Product Liability

North Carolina Product Liability Attorneys

Lea, Rhine & Rosbrugh, P.L.L.C. is nationally recognized in the area of product liability cases having handled thousands of these claims either through mass torts, individual claims or class actions. Product liability involves both property damage and bodily injury. We have handled both and will continue to stress these cases as a focal point of our practice.

Product liability deals with cases involving defective or unsafe products. Manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers of products can be held liable for damages arising from the use of defective products. Products covered by this area of law, include food, drugs, and building products, as well as virtually all consumer products. The user who is injured and seeks damages does not always need to be the original purchaser of the product. While our product liability practice is not limited only to North Carolina, this web page will address North Carolina Product Liability law.

A seller or manufacturer's liability is usually based on a common law tort theory or a breach of warranty theory. North Carolina's Product Liability Act sets forth the process for bringing these claims and provides certain defenses. The Act is not a source of liability and instead, a Plaintiff's attorney needs to have a complete grasp of common law negligence and statutory warranty law in order to handle these cases. In addition, as we have done on numerous occasions, we bring unfair and deceptive trade practices claims, negligent misrepresentation claims and fraud claims against a manufacturer when they engage in especially deceptive and intentional actions.

Most negligence claims surround the manufacturer's breach of the following duties:

• Duty to exercise reasonable care in product design and manufacture
• Duty to test and to inspect
• Design defects (an injury-producing hazard accompanying the normal use of a product that was intentionally manufactured according to the design)
• Manufacturing defects (a mistake or abnormality in the manufacturing process that produces an unintended result)
• Failure to warn both pre-sale and post-sale

With respect to warranty claims, we typically analyze:

• Breach of express warranties
• Breach of the implied warranty of merchantability (fit for its ordinary purposes, among other things)
• Breach of the implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose (fit for a particular purpose of which the defendant was aware)

In all cases of product liability, it is essential to the success of the case that the product be preserved and that all paperwork showing the origin of the product is made available. Receipts showing purchase, any repair records, etc., can be vital to building a successful case.

If you or a loved one is in need of legal assistance, call Lea, Rhine & Rosbrugh, P.L.L.C. at 910-772-9960 or toll free at 1-866-772-9960 or submit an online questionnaire.