Defective Product Lawyers in Chicago

A product that fails unexpectedly can cause far more than inconvenience. Defective machinery can crush or amputate a limb. A lithium-ion battery can ignite and cause severe burns. Unsafe brakes or steering components can lead to a serious crash. A household appliance, power tool, medical device, children's product, or other consumer item can cause permanent injury when it is defectively designed, manufactured, assembled, or accompanied by inadequate warnings.

Sexner Injury Lawyers LLC represents people injured by dangerous and defective products in Chicago and throughout Illinois. Product liability cases can be complex because the product itself may need to be preserved and inspected, technical experts may be required, and manufacturers and insurance companies frequently dispute both the existence of a defect and whether that defect caused the injury.

If you or a family member was seriously injured by a product that failed, malfunctioned, caught fire, broke apart, or otherwise caused unexpected harm, contact Sexner Injury Lawyers LLC or call (312) 243-9922 for a free case evaluation. We can review what happened and determine whether a product liability claim should be investigated.

What Makes a Product Defective in Illinois?

Product liability is not limited to one particular type of product or industry. Illinois law broadly addresses injuries allegedly resulting from the manufacture, construction, assembly, installation, testing, design, labeling, marketing, repair, maintenance, warnings, instructions, and other characteristics of a product.

A product also does not become legally defective merely because someone was injured while using it. A product liability case generally requires evidence connecting a dangerous condition, defect, inadequate warning, or other legally actionable problem with the injury that occurred.

Depending on the circumstances, defective-product cases commonly involve one or more of the following issues.

Manufacturing or Assembly Defects

A product may have a safe basic design but become dangerous because something went wrong while it was being manufactured or assembled. Materials may be defective, components may be installed incorrectly, fasteners may fail, wiring may be improper, contamination may occur, or a particular product may depart from its intended specifications.

Examples can include a shoe sole that separates unexpectedly, a ladder with a defective connection, an improperly assembled machine component, a cracked structural part, or an electrical device with faulty internal wiring.

Design Defects

Sometimes a product is manufactured exactly as intended but the design itself creates an unreasonable danger. Because the problem may be built into the design, numerous units of the same product may potentially present the same hazard.

Design issues may involve inadequate guards, unstable products, unsafe battery systems, components that cannot withstand foreseeable forces, dangerous heating or pressure, defective vehicle components, or products that fail to protect users from reasonably foreseeable hazards.

Inadequate Warnings or Instructions

Some products present risks that cannot be completely eliminated through design. Manufacturers may therefore need to provide appropriate warnings, instructions, operating limitations, maintenance requirements, contraindications, or safety information.

A claim involving warnings may examine what the manufacturer knew or reasonably should have known, what information was provided, who received the warning, whether the danger was adequately explained, and whether a different warning or instruction would have affected what happened.

Examples of Products That May Cause Serious Injuries

Defective-product cases are not limited to drugs and medical devices. Injuries may involve products used at home, at work, during transportation, for recreation, or while receiving medical treatment.

• Cars, trucks, motorcycles, vehicle components, tires, brakes, airbags, seats, and restraint systems
• E-bikes, e-scooters, lithium-ion batteries, chargers, and electrical components
• Power tools, saws, ladders, generators, and construction equipment
• Industrial machinery and workplace equipment
• Household appliances, heaters, grills, ovens, and electrical products
• Children's products, toys, cribs, car seats, and recreational equipment
• Furniture and household products
• Safety equipment and protective devices
• Medical devices, implants, surgical equipment, and certain pharmaceutical products
• Other consumer and industrial products that fail during reasonably foreseeable use

For example, defective batteries, brakes, steering systems, and electrical components can also be involved in e-bike and e-scooter injuries. Dangerous electrical equipment can result in electrical injuries, while overheating products, batteries, appliances, and equipment may cause devastating burn injuries.

Who May Be Responsible for a Defective Product?

Determining who may be legally responsible requires examining how the product was designed, manufactured, distributed, sold, installed, maintained, repaired, and ultimately reached the injured person.

Depending on the facts, an investigation may involve:

• The product manufacturer
• A component-part manufacturer
• An importer or distributor
• A retailer or other seller
• A company responsible for assembly or installation
• A repair or maintenance company
• Other businesses whose conduct contributed to the defect or injury

Illinois has specific rules governing product liability claims against parties other than the manufacturer. For example, a nonmanufacturer seller may in some circumstances identify the manufacturer and seek dismissal of a strict product liability claim, subject to statutory exceptions. Because the applicable defendants and legal theories depend heavily on the facts, liability should be evaluated individually rather than assumed simply because a company participated somewhere in the distribution chain.

You can review the relevant Illinois provision concerning nonmanufacturer defendants in Section 2-621 of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure.

Preserve the Product After an Injury

One of the most important steps after a possible product-related injury is preserving the product itself. The item may ultimately provide critical evidence about why it failed.

When it can be done safely, do not throw the product away, dismantle it, repair it, modify it, return it to the retailer or manufacturer, or allow someone to destroy it before obtaining legal advice. Also preserve related components, packaging, instructions, warnings, receipts, manuals, batteries, chargers, replacement parts, and other materials associated with the product.

Useful evidence may include:

• The product and all broken or detached pieces
• Photographs and video of the product and accident scene
• Model, serial, lot, batch, and manufacturing numbers
• Original packaging, labels, instructions, and warnings
• Receipts and purchase records
• Maintenance and repair records
• Emails or communications with the manufacturer or seller
• Prior complaints, safety notices, or recall information
• Medical records documenting the resulting injuries
• Names and contact information for witnesses

Manufacturers may argue that a product was damaged after the accident, improperly maintained, misused, altered, or repaired. Preserving its condition can help qualified engineers or other experts determine what actually occurred.

Product Recalls and Safety Warnings

A government recall can be important information in a product liability investigation, but a recall does not automatically establish civil liability, and the absence of a recall does not necessarily mean that an injured person has no case.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission publishes recalls and safety warnings involving many consumer products. Depending on the type of product, other federal agencies may also regulate safety issues or recalls.

Evidence concerning prior incidents, complaints, internal testing, design changes, warranty claims, safety notices, regulatory communications, and recalls may become relevant when determining what a manufacturer knew about a potential danger and when it learned about it.

Defective Medical Devices and Dangerous Drugs

Medical products remain an important part of product liability law, but they are only one part of the broader field. Potential claims may involve implanted devices, surgical equipment, prosthetic components, diagnostic equipment, medical instruments, pharmaceuticals, and other products used in patient care.

These cases can present issues that do not arise with ordinary consumer products. Federal regulation, labeling requirements, the approval or clearance process, warnings provided to medical professionals, preemption issues, and the patient's medical history may all require careful analysis.

A medical-device or pharmaceutical product liability claim is also different from a medical malpractice claim. Product liability generally focuses on the product and the conduct of companies involved with it. Medical malpractice generally examines whether a doctor, hospital, or other healthcare provider complied with the applicable standard of care. In some situations, both types of issues may require investigation.

Medical Device Recalls

Medical-device recall procedures are more complicated than simply saying that every dangerous product must automatically be recalled. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration explains that medical-device recalls are usually initiated voluntarily by manufacturers, although the FDA has authority to order recalls in certain circumstances. Manufacturers and importers also have reporting obligations for certain corrections and removals that are undertaken to reduce health risks.

Current information can be reviewed through the FDA's medical device recall, correction, and removal information.

MDLs Are Not the Same as Class Actions

When the same drug, medical device, or other product allegedly injures many people, numerous individual lawsuits may be filed around the country. Some federal cases may then be transferred into multidistrict litigation, commonly called an MDL, for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings.

An MDL is not simply another name for a class action. In an MDL, separate lawsuits involving common factual questions are coordinated before one federal court for certain proceedings. A class action operates under different procedural requirements and may involve one or more representatives acting on behalf of a defined class.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois provides additional information about multidistrict litigation.

What Compensation May Be Available?

The compensation available in a defective-product case depends on the nature of the injury, the evidence establishing responsibility, the effect on the injured person's life, and other circumstances. No particular result can be predicted from another case.

Depending on the facts, damages may include:

• Emergency care and hospitalization
• Surgery, medication, rehabilitation, and therapy
• Past and future medical expenses
• Lost income and diminished earning capacity
• Permanent disability or impairment
• Scarring and disfigurement
• Pain, suffering, and loss of normal life
• Future care and assistance necessitated by serious injuries
• Damages available to qualifying family members when a defective product causes a wrongful death

Serious product failures can result in brain injuries, spinal injuries, amputations, major burns, organ damage, or other catastrophic injuries that affect a person for the remainder of life.

$225,000 Defective Shoe Product Liability Settlement

Sexner Injury Lawyers LLC previously represented a nurse who was injured when the sole of an orthopedic shoe detached while she was walking. The fall caused serious shoulder injuries, including a biceps-labral tear and rotator cuff tendon tear, and extensive treatment was required.

A lawsuit alleged that the shoes had been defectively manufactured or assembled. The manufacturer ultimately agreed to resolve the claim for $225,000. You can read more about the firm's $225,000 defective shoe product liability settlement.

Past results do not guarantee or predict the outcome of another case. Every case depends on its own facts, evidence, injuries, insurance, applicable law, and other circumstances.

How Long Do You Have to File an Illinois Product Liability Case?

Deadlines are extremely important in product liability litigation. Illinois law generally provides a two-year limitations period for many actions seeking damages for personal injuries, but a product liability matter may involve additional rules concerning when a claim accrued, the age of the product, an injured minor, legal disability, wrongful death, warranties, or other circumstances.

The general Illinois personal-injury limitations provision can be found in 735 ILCS 5/13-202, while 735 ILCS 5/13-213 contains provisions specifically addressing product liability.

These statutes should not be used to calculate your own filing deadline. The applicable date can depend on facts that are not apparent from simply reading the statutory language. Prompt investigation is also important because products may be discarded, repaired, altered, or returned and other evidence may disappear even before a legal deadline expires.

How Sexner Injury Lawyers LLC Can Help

Sexner Injury Lawyers LLC has represented injured people and families since 1990. A serious defective-product case may require far more than photographs and medical records. Depending on the circumstances, attorneys may need to preserve and inspect the product, obtain manufacturing and maintenance information, investigate prior incidents, identify every potentially responsible business, evaluate applicable regulations, and work with engineers, physicians, safety professionals, economists, vocational professionals, or other qualified experts.

Our role is to investigate what happened, explain the available legal options, document the full consequences of the injury, and pursue compensation from those who may be legally responsible.

Contact Our Defective Product Lawyers in Chicago

If you or someone in your family suffered a serious injury because a consumer product, machine, vehicle component, electrical device, battery, medical product, or other item unexpectedly failed or presented a dangerous condition, contact Sexner Injury Lawyers LLC.

Call (312) 243-9922 or contact us online for a free and confidential case evaluation. We can discuss the circumstances, determine what evidence should be preserved, and explain whether a defective-product claim should be investigated. For cases we accept, attorney fees are charged only if we obtain a financial recovery for you.