When a company manufactures a product, the manufacturer is assuring the public that the product is safe for its intended use. However, companies routinely sell unreasonably dangerous products that suffer from design or manufacturing defects. These defects can put not only the user of the product in danger, but may also place the general public in jeopardy. Other products, even when properly designed and assembled, present a serious risk to users. Manufacturers of these products have a duty to warn users about a product?s dangers.

When a dangerous or defective product causes injury, the manufacturer may be liable through a Michigan product liability lawsuit. Importantly, when designing a product and determining what warnings to include, manufacturers must consider that a product might be misused. The extent of misuse that a manufacturer must consider, however, is a matter that is typically left for the courts.

The law in Michigan governing defective and dangerous products is very nuanced and can be quite complicated. For example, in some cases, a plaintiff can proceed on a theory of strict liability, meaning there does not need to be a finding that the manufacturer was negligent. However, a plaintiff may need to show that there was a cost-effective alternative design that the manufacturer could have used that would have prevented the risk of injury. In such cases, the testimony of an expert witness will likely be necessary.

At Sommers Schwartz, we routinely handle complex product liability cases in Michigan and throughout the country. Many of our cases pertain to medical devices and dangerous drugs; however, we also handle claims of defective vehicles, machinery and consumer good.