As this blog has discussed on many occasions, manufacturers are expected to produce products that are safe for consumers to use. However, many of these manufacturers fall short of these expectations. In these cases, people are sometimes injured by products they have purchased in the marketplace. Some of these injuries can be severe and cause long lasting damage.
When this occurs, Illinois residents may need to seek compensation for their injuries. This compensation can include medical expenses, lost wages and more. Without this compensation, consumers may be left to shoulder the burden of this difficult injury on their own.
In order to hold some companies responsible for the dangerous products they produce, the doctrine of strict liability has been created. Strict liability holds companies responsible for specifically dangerous products that they produce even when they have not been specifically negligent. This allows consumers to seek the legal relief they need when they are injured, even if the company’s carelessness cannot be shown to have caused those injuries to occur.
In order for strict liability to apply, a product must contain an unreasonably dangerous defect, and have injured a consumer. The defect in the product must have caused the injury while the product was used as it was intended. Finally, the product must be in substantially the same condition as the time the product was sold, and to apply to a seller, that seller must routinely sell that kind of product.
When these conditions are met, consumers may be entitled to compensation from the manufacturer whether not that manufacturer was negligent. It is important for people who have been injured by products to understand their legal rights. For specific legal advice following an injury from an Illinois defective product, individuals should consider speaking with an attorney about product liability laws.