Product Liability

Manufacturers, suppliers, and sellers have a duty to make sure their products are safe for the public. Unfortunately, countless dangerous products are created and sold each year in Florida, many of which can cause serious injury or death. A product liability lawsuit is a way for you and your family to recover compensation for your physical and mental injuries. By encouraging manufacturers to prioritize safety, these claims also help ensure that future consumers are not injured by similar dangerous or defective products.

At Friedman Rodman Frank & Estrada, our Miami product liability attorneys have over 45 years of experience representing clients who were injured because of a product defect. We understand the complex landscape that these cases occupy and know what it takes to secure maximum compensation on your behalf.

In Florida, if you're dealing with a product that caused injury, you can typically pursue one of three types of product liability claims.

This type of claim focuses on problems that occur during the making of a product. Imagine a bike whose brakes were put together incorrectly in the factory. If these faulty brakes cause a crash, you could file a manufacturing defect claim. To win this claim, you need to show that the defect was present when the product left the manufacturer and that it directly caused your injury.

Design defect claims argue that a product’s design is inherently unsafe, regardless of how well it’s made. For example, if a type of car has a design that makes it tip over easily when turning corners, anyone injured because of that could have a design defect claim. You must prove that the design caused the product to be unreasonably dangerous and that a safer, feasible alternative design was possible.

These claims deal with products that are dangerous in some way that’s not obvious or require special precautions that aren’t clearly explained. For instance, if a chemical cleaning product needs special handling instructions that aren’t provided, and you get hurt as a result, this could lead to a failure to warn claim. It’s crucial to prove that the lack of instructions or warnings made the product unreasonably dangerous for the user.

Under Florida product liability law, if you can prove that the dangerous or defective product was unreasonably dangerous, you may have grounds for a claim against the manufacturer, distributor or seller.

A product is considered unreasonably dangerous if any of the following are true:

• The product is not as safe as a person would expect when used as it was intended.
• The product fails to perform as the manufacturer believed it would or intended it to.
• The risk of danger in the product's design outweighs the benefits of the design.

Generally, product liability cases in Florida must be filed within two years from the date that you were injured. While there are some exceptions to this general rule that may allow later filing, it is important that you contact a Miami product liability lawyer as soon as possible to ensure your claim is given the attention it deserves and that no statute of limitations passes.

At Friedman Rodman Frank & Estrada, our Miami defective product lawyers are committed to obtaining favorable results in our clients' product liability claims. From the moment you bring us onto your team, we will immediately get to work investigating and preparing your case for success. We also offer free consultations, during which we will answer any questions you have, explain the recovery process, and provide an honest assessment of the strength of your case. We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Contact our Miami law offices by calling us 305-448-8585 or connect with us online to schedule a free and confidential consultation.