Savannah Product Liability Lawyer
You buy things expecting them to work. At the very least, you expect them not to actively try to injure you. A toaster should toast bread, not start a fire. A medication should help, not cause a worse problem. A kid’s toy shouldn’t be a choking hazard waiting to happen.
Seems simple, right? Yet, every year, thousands of people across the country, including right here in Savannah, get hurt by products that are faulty, poorly designed, or lack proper warnings.
If a faulty product messed up your life, you might have a product liability case. Holding companies accountable isn’t easy, but it’s necessary. Talk with a Savannah product liability lawyer at Hasner Law PC Personal Injury & Workers’ Compensation Attorneys to discuss your options.
Call us at (912) 234-2334 for a free consultation, or complete our online form.
Why Bring Your Savannah Product Liability Case to Hasner Law PC Personal Injury & Workers’ Compensation Attorneys?
At Hasner Law PC Personal Injury & Workers’ Compensation Attorneys, we focus on personal injury law throughout Georgia, including here in Savannah.
When you’re up against a manufacturer—often a large corporation with significant resources—you need a team that isn’t intimidated and knows how to build a strong case.
Thorough Investigations
Product liability cases require digging deep. We work to secure the defective product, gather evidence about its design and manufacturing history, identify all responsible parties, and understand the full extent of your injuries and losses—including the types of product liability claims that may apply, such as design defects, manufacturing errors, or failure to warn.
We Know Savannah
Our Savannah product liability attorneys have extensive experience handling cases under Georgia’s specific product liability statutes. We know the local courts and procedures.
We’re not some outside firm that simply takes cases in Savannah—our roots are here.
We Deal With the Insurance Companies
You focus on healing while we handle the communications and negotiations with the manufacturer’s insurers and lawyers. We know their tactics and how to counter their lowball strategies.
Our Savannah Product Liability Lawyers Are Prepared for Trial
While many cases settle, we prepare every case as if it will go to trial. This shows the opposition we’re serious and often leads to better settlement offers. If a fair settlement isn’t reached, we’ll present your case forcefully in court.
Bringing a product liability claim is about seeking accountability and the resources you need to recover. It’s about making sure companies prioritize safety over profits.
Call a Savannah product liability lawyer at Hasner Law PC Personal Injury & Workers’ Compensation Attorneys at (912) 234-2334 to discuss your options.
More Than Just Bad Luck: What Product Liability Really Means
So, a product injured you. Maybe it was a malfunctioning power tool, a failed car part, or even contaminated food. You’re hurt, maybe out of work, and facing medical bills.
Product liability law exists precisely because sometimes, it’s not your fault. It’s the product’s fault, and by extension, the companies that made or sold it.
In Georgia, product liability law holds manufacturers and sometimes sellers responsible for injuries caused by defective products.
The core idea is this: if a company puts a product into the stream of commerce, it has a responsibility to make sure it’s reasonably safe for its intended use. The company should be held accountable when it fails and someone gets hurt.
This isn’t about punishing companies just for kicks. It’s about:
- Consumer protection: Discouraging companies from releasing dangerous goods onto the market
- Compensation: Helping injured people cover the costs forced upon them by a bad product – medical bills, lost wages, pain, and suffering
Think about all the products you use daily:
- Cars, trucks, motorcycles, and their parts
- Medical devices (implants, pacemakers)
- Pharmaceutical drugs
- Children’s toys and furniture
- Household appliances
- Power tools and lawn equipment
- Food products
- Safety equipment
Any of these items, and countless others, can be defective and cause serious harm.
Spotting the Flaw: How Products Go Wrong
A defect isn’t just when something breaks. Under Georgia law, there are generally three main ways a product can be considered legally defective:
Design Defects
This is when the entire product line is inherently flawed because the design itself is unsafe. Even if it’s manufactured perfectly according to the plans, the plan itself is the problem.
Think of it like this: Imagine building a chair with only three legs spaced too closely together. No matter how well you build it, it will always be unstable. That’s a design defect.
To win a design defect case, you generally need to show that the design made the product unreasonably dangerous for its intended use and that there was a feasible, safer alternative design that the manufacturer could have used.
Manufacturing Defects
Manufacturing defects occur when something goes wrong during the production process. The design might be perfectly safe, but the specific item you got wasn’t made correctly. It deviates from the intended design.
The blueprint for the chair is fine (four sturdy legs!), but one leg wasn’t attached properly during assembly, or a cracked piece of wood was used. Only that specific chair (or a batch of chairs made during that error) is defective.
These cases often rely on showing how your specific product differed from the manufacturer’s design specifications and how that difference caused your injury. The manufacturer can be liable if the product was flawed when it left the factory and hurt you.
A Savannah product liability lawyer can help investigate your case to determine if your situation applies.
Marketing Defects (Failure To Warn/Inadequate Instructions)
This defect isn’t about the physical product itself, but about the information (or lack thereof) that comes with it.
The product might be dangerous in an obscure way, and the manufacturer failed to provide adequate warnings or instructions for safe use.
The chair is designed and built correctly, but it’s made of a material that can be damaged by common household cleaners. If no warning label tells you this, and you damage the chair (or worse, it collapses after cleaning), that’s a failure to warn.
Manufacturers must warn consumers about dangers that aren’t obvious but are known or foreseeable. The warning must be clear, specific, and placed where a user will likely see it.
Who’s On the Hook? Figuring Out Product Liability in Savannah
When a defective product causes harm, it’s natural to point the finger at the company whose name is on the box. Usually, that’s the manufacturer, and they are indeed a primary target in product liability lawsuits.
Liability can extend to several parties involved in getting that product from the drawing board to your hands, including:
- Manufacturers: The company that actually designed and built the product (or its defective component) is a common defendant. Georgia law holds manufacturers strictly liable for defects existing when the product leaves their control. This means you don’t necessarily need to prove they were negligent, just that the defective product caused your injury.
- Distributors/Wholesalers: Companies that move the product from the manufacturer to the retailer can be liable for injuries caused by a defective product.
- Retailers: The store or entity that sold the product directly to the consumer might be the responsible party.
- Component part manufacturers: If a specific part of a larger product was defective (like faulty airbags in a car made by a separate company), the maker of that part could also be liable.
- Designers: If a separate firm designed the product for the manufacturer, they might bear responsibility for design defects.
Strict Liability vs. Negligence in Georgia
Georgia primarily uses strict liability for manufacturers. This is generally more favorable to the injured person because it focuses on the product’s condition, not the manufacturer’s behavior. T
To establish a strict liability claim against a manufacturer, you typically need to show:
- The manufacturer made the product.
- The product was defective when it left the manufacturer’s control.
- The defect was the proximate cause of your injuries.
- The product was intended to reach the user without substantial change.
A negligence claim argues that the company failed to exercise reasonable care in the design, manufacturing, inspection, or warning process, and this failure led to your injury.
A Savannah product liability lawyer can investigate the entire supply chain to determine who was involved.
What Can You Actually Recover? Compensation in Product Liability Cases in Savannah
You may recover damages that cover your losses because of the defective product, including:
- Medical expenses: All costs related to treating your injuries, including hospital stays, surgeries, doctor visits, medication, physical therapy, assistive devices, and future medical care projections
- Lost wages: Income you lost because you couldn’t work due to your injuries
- Loss of earning capacity: Compensation if your injuries permanently affect your ability to earn income at the same level as before
- Property damage: The cost of repair or replacement of any property damaged by the defective product
- Pain and suffering: Compensation for the physical pain and emotional distress caused by the injury and its aftermath depends on several factors, which is why it’s important to understand How Are Pain and Suffering Damages Calculated in personal injury claims. These damages are often based on the severity of the injury, the length of recovery, long-term effects, and how the injury has impacted your daily life.
- Emotional distress: Covering anxiety, depression, PTSD, sleep disturbances, or other psychological impacts
- Disfigurement or scarring: Compensation for permanent physical changes
- Loss of enjoyment of life: Payment if the injuries prevent you from participating in hobbies, activities, or daily life experiences you previously enjoyed
A Savannah product liability lawyer can evaluate all your damages to build a comprehensive claim for the full compensation you deserve.
You’ve Been Hurt By a Product in Savannah. Now What?
Once the dust settles and you’re home safe after getting initial medical attention, take these three steps to protect your health and any potential legal claim:
- Preserve the product: Keep the defective product, its packaging, instructions, receipts, and any broken pieces. If you throw it away or let the manufacturer take it back “for inspection” without consulting a lawyer first, you could severely damage your case.
- Document everything: Take photos of your injuries immediately and as they heal. Keep a journal detailing your pain, symptoms, limitations, and how your injuries affect your daily life. Keep copies of all medical records, bills, appointment dates, doctor’s notes, prescriptions, and therapy records. Record mileage to and from appointments and note missed workdays and lost income.
- Talk to a Savannah product liability lawyer: Product liability law is complex. Large corporations have teams of lawyers ready to defend these claims. You need someone who understands the process, knows Georgia law, can hire engineers or other professionals to examine the product if needed, and can fight for your interests.
Frequently Asked Questions About Savannah Product Liability Cases
Dealing with a defective product injury brings up a lot of uncertainty. Here are answers to some common questions we hear after a product failure in Savannah:
I Think I Might Have Misused the Product Slightly. Can I Still File a Claim in Georgia?
Georgia uses a modified comparative fault rule, which means if you were partially at fault for your injury, you might still be able to recover damages, but your percentage of fault will reduce your recovery amount.
Don’t assume you were mostly at fault, though. Often, what seems like misuse might actually be a foreseeable use that the manufacturer should have warned against or designed for.
Let a Savannah product liability lawyer evaluate the details before you make any assumptions.
How Long Does a Product Liability Case in Savannah Usually Take To Resolve?
Some straightforward cases might settle within several months to a year. However, complex cases involving severe injuries, multiple defendants, or disputes over technical issues can take considerably longer, potentially several years, especially if they go to trial.
Factors influencing the timeline include:
- The severity of your injuries and the length of medical treatment
- The complexity of proving the defect
- The number of parties involved
- Whether the manufacturer/insurer disputes liability or damages
- The court’s schedule
Do I Sue the Manufacturer, the Store, or Someone Else?
The manufacturer is usually the primary target, but others in the distribution chain could also be held liable. Georgia law makes it somewhat harder to sue a product seller (like a retailer) under strict liability unless they also manufactured the product.
However, negligence claims might still apply to sellers or distributors who acted carelessly. As your Savannah product liability attorney, part of our job is to investigate the entire supply chain and identify all potentially responsible parties to maximize your chances of a full recovery. What Happens If Your Insurance Claim is Denied is also something we prepare for, ensuring we’re ready to push back with supporting evidence and protect your right to compensation.
How Long Do I Have To File a Product Liability Lawsuit in Savannah?
Generally, you have two years from the date your injury occurred (or the date you reasonably should have discovered the injury caused by the product) to file a lawsuit.
There’s also a separate, absolute deadline for product liability claims against manufacturers. You cannot bring a claim more than ten years after the date the product was first sold for use or consumption, regardless of when you were injured.
Missing these deadlines means you likely lose your right to seek compensation permanently. Don’t wait—talk to a lawyer as soon as possible to protect your rights.
Call Hasner Law PC Personal Injury & Workers’ Compensation Attorneys Today
If a defective product in Savannah injured you, you might have legal options. Take the first step towards holding the negligent manufacturer accountable and getting the compensation you need to move forward. Contact Hasner Law PC Personal Injury & Workers’ Compensation Attorneys today at (912) 234-2334 for a free, no-obligation consultation, or contact us online.
