Huntington Beach Product Liability Lawyer

Hurt by a Defective Product in Huntington Beach?

When a product fails, the injuries can be sudden and serious: a chair that collapses, a battery that catches fire, a tool without a working guard, or a car part that gives out on the road. California law lets people injured by defective products hold the companies that made and sold them responsible. The Law Offices of Brent W. Caldwell represents people hurt by defective products in Huntington Beach and across Orange County. Our office is on Beach Boulevard, and the consultation is free.

How Product Liability Works in California

California was the first state to adopt strict product liability. In many cases you don’t have to prove the company was careless, only that the product was defective, that it was being used in a reasonably foreseeable way, and that the defect caused your injury. A product can be defective in three ways:

• Manufacturing defect: the item that hurt you came out different from the design, such as a cracked part, a bad weld or contamination.
• Design defect: the whole product line is unsafe, or the risks of the design outweigh its benefits when a safer design was available.
• Failure to warn: the product didn’t come with adequate instructions or warnings about a risk the company knew or should have known about.

Responsibility doesn’t stop with the manufacturer. Parts makers, distributors and the retailer that sold the product can also be liable. If you were partly at fault, for example by misusing the product in a foreseeable way, compensation can be reduced, but the claim isn’t automatically barred.

Products That Commonly Cause Injuries

• E-bikes, scooters and lithium-ion batteries: battery fires, frame and brake failures
• Vehicles and auto parts: tires, airbags, seat belts and brakes
• Furniture and fixtures: chairs, ladders and shelving that collapse
• Power tools and machinery without proper guards or shutoffs
• Household products and appliances that overheat, shock or burn
• Children’s products: toys, cribs and car seats
• Medical devices and implants

A product doesn’t have to be recalled for you to have a claim, but a recall can be strong evidence. You can search recalls on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s website and, for vehicles, on NHTSA’s.

What to Do After a Product Injury

1. Get medical care and tell the doctor what product was involved.
2. Keep the product and all its parts, exactly as they are. Don’t repair it, throw it away or send it back to the company. The product is usually the most important evidence.
3. Keep the packaging, manual, receipt and any warranty or registration.
4. Photograph the product, where it was used and your injuries.
5. Write down how you were using it when it failed, while you remember the details.
6. Don’t sign anything or give a statement to the manufacturer or its insurer before you get advice.

Proving a Product Case

Product cases often turn on expert analysis: engineers who examine the failed part, compare it with the design, and look at how similar products are built. We preserve the product, track down the manufacturer and every company in the chain of sale, and look for recalls, complaints and prior incidents. If a lawsuit is needed, cases from Huntington Beach are filed in Orange County Superior Court at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana. Cases the court designates as complex go to its Civil Complex Center.

Product Liability Results

• $2,725,000 for a chair collapse at a Las Vegas restaurant. The initial offer was $0.
• $2,000,000 for an airplane emergency slide collapse.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. See more case results.

No Win, No Fee

The consultation is free, and we handle product liability cases on a contingency fee: no attorney fees unless we recover compensation for you. Your written fee agreement explains how fees and case costs, including expert costs, work.

How Long Do You Have to File?

A product liability injury claim in California generally must be filed within two years of the injury. Some injuries aren’t discovered right away, which can affect when the deadline starts. The exact deadline depends on the facts. See California personal injury deadlines.

Huntington Beach Product Liability FAQ

The product wasn’t recalled. Do I still have a case?
Possibly. Many defective products are never recalled. A recall helps, but it isn’t required.

I bought it online or secondhand. Who is responsible?
It depends on who made and sold it. Manufacturers can still be liable for defects even if you bought the item used. Online sales can involve several companies, and we work out which ones can be held responsible.

The company offered to replace it if I send it back. Should I?
Not before you get advice. Once the product is gone, proving the defect is much harder.

What if I wasn’t using it exactly as the instructions said?
You may still have a claim if the way you used it was reasonably foreseeable. Your share of fault may reduce the recovery.

How much is my case worth?
It depends on your injuries, medical costs, lost income and the companies involved. We can explain what drives the value after we review the facts.

Related Help

Hurt by an unsafe property condition rather than a product? See our Huntington Beach slip and fall and premises liability page. For other injuries, see Huntington Beach personal injury, or Orange County product liability if you were hurt elsewhere in the county.