Defective Product Lawyer
Dangerous Products Injury Cass County, MO Residents
We can help you if you have been injured by a product that is unreasonably dangerous. Dangerous products can be found throughout Kansas City, Cass, and Johnson County, Missouri. These hazards are inside our homes, our vehicles, and workplace. In many cases, accidents occur because the products don’t behave in the manner that their advertising suggests. Instead, they injure and kill innocent users from Harrisonville, to Belton to Warrensburg, MO.
Benefits of Trusting Us to Help You
- We will help save other victims from the harm you’ve suffered.
- We’ll work with the manufacturer so you don’t have to.
- You’ll get help to pay your medical bills.
- We help reduce the amount of your medical bills.
- We prevent liens from being asserted against your property
- We prevent negative information from harming your credit score.
- You get compensation for your lost wages and property damage.
- You can recover money to pay for future medical
- You can get compensation for disability, pain, and your personal losses.
- You’ll have our 42+ years of experience in this field working for you.
Products with Defects in their Design
Kansas City and Mid-Missouri injury victims are often harmed because of the design of a product. This means the way the manufacturer created and designed the product was unsafe and unreasonably dangerous.
This may even occur when there is no flaw in the manufacturing process itself. It is an important distinction because it means that every product that manufacturer made and will make will have the defect that caused your injury. All such products are unreasonably dangerous for their anticipated use.
As a result, people throughout Kansas City, Missouri, even the United States and the World (wherever the product is found) may be injured by it. This makes defective design cases very important to pursue as they can save many people from personal injury, and even death. These cases benefit society by making it safer.
Products that Suffer From a Manufacturing Defect
Errors occasionally occur in all manufacturing process. Corporations that sell these products have a duty to provide innocent users with a safe product.
Every manufacturer should test its products to make sure they meet industry standards. When those companies make a manufacturing error that results in a dangerous product; when those companies fail to test to find the unsafe product (or they send it out anyway); they need to compensate the persons they injure.
It is rare for a company to simply accept responsibility and pay for a manufacturing error. This is especially true where the product defect causes severe personal injury. That is where our product defect law firm comes in.
We gather the evidence of where and how the manufacturing defect occurred and establish proof that the injury was caused by that manufacturing defect. We will also help the manufacturer live up to its moral obligations to pay for harm it caused.
Benefit from Our Experience
The injury defective product lawyers at Hamilton & Associates are the most skilled and experienced accident lawyers in Missouri. This is why other attorneys refer defective product cases to our accident law firm.
We have specialized skill, knowledge, experience and resources in this niche practice area of personal injury and wrongful death law. You’ll benefit by having our experience working for you.
Call our law offices and ask about our experience. These cases make interesting stories and the best part is when our cases make Kansas City and Missouri safer. For example, we worked to replace concrete playgrounds with safer wood chip areas, saving many Kansas City children from injury, but that’s not all.
We have also corrected defective deadly railroad crossings, gotten dangerous shopping carts that injure child occupants out of Kansas City stores, help clients exposed to dangerous chemicals receive compensation and even worked to remove exploding aerosol cans from shelves. These are just a few examples of our defective product injury successes.
- Defective product cases are different from other types of personal injury cases. Many otherwise highly expert defective product lawyers will get into trouble with a defective design case. Manufacturers take these cases very seriously; expect them to focus their time, resources and many attorneys to defeating a defective product case.
Expect the company to only settle the case if they feel they are faced with an experienced trial attorney with a proven track record in this field. Let our defective product lawsuit experience work for you.
Manufacturer Defenses
Death and personal injury claims caused by defective products are made against a number of types of entities. These include the entity that:
- Designed the dangerous product
- Tested the defective product
- Manufactured the defective product
- Sold the dangerous product
These entities tend to fight claims claims extremely vigorously. They employ any tactic available. This is why most lawyers shy from developing the skills and experience in strict product liability lawsuits. This is also why the economics, the cost of bringing the claim are so high. Look to our tutorial section for help in revealing false defenses posed by the entity seeking to evade its own fault.
Punitive Damages for the Conscious Disregard of Safety
Lawsuits for the faulty design, testing, or manufacture of a product nearly always allege that the party at fault was negligent. This means that the manufacturer or designer failed to take the steps needed to make sure its product was not dangerous. More specifically, the manufacturer (or designer) failed to use “a degree of care that an ordinarily careful person would use under the same or similar circumstances.” (Missouri Approved Instruction 11.07). In other cases that involve a defective dangerous product, “strict product liability” is alleged by the victim’s defective product lawyer. This allegation states that the product was in a defective condition in that it was “unreasonably dangerous when put to a reasonably anticipated use” without knowledge of its characteristics. (Missouri Approved Instruction 25.05).
Punitive damages; damages to punish the manufacturer, are another type of defective product case allegation. These are exemplary damages, meaning they seek to give money to the victim over and above the victim’s actual damages, say from medical bills, lost wages, pain, disability, and suffering. The purpose of punitive damages is to punish the wrongdoer. Moreover, punitive damages seek to award high damages for the purpose of persuading other manufacturers, who may be interested only in profit, that it is unprofitable to market a defective product that harms people. Click the link on the picture here to learn more on the process of getting punitive damages for defective product claims.
Electronic Evidence
Defective product cases allege failures in testing, data interpretation, and manufacturing processes. Moreover, the issue of when the company knew or should have known its product injured customers is critical to case value. These issues are nearly always stored electronically.
Manufacturers, distributors, and retailers will not want the injury victim to discover that they knew their product was dangerous, and took no action. These records of dangerous product notice are nearly always stored, even hidden, electronically. It has become a critical skill of a defective product law firm to reveal hidden electronic records.
This added skill set is another distinction between an ordinary personal injury law firm, and one that handles defective product cases effectively. Follow this link and learn more about our process:
Benefit from Our Resources
Take advantage of the resources we have gathered from years of trial work with defective product injury cases. It takes a great amount of time and research to gather teams of experts and other evidence sources to face off toe-to-toe with a major manufacturer. Our law firm has gathered such teams to get compensation for injury victims in product cases. Often the individuals with the experience in the product field and the experts that must testify for your case are difficult to find. Let our teams work to win your case.
Product defect cases are also expensive. Difficult to gather evidence must be found, the experts need to be compensated and extensive travel can be involved. As a result, defective product cases can cost tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to bring to trial. You will want to retain a law firm that is able to invest in your case. Call us today and we’ll talk over the details.
Litigation Costs, Experts, and Case Investments
Most personal injury law firms do not handle defective product cases. A larger problem, from the point of view of the injury victim, is choosing a defective product law firm that is not just pretending. Several factors contribute to this.
- Defective product cases require multiple unusual experts
- Defective product cases require attorneys to have technical knowledge and experience
- Defective product cases require larger investments from the law firm, throughout the process
- Most defective product cases do not settle early, but must go to trial.
- Defective product cases take longer, often years longer
When you’re considering hiring a law firm, and speaking with the lawyer, make sure he can discuss in detail these issues. If unaware of them, run the other way.
One interesting way to improve case value is through the benefit of having the client request their own medical records early. This may sound inconvenient, difficult, and unnecessary. However, there are several advantages. Look to our video here to learn:
Frequently Asked Questions about Kansas City Defective Product Injury Cases
You pay Nothing up front. You pay No fee whatsoever unless we collect money for you. In the case we do succeed in getting you reimbursement for your injuries, only at that time will our costs and fee be deducted.
Cass County and Johnson County, Missouri personal injury product defect cases are just like Kansas City product defect cases; at least from the perspective of the costs involved. You will need at least one medical expert to testify as to your accident injuries. Our attorneys will likely pick your treating physician. This will still cost thousands of dollars to over ten-thousand dollars to do. We will pay this bill out of our law firm bank account.
It may be that your treating physicians are unable or unwilling to testify in a deposition or at trial. In that case, we will connect with a “retained” medical expert to testify on your behalf. A retained expert is not some “hired gun.” He is simply an expert with similar qualifications who has the experience to feel comfortable with law suit testimony.
There are qualified experts for these matters at Belton Research Hospital, Cass County Medical Center in Harrisonville and at hospitals from Warrensburg to Butler in Bates County, Missouri. We will pay this up front cost.
Your defective product personal injury lawsuit will also need at least one expert regarding the defect in the product. This is a person with specialized knowledge and experience regarding the product and what went wrong with it. This is an area that distinguishes our product defect accident law firm from personal injury attorneys — our specialization in product defect cases.
It takes many years of experience in handling many accident injury cases where a product defect is involved to gather a team of experts who know and can testify about products that injure people. These are Engineers from Kansas City to New York and Los Angeles. They include the nation’s leading experts on the product that injured you.
We also utilize college professors from the University of Missouri at Columbia, the University of Kansas at Lawrence, UMKC, and the like. These people know the physics and mechanics involved in your case and can teach the jury why and how the defective product failed and injured you. Our law firm will pay the upfront cost of these experts.
Many other expenses are involved in personal injury product defect cases. These include the cost of medical records, medical bills, deposition costs and exhibits for use at trial. We pay these costs up front so you are not burdened by this expense. We charge no attorney’s fee unless we collect for you.
He can, but your product defect case and its result may suffer.
The right tool
Think of choosing an attorney like choosing a tool for a particular job. A Phillips-head screwdriver and a Standard flat-head screwdriver perform similar functions. In some cases they can do the same job. However, it is much easier, effective and takes less time to use the proper tool.
So too, your product defect injury claim will be handled in a more effective manner, will take less time and be less trouble for someone that hires a personal injury attorney with specific experience in your locality (mid-Missouri, Cass and Johnson County) and more importantly, with specific product liability defect experience.
The right local knowledge
Different laws apply to products liability cases. Indeed, within this very field, bringing a manufacturing defect products liability case is very different than a design defect products liability case. The jury that will hear your case will have different instructions.
Surprisingly, the manufacturer who is accused of marketing the dangerous defective product (that injured you) will respond differently to different kinds of products liability cases. You will be best off choosing a personal injury law firm that knows your local court system, the local juries, and most of all, has extensive experience in defective product liability injury law.
The right experience
Personal injury claims are often brought against parties who are represented by adjusters and defense lawyers hired by insurance companies. Every insurance company works hard to keep its losses as low as possible, and they keep costs low by aggressively defending claims. Expect for your opposition to be represented by an attorney with a great deal of experience in personal injury defense. You should hire a lawyer that is an expert in pursuing personal injury claims, who can best protect your interests.
Assets
You are on the Internet. Go to the firm’s website. If they can’t afford a good website; they can’t afford a defective product case. This is not being coy. Dangerous product cases are difficult, expensive matters.
Specialty Areas
Second, look at the types of cases the injury law firm handles. You will want to look for specific experience in manufacturing product defect cases and defective design products liability claims. If it is not highlighted; then the firm does not do a significant amount of work in this area.
Local Knowledge
Third, choose a law firm familiar within your geographic area, say Kansas City, Missouri. This will reduce your costs and the product attorney will not have to constantly travel. Choosing a lawyer from your area (Lee’s Summit, Belton, Raymore, Warrensburg) means you will have an advantage over the lawyers for the manufacturer of the dangerous injury causing product. Your law firm will know the local court system, the clerks, the Judges, the Jury pool. This will increase your chance of success.
Product/Industry Experience
Fourth, look for experience with dangerous defective product injury cases. You will probably have to call and ask the attorneys about this. A busy, successful attorney does not have the time and does not need to list every dangerous product case he has handled. However, it will help if the product injury attorney has handled cases involving similar products.
Your preference & Trust
Fifth, choose the attorney you have confidence in and trust. You will have to work with this person for a significant period of time. Product defect cases take time. You will have to rely and trust the advice this product defect lawyer gives you, so your personal preference is important.
Feel free to call us at 816-540-4040 to discuss you injury case. We’d be happy to talk with you.
Good News. The cost of a products liability attorney is one thing that is very different in this area of the law.
First, there is no question of whether you should handle your injury case yourself. Manufacturers will not deal with injured victims that do not have a product lawyer. You will need an attorney.
Second, the products liability law firm you choose will take a percentage of the money they make you as their fee. Costs will be deducted and you will get the rest. Expect to receive more money that you pay the product attorney.
You will not have to pay anything out of your personal assets to the products defect injury lawyers that represent you. It is a win-win situation. That is good news.
Missouri’s law of “Strict Product Liability” will help. Missouri law allows a victim injured by a product to sue the retailer and in some cases the wholesaler directly for a defect in the design of the product or for a defect in the manufacture of the product.
This means even though the retailer did not design the product; it is obligated to pay an injured victim for his or her injuries if the victim bought the dangerous product from its store. It means that the retailer is obligated to compensate an injured person for damages caused by one of its products, if it has a manufacturing defect.
Why is this fair? Several reasons. First, Missouri law wants retailers in Missouri to make the safety of their customers a priority. It is the retailer who buys products for its business. Retailers are professionals with much experience with the products and specialized knowledge of product characteristics and history. It is unfair for a retailer to buy a product it knows is defective, sell it to customers (who then get injured) and claim “I didn’t make it.” Missouri wants its retailers to look out for the safety of their own customers or face the consequences.
The second reason strict products liability is fair is a concept known as “equity.” Someone has to pay the price for a dangerous defectively manufactured product that injures. There are hospital bills; there is permanent disability; future medical bills; wage loss and in some cases, the costs of a death. These will have to be paid by someone.
- Is it fairer for the innocent injured party to pay for these losses or the retailer that should have known but did nothing but sell the defective product for a profit?
- Should Missouri taxpayers pay the medical bills (through Medicaid, etc) or should the retailer pay?
It was the retailer that had a duty to protect its customer and did nothing. The victim is innocent; the taxpayers are not at fault. Therefore the party most at fault should pay. That is why strict product liability in Missouri is equitable and the law.
Our experienced products liability defect attorneys can give you an estimate of the value of your case. Call us at 816-540-2161. We’ll discuss your case in detail. You will get sound legal advice on your personal injury products claim. We’ll also likely be able to give you a range of the value of your case.
Every product defect case is unique. Different medical injuries are involved. Witnesses in some products liability cases are more persuasive than witnesses in other product defect cases. A case brought in Cass County, Missouri will have a different value than a case brought in Johnson County, Missouri. Bates County will differ too!
It takes a great deal of experience for a personal injury lawyer to accurately estimate case value. Still it is possible with surprising accuracy. However, it is not an easy analysis, and the more the product defect attorney knows; the more accurate the case valuation will be (like the weather).
Our product defect injury attorneys have been handling manufacturing defect and dangerous design cases since 1969. We have the experience to give you good legal advice on the financial situation of your case. Give us a call and let’s discuss the details.
That is not likely. You will almost certainly have to file a lawsuit to pay for your personal injury medical bills and other losses.
Dangerous product defect cases are different than other lawsuits. Generally, insurance companies are not involved. You are attempting to get a large manufacturer or retailer to pay for its own wrongdoing out of its own pocket. This means it must first admit to itself that it did wrong to you. It also means it must give part of its most treasured asset; its money. These huge companies are biased in their own favor; do not expect them to identify or agree with an injured victim.
Here is the Good News
The reasons most people are not the “suing type” and dislike lawsuits do not apply to personal injury dangerous product defect cases.
- Products liability cases make Missouri safer.
- Manufacturing defect cases save Missouri taxpayers money.
- Dangerous design product cases prevent other people from being injured in the future.
That makes them very different than one-time “pain & suffering” cases.
A product defect case gives the victim the opportunity to take a dangerous product off the market and replace it with a safer product. An injured victim, because of the products liability lawsuit, then has the opportunity, not only to pay for his own medical bills, costs and losses, but also to save hundreds or even thousands of people from similar harm.
This is not sweet-talk or puffery. Go to any large retailer and look at all the safety features in the products in the show rooms. Ask someone who has been around a number of years what it was like in the “old days.”
It wasn’t as good. Manufacturers as a general matter will only include costly, time consuming safety features in their product when they have too. The market, sadly, does not provide this incentive. A products liability lawsuit does.
This is your chance to help yourself and help others. Let us assist you.
Call us and we’ll talk it over. 816-540-2161
Yes, we will discuss with you in advance ever demand we make to get you compensation for your injuries. We will speak with you immediately about any offer made to settle your case. You’ll have our expert opinion regarding the offer. We will only settle your products liability case with your express consent.
Kansas City, Cass County, and Johnson County, Missouri have a longer back-log of cases waiting for trial than other jurisdictions like Jackson County, MO at Independence. One should expect at least two years to elapse, after a products liability case is filed before a case will go to trial. It is possible for the case to settle earlier. However, in Circuit Court in Harrisonville and Warrensbug, MO; two years at a minimum to wait.
Bates County, MO cases in Butler may occur faster; however, that will depend on the particular Circuit Court judge’s schedule. The same is true in Kansas City, MO.
The trial attorneys at Hamilton & Associates have a great deal of experience with courts throughout Missouri. Call us if you are concerned about a particular time period for your products liability case. We’ll look into it and give you the best information that is available.