product, he or she can file a product liability case.  However, the manufacturer is not automatically obliged to compensate the plaintiff, as there are defenses against this type of lawsuit.  The common defenses in product liability claims are discussed below:

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Plaintiff was negligent:  While there are some states that hold companies liable even if plaintiff was negligent, there are some where if it is proven that the plaintiff was careless and misused the product that led to the injury, the amount of damages levied against the defendant could be reduced or eliminated altogether.

Plaintiff “assumed the risk”:  If the plaintiff was proven to have known of or voluntarily accepted that the way he or she is making use of the product may result in physical harm, the defendant has a high probability of winning the lawsuit. 

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Plaintiff significantly altered the product:  An injury that was caused by a substantial change in the product in the hands of the plaintiff is not grounds for a successful product liability claim.

The statute of limitations had expired:  The plaintiff needs to file a lawsuit within a specified time frame, depending on which state he or she is in.  Otherwise, the manufacturer could argue that the case cannot be tried due to the statute of limitations expiring.

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