Defective Products Lawyer in Greene County, MO.

Defective Products Lawyer in Greene County, MO. If you or someone you care about was harmed by a dangerous product, call a Burger law defective products lawyer in Greene County, MO today at (314) 500-HURT or fill out our online form for a free case evaluation.

Think of what your daily like looks like: You may have put on some lotion or hair gel in the morning, take allergy medication, go to school or work on your bike, sit at in a chair or work around heavy equipment, and/or use your iPhone throughout the day. You may go boating on your days off. You may even have a knee replacement or other medical device. It seems we're always using or surrounded by some sort of product that has gone through various stages of design and production before it reaches the shelves. When there is an oversight in the stream of commerce and a product becomes dangerous, it can cause serious injuries to you and your Greene County, MO family. When that happens to you, you need the experienced and devoted legal services of Burger Law's defective products lawyer team to stand by your side and win you the best possible financial recovery you deserve.

In our three decades of negotiation, litigation and trial experience, we have gotten our clients in Greene County and beyond more than $170 million. Talking to us is free, so there's no reason not to reach out. Call a defective products lawyer in Greene County, MO immediately at (314) 500-HURT.

If you were hurt by a defective product in Greene County, MO, discover the true value of your case by utilizing our complimentary personal injury calculator.



Below are some helpful links and FAQS from your Burger Law defective products injury lawyer in Greene County, MO:

• FDA Recall List and Safety Alerts
• Consumer Products Safety Commission Recall List
• U.S. Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Recall List
• Recalls.Gov
• What to Do if You're Injured by a Dangerous Product?
• Can I Sue a Company if Their Product Gave Me Cancer?
• Can I Sue for a Defective Car Part if it Caused My Accident?

How Common Are Defective Products in Greene County, MO?

The Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that defective products are responsible for over 29 million injuries and 21,000 deaths every year.

Based on data from the Insurance Information Institute, in 2019 the mean average that juries awarded plaintiffs in product liability claims was over $7 million, while the median was $2 million. That speaks to the unbelievable devastation an unsafe product can cause.

If you or someone you know was harmed by a hazardous product, call a Burger Law defective products lawyer in Greene County, MO for empathetic, dedicated and expert support and legal advocacy.

How Defective Products Claims Work in Greene County, MO

Pursuant to Missouri Revised Statute §537.760, you and your Greene County, MO defective products lawyer can file a "strict liability" suit if three factors are met:

1. The corporation was involved in the product's stream of commerce.
2. The product was used in a manner rationally foreseen.
3. One or both of the following:
   1. The product had a defective condition that was unreasonably hazardous when the product was sold that caused you direct harm, and/or
   2. You were injured because there was a hazardous characteristic of the product and the labeling or instructions did not give adequate warning.

The "stream of commerce" refers to anyone that took part in the product coming to fruiting and going to the market, from initial conception to purchase, including the person or entity that sold you the product. According to Missouri Revised Statute §5537.762, an entity whose sole connection to the case is that they were the vendor or distributor of the product can be dismissed from the suit if:

• You discover who the manufacturer is, it has not closed their business and is able to pay for the entirety of your damages.
• The vendor signs an affidavit under threat of perjury that they had nothing to do with the product beyond selling it.
• There is no evidence is submitted to the court that the distributor was involved in any other aspect of the chain of distribution.
• The dismissal is requested to the court no later than 60 days after the complaint is filed.

If the aforementioned conditions are met, the vendor would then be dismissed without prejudice, which means the decision to leave them out of the suit is not final. So, if later evidence shows that they had a larger role in the engineering of the product than they intimated, were otherwise to blame for the hazardous condition or the manufacturer is unable to reimburse you for all of the economic, physical and emotional hardships you sustained, your defective products lawyer at Burger Law would have them re-entered into the claim and ensure you get the great financial recovery you are owed.

Missouri Revised Statute §537.764 has an exception for "state of the art products," meaning that a hazardous aspect of the product was not known and could not be discovered when the product hit the shelves. This defense will only work for for failure to warn defective products lawsuits, and the burden of proof is on the defense.

The Difference Between Strict Liability and Negligence in Defective Products Cases

The majority of personal injury cases in Greene County, MO are won or lost based on the notion of negligence. We all have a civil duty to not carelessly cause injuries to other people in certain situations; for example, property owners and managers must make sure their premises is reasonably safe so no one sustains a slip and fall. When someone fails in that duty, for example if are injured by a fatigued truck driver they might be found accountable for your damages and would have to pay you compensation.

By contrast, most product liability or hazardous products claims come down to strict liability, meaning that anyone involved in the manufacture and sale of a product is accountable for any damage a product causes, whether they were negligent or not. According to jury instruction revisions made by the Missouri Supreme Court, defendant's in a product liability case may be held to the strict liability standard if you and your Greene County, MO defective products lawyer can demonstrate that the product was "unreasonably dangerous" — meaning it is unsafe when used as intended or in a foreseeable way — when it left the manufacturer's or distributor's control.

Missouri classifies three different ways in which your defective products lawyer can argue a product was dangerous:

1. Design Defect: A design defect is an innate fault in the design that subsequently passes the fault to all of that product model that go on to be manufactured. An example is a piece of clothing that is easily flammable.
2. Manufacturing Defects: A product can be designed effectively and safely but still become dangerous because of a failure in the manufacturing process. This can either only make one product faulty, for example, one can of soda may have a bug in it, or all of them may contain potentially dangerous chemicals. An example could be installing outdated components or not properly fastening components to each other.
3. Insufficient Warnings and Instructions: This occurs when the product was not hazardous through design or manufacture, but rather when the manufacturer did not include correct and clear instructions or when there is a danger that could arise from normal use of the product. Examples include failing to warn that a hairdryer might cause an electric shock if it comes in contact with water or cleaning solutions that do not mention corrosive chemicals they contain on the label. The company that makes a product generally does not have to warn against dangers that a reasonable person would foresee. For instance, they do not have to warn you that a chainsaw can cut you.

Strict liability is meant to incentivize corporations to implement comprehensive safety protocols for ensuring that their products will not put the people who use it at risk. However, too often corporations do not value our safety and spend more energy on cutting costs than ensuring their products will not cause any damage. When that happens, your Burger Law defective products lawyer in Greene County, MO will fight by your side and demand only a complete financial recovery.

Comparative Negligence in Defective Productions Claims in Greene County, MO

A common defense for manufacturers in a defective products claim is that you are responsible for all or a percentage of your damages. Missouri Revised Statute §537.765 permits for the manufacturer or seller to argue that you are responsible for a portion of your damages and, therefore, they do not have to pay you the full extent of your damages. For example, if a jury awards you $100,000 but finds you were 30 percent at fault for the accident, you will only receive $70,000. Often, comparative negligence arguments are a deceitful attempt a manufacturer makes to eschew their obligation to reimburse you for the harm they have caused. Your Greene County, MO defective products lawyer at Burger Law will not let them get away with it. Under the statute, the defense may argue you bear some or all of the fault if one or several of the following circumstances apply:

• You did not use the product in a manner the manufacturer could foresee. A manufacturer or seller is only has to make a product safe for ways that they can expect a consumer to use it. For example, while chairs are meant to be sat on, it is easy to predict that someone will stand on one. So if a certain model of chair is dangerous to stand on, the manufacturer needs to include a warning not to stand on it. By contrast, if you put wheels on a chair and are injured racing it down the street, you likely do not have a claim because the manufacture would not be expected to foresee that happening.
• You used the product in a way that was clearly against the manufacturer's intent. With this defense, the defendant will likely not be able to avoid liability altogether, but can considerably reduce it but can significantly lower it. Say you crash a car while driving 40 miles per hour over the speed limit and the brakes do not work as well as they should. The manufacturer could reasonably foresee someone doing that, but will not be completely responsible because you were being reckless.
• You used the product while aware of a reasonable level of danger associated with the use. This is often called as "Assumption of the risk," a concept in tort claims wherein, if the injured party was aware of risks, the defendant is not responsible. For instance, if the steering wheel on your vehicle was locking, you neglected to fix it and it caused you to get in an accident, your awareness of the defect and willingness to drive regardless would constitute an assumption of the risk.
• You did not appreciate the dangers of a certain product or activity when a reasonable person clearly would have. For example, you were injured while snowmobiling at high speeds in a blizzard on icy surfaces. The defense could say that any reasonable person would have known that they could be seriously hurt doing such a thing.
• You failed to take necessary safety precautions. Certain products come with safety instructions that the user has an obligation to follow to protect themselves. If you were using or around highly corrosive materials and neglected to wear protection for your eyes or gloves, the defense can argue your injuries would have been avoided had you obeyed proper protocols.
• You did not try to keep your damages to a minimum. In any personal injury claim, you have a duty to try to lessen the amount of compensation you are owed. For example, you cannot seek compensation for medical treatment for injuries that have nothing to do with. The defense may say they do not owe you for a portion of your damages because they are unnecessary or not relevant to the case.

Just because the defense can — and will — try to convince the court that you share part of the blame, that does not mean the claim is automatically true. Large corporations and insurance companies use a variety of tricks to try and minimize your claim, but your Greene County, MO defective products lawyer at Burger Law knows how to effectively counterattack. We know these companies will try everything to avoid paying you and try to take advantage of people unfamiliar with Missouri laws. Our defective products lawyer team takes claims on a contingency fee basis, which means we get paid a moderate percentage of the compensation you receive, and we do not collect any attorney's fees until we win your case. Reach out to Burger Law now at (314) 500-HURT for legal advocacy that matches and exceeds that of bullying corporations and insurance companies.

Defective Vehicle Parts Lawyer in Greene County, MO

Our defective products lawyer team sees in Greene County, MO sees more defective vehicles than any other product, both because of their ubiquity and because of how many components are involved. In 2019 alone, more than 53.1 million recalls were issued both for entire vehicles and individual components. Defective car parts can cause collisions and fires, and fail to protect occupants from harm as intended. Common faulty car parts we see are:

• Brakes
• Airbags
• Ignitions
• Electrical wires
• Wheels
• Seats
• Engine cooling fan blades

Alternative vehicles like ATVs can also cause injuries, for instance many of them are prone to flipping over.

Your Burger Law defective products lawyer has extensive experience investigating car accident claims and injuries and will consult with experts to determine if your accident was the fault of a faulty vehicle component.

Defective Medical Devices Lawyer in Greene County, MO

Medical devices are intended to make our lives better and allow us to live the life we want. But, sometimes they can do the opposite and cause us further injuries when they are defective. Examples of medical devices that your Burger Law defective products lawyer in Greene County, MO has seen cause further injuries to patients include:

• Artificial joints that can lead to infections, instability, chronic soreness or frequent dislocations
• Cardiovascular devises, which can cause infections or even wrongful death because of premature failures
• Surgical robots designed to operate on parts of the body that are difficult for a surgeon to manually reach that, when they malfunction, can lead to perforated organs, infections and electrical burns
• Blood clot filters that do not sufficiently protect the lungs from dislodged blood clots
• Permanent birth control devices that can puncture organs, result in pain in the pelvic region, abnormal blood loss and unplanned pregnancies

As the medical industry keeps coming up with more and more advanced technologies, medical device recalls have increased exponentially. In the first three months of 2018, medical device recalls increased 126 percent, with software issues being the leading cause.

In 2017, the U.S. Health and Human Services Department reported that over 10 years Medicare had to spend at least $1.5 billion to replace in excess of 73,000 flawed cardiovascular devices alone. Medical devices should help relieve pain and lengthen our lifespans, not cause further damage. If a faulty medical device ended up worsening your condition, your Greene County, MO defective injuries lawyer at Burger Law will hold the liable parties accountable and make sure you receive a full financial recovery for all of the unneeded pain you experienced.

Earlier this year, Exactech, a company that manufactures implants and joint replacements, was forced to recall several models of their Polyethylene Knee Replacements. Because of flaws in their packaging and shipping process, the replacements deteriorate sooner than anticipated and have caused unthinkable pain and permanent damage to potentially as many as 150,000 people who were depending on the replacement joint to ease their pain. When Burger Law was made aware of the defect by a client, we immediately filed suit on their behalf and continue to take on Exactech Knee Replacement cases. You can view our original complaint here:

View Complaint

Defective Drug Lawyer in Greene County, MO

The Federal Drug Administration has firm procedures that pharmaceutical companies must adhere to from manufacturing to sale. However, the administration uses data from the pharmaceutical companies themselves when deciding whether or not to allow the drug to hit the shelves. That means that many prescriptions reach the market whose potential side effects greatly outweigh their potential benefits. Too many pharmaceutical companies value their bottom line over the safety of the people who need medicine and treatments that truly help their condition. Currently, it is usually the pharmaceutical company's decision if they will recall a drug that has found to have dangerous side effects. One way to make sure dangerous prescriptions stay off the shelves: call a Burger Law defective products lawyer in Greene County, MO to stand up for the vulnerable and let these corporations know that their conduct is unacceptable.

Hundreds of thousands of medications and medical devices are recalled in the U.S. each year, and that is often after many people have already turned to them for treatment and relief. If you or someone you love sustained injuries because of reckless pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers, get in touch with a Burger Law defective products injury lawyer now. We fight hard to see justice served by securing you compensation and holding negligent corporations responsible. Burger Law has already held opioid manufacturers responsible when their actions have taken someone from their family too soon.

Other examples of defective products we see in Greene County, MO include:

• Children's toys
• Chemicals such as cleaning products
• Baby powder
• Household appliances
• Industrial machinery
• Cell phone batteries
• Cosmetic products

Every Burger Law defective products lawyer in Greene County, MO knows that when manufacturers and sellers fail to make safe products it can completely upend your life. That is why we endeavor to see the vulnerable in Greene County and throughout Missouri be compensated for all of their damages, not just what the product manufacturer or insurance company wants to pay. When you hire us, we immediately start working on getting you a financial recovery for all of your medical expenses and lost wages, in addition to the mental and physical hardships your injury has inflicted on you and your Greene County, MO family. You do not have to go through this alone, and the big corporations do not have to win every time. Call a Burger Law defective products lawyer in Greene County, MO right away at (314) 500-HURT or contact us online to start on your journey to a true recovery.