When you buy a product in Santa Rosa, California, you expect that it will be safe. You trust the manufacturer to put care into the product’s design and how it’s manufactured, and to disclose any risks that might be involved in using the product. Unfortunately, some companies prioritize profits over safety, which means that unsafe products make their way into consumers' hands every day.

When you suffer injuries because of an unsafe or defective product in Santa Rosa, you’ll have the right to sue the manufacturer for resulting damages. The experienced Santa Rosa product liability lawyers at Singleton Schreiber can help you assert your rights and fight to hold the manufacturer, distributor, and/or retailer fully accountable for the harm you’ve suffered.

Santa Rosa Product Liability Attorney

Singleton Schreiber is a nationally recognized personal injury law firm dedicated to helping injured consumers stand up to powerful corporations. As local lawyers backed by national resources, we’ve helped our clients win over $2.5 billion in financial awards.

Force the results you deserve by trusting our top-rated product liability attorneys to fight for you. There is no charge for your first case evaluation. Call our Santa Rosa injury attorneys to get started today.

Understanding California’s Product Liability Laws

Millions of products are sold throughout the state of California every year. While the state has some regulations and laws in place, there’s just no way that the government can evaluate every individual product before it hits the market. Product safety is ultimately the responsibility of the manufacturer.

To encourage companies to take this responsibility seriously, California has passed several product liability laws. When a product is defective, the company can be strictly liable when a consumer is injured or killed.

There are three main types of product defects: design, manufacturing, and marketing.

Design Defects

If a product is inherently unsafe because of a problem with its design, it suffers from a design defect. A company can be liable for a design defect if the product “did not perform as safely as an ordinary consumer would have expected it to perform or if the company could have created a reasonably safer alternative design, but didn’t.

Manufacturing Defects

A product can still be defective even if its design is perfectly safe. Sometimes, problems arise during the manufacturing process. A manufacturing defect occurs when the item’s construction deviates from the design, rendering it unsafe. Manufacturing defects might affect a single item or an entire batch of products.

Marketing Defects

Marketing defects exist when a company fails to warn consumers about risks associated with the normal use or foreseeable misuse of a product that could pose a serious threat to consumer health or safety. The consumer, therefore, lacks the information needed to make informed decisions when using a product, which can increase the risk of injury or death.

California product liability law also gives consumers the right to sue on the basis of negligence or breach of warranty.

Representing Consumers Injured By All Types of Defective Products in Santa Rosa, CA

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), 31 million Americans are injured because of consumer products every year. Another 23,000 are killed by consumer products.

Many consumer injuries and deaths are caused by product defects.

At Singleton Schreiber, we appreciate that it can be intimidating to take on a powerful corporation or manufacturer and accuse them of putting an unsafe product in your hands. We’re here to level the playing field, force the manufacturer to take responsibility for its products, and help you get the money you need to move forward with your life.

Our personal injury attorneys in Santa Rosa have experience handling cases involving:

Prescription medications, including Elmiron and Terbutaline
Over-the-counter medications, including Acetaminophen
Personal care products, including talc powder, hair relaxers, and Yianna waist trainers
Vehicles and vehicle components
Children’s products and toys
Medical devices and equipment
Pesticides and herbicides
Household appliances
Furniture
Electronics
Cleaning products
Heavy machinery
Construction equipment

If you’ve been injured because a product was defective, do not hesitate to call our Santa Rosa law office. Members of our team are always available to take your call and set a time for a free consultation.

What Damages Can Be Awarded to Injured Consumers in Santa Rosa?

Through a product liability lawsuit, you can sue a product manufacturer, distributor, and/or retailerd for compensatory damages.

Compensatory damages can include economic awards and non-economic awards, which each serve a distinct purpose.

Economic damages help you deal with the financial costs of your injuries, including:

Current and future medical bills, including hospitalization, surgery, medication, and rehabilitation
Nursing care
Lost wages and income
Temporary and/or permanent disability
Reduced earning capacity
Funeral expenses
Property damage

Non-economic damages help you handle the trauma and changes in your life that aren’t easily valued, such as:

Pain and suffering
Disfigurement
Physical scarring
Reduced quality of life
Loss of consortium
Chronic physical pain
Inconvenience
Post-traumatic stress disorder

California law also permits punitive damages in limited situations. When a product liability lawsuit goes to trial, a company can be forced to pay punitive damages when there’s clear and convincing evidence that it acted with malice, oppression, or fraud. Many times, companies are ordered to pay additional damages as punishment when there’s proof they concealed known risks about a product or knowingly sold an unsafe product.

Trust Singleton Schreiber to Help You Maximize Your Santa Rosa Product Liability Settlement

You won’t have unlimited time to sue a company for a defective product. California state law requires a plaintiff to file a product liability claim within two years of the date of an injury, the date an injury is discovered or should have been discovered through reasonable diligence, or wrongful death.

Don’t stress about how to file your claim, who to file it against, or when the filing deadline will expire. Focus on getting better and leave your personal injury lawsuit to Singleton Schreiber.

Our Santa Rosa product liability attorneys are award-winning California litigators with decades of experience taking on powerful manufacturers and corporations. As fearless advocates for injured consumers, we’ve won billions in monetary awards.

Find out what it means to have our top-rated law firm in your corner by calling our Santa Rosa law office today. Your first consultation is free.