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Were you or a loved one hurt by a product that was dangerous or defective? If so, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries and trauma. A Portland product liability lawyer at Tillmann Law Personal Injury Lawyers can help you recover compensation from the company responsible.
Our lawyers have recovered millions of dollars for our injured clients, including those who are hurt by dangerous products. We help to protect consumers and stand up to negligent businesses and manufacturers.
Call our office in Portland, OR, at (503) 272-8986 to set up a free consultation and learn more about our legal services.
It’s hard to stand up to a big corporation or manufacturer without a lawyer. Tillmann Law Personal Injury Lawyers will advocate for you and stand up for your rights if you’ve been hurt by a dangerous product. Our Portland personal injury lawyers will negotiate with the defendant and insurance companies to get you the compensation you need to recover.
In the past 17 years, we have been recognized as a National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyer and a Super Lawyer by Super Lawyers Magazine.
When you hire us to handle your product liability case we will:
We create a unique case strategy for each client. Call our Portland, Oregon, office to get started on your case today.
In Portland, “product liability” is a type of civil lawsuit. It is filed against a manufacturer, distributor, seller, or lessor of a product that hurts or kills someone or damages property. To be liable, the plaintiff must prove that the product had a defect, inadequate warning labels, or inadequate instructions on use.
The first purpose of product liability laws is to protect consumers from unreasonably dangerous products. That means that the product is more dangerous than the average consumer would expect. For example, a consumer would expect the inside of their oven to get very hot and cause burns, but would not expect their cell phone to do the same.
The second purpose of product liability laws is to protect consumers from defective products. Products can be defective in the original design or made defective during the manufacturing process. A defective design is inherently dangerous.
The third purpose of product liability laws is to make sure that consumers are made aware of the dangers of a product and how to use it properly. This happens through clear warning labels and instruction manuals.
Dangerous and defective products can cause serious injuries and even death. We help clients who have suffered from all types of injuries, including:
Whether your injury is minor or catastrophic, we can help you recover money to pay for your past medical care and necessary ongoing treatment.
Even if you have a strong product liability case, there are potential defenses. Often the defendant will try to argue that the plaintiff modified or misused a product.
When a plaintiff modifies a product, it means that they altered the design in a way that increased the risk of an accident. For example, if a pot comes with a rubber handle to protect from burns, and then the consumer removes the rubber handle, they have modified the pot to make it more likely to burn them.
Similarly, a plaintiff misuses a product when they use the product in a way that is different from its intended purpose. For example, if the plaintiff uses the pot as a hammer and then breaks their finger. A pot is clearly not intended to be used as a hammer. This use is unforeseeable to a manufacturer or seller. Therefore, they shouldn’t be held liable.
Product liability law covers all different types of products that are available to consumers. Any type of product can be dangerous or defective. Some of the most common types of product liability cases in Portland involve:
A product liability case requires a specialized attorney that can understand the product design, manufacturing process, and exact issues that led to the accident. Tillmann Law Personal Injury Lawyers have the experience necessary to tackle these technical details.
The value of your product liability case will depend on the specifics. People who experience debilitating and permanent injuries will probably recover more money than people who are expected to fully heal. That’s for the simple reason that their medical bills (an emotional trauma) will likely be higher.
However, this isn’t set in stone. Someone with less severe injuries may recover more money. Usually, this happens if the accident was particularly traumatic or the injury causes a huge impact on your quality of life.
One of the first things that we do is estimate the value of your product liability case. Our lawyers will discuss the extent of your injuries and the impact of the injuries on your life. We can use this value as a guideline when we negotiate with the defendant or their insurance company.
The damages in an Oregon product liability case are the same as damages in any personal injury case. Damages are divided into three different categories: economic damages, non-economic damages, and punitive damages.
As the name suggests, economic damages are compensation for financial losses that happen because of an accident. Usually, this type of damage is proven through documentation like bills and invoices or credit card statements.
Examples of economic damages include:
In Oregon, you can technically recover for damage to the defective product itself, even if you aren’t hurt. This is called the intermediate economic loss rule.
Non-economic damages are non-monetary losses that happen after an accident. This is often called pain and suffering. Non-economic damages may arise as a result of a traumatic accident, particularly painful injury or recovery, and the ongoing impact on your life.
Examples of non-economic damages include:
These damages are highly personal and are usually proven through your own testimony or testimony from your loved one. If you are seeking mental health treatment, it can also be proven through those records or your provider.
Punitive damages are an entirely separate category of compensation. The purpose of punitive damages is to punish a defendant rather than to make you whole again. These damages are awarded on top of economic and non-economic damages.
Punitive damages are not allowed in every personal injury case. You can only request punitive damages if the defendant acted with:
For example, in a product liability case, punitive damages may be awarded if a company knew that a product’s design was dangerous and continued to sell it anyways. You could argue that this was a conscious indifference to the life and safety of others.
A Portland product liability lawyer can help determine if punitive damages are available in your case.
In most product liability cases, you have two years to file a lawsuit from the moment that you discover your injury. In a wrongful death case, the statute of limitations is three years.
However, Oregon also has a statute of repose of 10 years. This means you cannot file a personal injury lawsuit if you discover your injury more than 10 years after the first use or purchase of the product. Normally this comes into play in cases involving chemicals, where the poisoning or effect is not known until decades after use.
A Portland product liability lawyer at Tillmann Law Personal Injury Lawyers is available to handle your legal case, while you focus on your physical recovery.
Call our office to set up a time for a free case evaluation. We can discuss the details of your case and explain how we can help. The sooner we develop a strategy and get started, the sooner you can recover money and move on.
