Oxnard Product Liability Lawyers

Personal Injury Representation in Oxnard & Ventura

We live in a consumer society that relies, in large part, on businesses providing high quality products that live up to the promises made by the manufacturer and are safe to use. Sometimes, despite the best efforts of regulatory agencies and consumer advocacy groups, products end up in consumers hands in conditions that are either unsafe or defective.

In situations like this it is important for consumers who are injured in some way by a defective or unsafe product to know their rights under the law. Products Liability cases can be different than other types of cases since an injured person may proceed under a Strict Liability theory.

The Oxnard product liability attorneys are here to help. Call (805) 470-1628 today or contact us online to get started on your case as soon as possible. 

Basically, Strict Liability means the imposition of liability without a finding of negligence or fault. If a plaintiff can prove that a product was defective and that as a result of that defect he or she was injured the case may be won.

Importantly, an injured person may also at the same time proceed under negligence theories as well. At The Schurmer Firm we have extensive experience in products liability cases and working with clients to help them understand their rights and to ensure their case has the best possible outcome.

Types of Defective Products

To prevail in court on a person injured by a defective product must prove the product was defective in one of three ways. In California, these defects are:

Products with Inadequate Labels, Warnings or Instructions

These types of cases focus not so much on the product itself, but rather on the manufacturer of the product providing insufficient warning of the dangers the product poses or incomplete or inaccurate instructions that lead to the user’s injury. This is often referred to as a “failure to warn” theory.

Products with an Inherently Defective Design

A person injured by a product may prevail in court if it can be shown that the product was defectively designed. The law related to this theory is complex but essentially there are two tests that may be used to show a defective design.

Under the Consumer Expectation Test a person must show that the defendant manufactured, distributed or sold the product and that the product “did not perform as safely as an ordinary consumer would have expected it to perform”.

Under the Risk Benefit Test a person must show that the defendant manufactured, distributed or sold the product and that the product’s design was a substantial factor in causing harm.

Products Manufactured in a Defective Manner

Often, while the design of a product might be perfectly fine and all the documentation that comes with it may be sufficient, the individual product itself has been defectively manufactured in a way that makes it unreasonably dangerous.

When this happens, it’s important to pin down exactly how the product is different from other products of the same design and how this difference made the product defective and dangerous.

We’ve often worked with talented product liability experts who know how to determine the exact cause of a product’s defect and how that particular defect caused our client’s injuries.