Lisa M. Nousek is a partner at Boies, Schiller and Flexner, LLP, in Armonk, New York. As an attorney, Lisa M. Nousek excels in areas of complex civil litigation, such as product liability lawsuits.
Every year thousands of Americans are injured due to defective products. The United States maintains no federal regulations in relation to product liability law, leaving states to develop their own laws as they pertain to negligence, breach of warranty, and strict liability.
One of the earliest phases of a product liability case involves determining what kind of defect a product carries. A product with a design defect has been inherently unsafe from the first step, even before production begins. Manufacturing defects, meanwhile, occur during assembly, and may exist in every item or only a select few. Finally, marketing defects involve a product that has been inappropriately advertised or a product that lacks sufficient instructions and safety warnings.
During a product liability trial, an attorney may shift the burden of proof from the plaintiff to the defendant, or product manufacturer, on the grounds of res ipsa loquitur. This legal doctrine states that the issue at trial could not exist if not through negligence. At this point defendants can only hope to charge the negligence to another party. Similarly, in cases where strict liability applies, plaintiffs must only prove that the product is defective and are not responsible for proving negligence.
Every year thousands of Americans are injured due to defective products. The United States maintains no federal regulations in relation to product liability law, leaving states to develop their own laws as they pertain to negligence, breach of warranty, and strict liability.
One of the earliest phases of a product liability case involves determining what kind of defect a product carries. A product with a design defect has been inherently unsafe from the first step, even before production begins. Manufacturing defects, meanwhile, occur during assembly, and may exist in every item or only a select few. Finally, marketing defects involve a product that has been inappropriately advertised or a product that lacks sufficient instructions and safety warnings.
During a product liability trial, an attorney may shift the burden of proof from the plaintiff to the defendant, or product manufacturer, on the grounds of res ipsa loquitur. This legal doctrine states that the issue at trial could not exist if not through negligence. At this point defendants can only hope to charge the negligence to another party. Similarly, in cases where strict liability applies, plaintiffs must only prove that the product is defective and are not responsible for proving negligence.
