Product Liability
Posted in Car Accidents,Product Liability,Walkup News on April 12, 2018
On March 23, 2018, 38-year-old, San Mateo man, Walter Huang was killed when his Tesla Model X slammed into a concrete barrier on southbound Highway 101 in Mountain View, California and subsequently caught on fire. According to news reports, Mr. Huang’s Tesla Model X was on Autopilot at the time of the crash. Indeed, at the center of this fatal car accident in San Mateo was Tesla’s Autopilot system. According to records provided by Mr. Huang’s family, the victim had taken his Model X into Tesla because the vehicle had veered towards that very same barrier several times previously. After the collision,…
Continue reading Fatal Self-Driving Car Crash in California – The Questions Remain
Posted in Product Liability on August 31, 2017
If you recently incurred injury while using a product, you may wonder if you have legal grounds for a product liability claim. Injuries involving the products we use every day fall under the realm of product liability law. In certain instances, you may be able to collect damages to pay for medical bills, compensate for lost wages, and provide compensation for intangible losses such as pain and suffering. This applies when: Someone manufactured or sold you a defective product A defect led to your injuries You were using the product as intended It’s important to realize that just because you…
Continue reading Did I Misuse a Product or Was It Defective?
Posted in Product Liability,Uncategorized on August 23, 2017
California Talcum Powder Cancer Trial A Los Angeles jury issued Johnson & Johnson with a $417M verdict for failure to warn about the increased risk of ovarian cancer due to regular use of its talcum powder products. This was the first trial in California that explored the link between Johnson & Johnson’s talcum powder products and ovarian cancer, and surely will not be the last. The plaintiff, 63-year-old Eva Echeverria, claims that regular, repeated use of Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Powder for decades, may have contributed to her terminal ovarian cancer. As a result, the jury awarded Echeverria $70 million…
Continue reading Johnson & Johnson Hit with Massive $417M Verdict
Posted in Product Liability on July 28, 2017
New toys enter the marketplace every day. In recent years, hover boards, fidget spinners, and other must-have toys have entered the spotlight as potentially unsafe gadgets. Parents should be able to trust toy manufacturers and marketing messages. When toy companies fail to design, manufacture, and label toys with child safety in mind, consumers retain the right to take legal action. According to the most recent information from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, 11 children under the age of 15 died from toy-related incidents in 2015. During the same year, hospitals treated around 254,200 injuries involving toys. The majority of incidents…
Continue reading Toy Manufacturer Injury Lawsuits
Posted in Product Liability on May 1, 2017
Many of LG’s mobile phones have been targeted by lawsuits due to poor performance. How Serious is the Issue? Some of the allegations include a “boot-looping” problem, where the phone constantly powers up, turns off and reboots – a never-ending cycle. There are also complaints of battery power drain, where the device is rendered useless in a short amount of time. The issues impact a person’s ability to stay connected to the modern world but pale in comparison to the safety problems the Samsung Note 7 manifest, with the lithium batteries of the phone becoming so hot that the phones…
Continue reading Class-action lawsuit over Cellphones
Posted in Product Liability on January 25, 2017
The year 2016 was a big one for product recalls, with perhaps the massive recalls of Takata airbags and the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 making the most headlines. Many of these recalls were the result of consumers suffering serious injury because of the product was defectively designed or manufactured. Here are some of the most important recalls of 2016, as reported by the Glen Falls Post-Star: · Takata airbags. Specifically, the inflators that tended to cause airbags to burst open too hard. At 100,000,000 inflators involved, this is the biggest auto recall in history. · CRF Frozen foods. The company…
Continue reading 2016 in product recalls
Posted in Product Liability on December 23, 2016
Low-cost furniture chain Ikea has announced that it is settling litigation related to the deaths of three young children caused by unstable dressers. The company has reportedly agreed to pay $50 million to the families of the deceased. The tragic deaths were all caused by Ikea’s Malm dressers, which were found to be dangerously ubnstable. The company recalled a total of 29 million dressers earlier this year due to this problem, including the Malm design, offering free installation of wall anchors or a full refund. Unfortunately, this subsequent consumer protection action was too late to save the three children, all…
Continue reading Ikea settles dresser death litigation for $50 million
Posted in Product Liability on August 29, 2016
As we have been reporting on this blog, users of e-cigarettes have increasingly suffered serious burns as the result of problems with the lithium-ion batteries that power them. Now the U.S. Navy is considering a ban on the devices due to safety concerns. The devices use the batteries to heat up the liquid used to transport nicotine, creating a vapor which the user inhales. In a number of cases, the batteries have overheated, causing the e-cigarette to explode or catch fire. Those users have suffered burns to their face, hands and other body parts. According to the Navy Times, the…
Continue reading Navy may ban e-cigarette use due to safety defect
Posted in Product Liability on August 15, 2016
As we previously mentioned on this blog, a growing number of e-cigarette users are becoming seriously injured by this product, which manufacturers market as a safe alternative to cigarettes and other tobacco products. It appears that the batteries that provide the charge in e-cigarettes can have the tendency to explode, causing burns and other serious injuries. You do not even have to be using the device for it to malfunction. One user is suing LG Chem America, which made the lithium-ion battery replacement in his e-cigarette device, for negligence after one of the battery exploded in his pocket this past…
Continue reading Another product liability suit over e-cigarette injuries
Posted in Product Liability on June 29, 2016
By now, our readers have probably heard of the tragic death of the actor Anton Yelchin on June 19. Yelchin, perhaps best known for playing Commander Chekov in the most recent Star Trek films, was killed when his Jeep Grand Cherokee suddenly rolled down his driveway and crushed him. He was 27. What has not been widely publicized is that Yelchin’s Grand Cherokee was subject to a recall related to its gearshift because of hundreds of similar rollaway crashes. That recall took on extra urgency in the wake of Yelchin’s death, according to The New York Times. The Times reported…
Continue reading After Anton Yelchin’s death, Fiat Chrysler speeds up Jeep recall
