Damages in Product Liability Cases

When you buy a product, you do not expect to be injured by it. You may assume that a manufacturer has conducted appropriate testing and that if it were unsafe, it would not have put the product into the marketplace. Unfortunately, defective products do exist and can cause catastrophic or fatal injuries. You may need to bring a product liability lawsuit to recover your damages after being injured by a defective product. You should call the experienced Atlanta product liability lawyers at Van Sant Law. We represent consumers who are pursuing damages in product liability cases.

If we can establish a manufacturer’s liability, we may be able to recover compensatory damages on your behalf. These are damages intended to put you back in the position in which you would have been had you not been injured by a defective product. They can include both economic and non-economic losses.

Economic losses may include medical bills, lost wages, out-of-pocket expenses, and replacement services. The nature and type of these losses depend on the extent of your injuries. For example, if you were hurt in a vehicle rollover due to roof crush because of a truck’s flawed design, you may be left paralyzed and in need of medical emergency care, ongoing treatment, rehabilitation, and therapy. You may also need to make alterations to your home and obtain assistive equipment. You may be able to recover those losses in a product liability lawsuit. For another example, if a kitchen appliance exploded in your face due to a manufacturing defect, and you sustained disfigurement, scarring, and vision loss, you may be able to recover the costs of revision surgery, as well as assistive devices for the vision loss. You may need household help after the accident, and this may be another of the items that you can recover.

Economic losses tend to be stable because they are supported by documentation. On the other hand, non-economic losses can vary dramatically depending on the attorney who represents you and your own traits.

Non-economic losses may include pain and suffering, loss of earning capacity, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of consortium, and disfigurement. The jury will determine your non-economic losses according to what it believes would naturally flow from your injuries.

Your own personal traits can affect the amount and nature of your damages. Bias can also affect the damages award. Insurance adjusters and jury members may believe, for example, that injuries that result in scarring more greatly affect the emotional life of young women than elderly men. Facial scars may be assumed to create more emotional distress for young women. For another example, if you were in a vehicle rollover that resulted in spinal cord injuries and could no longer play pickup basketball every day, or work in a job in carpentry for which you had been trained, the jury may be inclined to believe that you sustained a great loss.

Punitive damages are awarded to punish the defendant and deter future misconduct. They may be awarded when a manufacturer's conduct was egregious. For example, it may be appropriate to seek punitive damages when a manufacturer knew that a product was unsafe but sold it anyway for profit. To obtain punitive damages in Georgia, your attorney must be able to show that the defendant's conduct was oppressive, wanton, fraudulent, malicious, willful, or totally lacking in care, such that there is a presumption of conscious indifference to consequences.

If you want to know more about damages in product liability cases, you should talk to the seasoned personal injury attorneys at Van Sant Law. We are an adapting and safety-conscious law firm, so we can sign up your case electronically without face-to-face interactions. We are also able to visit you in your home if that is preferable. We have offices in Atlanta, Alpharetta, Athens, Cumming, Duluth, Lawrenceville, and Gainesville, and we represent clients throughout Georgia. Call us at 855-GA-INJURY or complete our online form.