Defective Products Lawyer in St. James, MO.

Defective Products Lawyer in St. James, MO. If you or someone you care about sustained an injury because of a dangerous product, reach out to a Burger law defective products lawyer in St. James, MO right away at (314) 500-HURT or fill out our online form for a free consultation.

Imagine your daily routine: You may make coffee in a coffee maker in the morning, take allergy medication, go to school or work on your bike, sit by a computer or work around heavy machinery, and/or use your iPhone at various times during the day. You may go 4-wheeling on your days off. You may even have a ankle replacement or other medical implant. It seems we're always using or surrounded by some sort of technology that has gone through various stages of design and production before it reaches the buyer. When there is an error in that process and a product becomes defective, it can have a devastating impact on St. James, MO individuals and families. When that happens to you, you need the knowledgeable and devoted legal services of Burger Law's defective products lawyer team to fight on your behalf and get you the maximum compensation you are owed.

In our In our 70 years of combined experience standing up for fairness and justice, we have won our clients in St. James and throughout Missouri in excess of $170 million. Talking to us is free, so there's no risk in letting us look over your claim. Get in touch with a defective products lawyer in St. James, MO right away at (314) 500-HURT.

If you were hurt by a dangerous product in St. James, MO, see how much your claim may be worth by using our free personal injury calculator.



The following are some useful links and FAQS from your Burger Law defective products injury lawyer in St. James, 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?

St. James, MO Defective Products Statistics

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

Based on statistics from the Insurance Information Institute, in 2019 the mean average that people injured by defective products recovered was over $7 million in product liability cases that went to trial, while the median was $2 million. That speaks to the incredible ruin an unsafe product can cause.

If you were one of the many people harmed by a hazardous product, call a Burger Law defective products lawyer in St. James, MO for passionate, dedicated and talented support and legal representation.

How Defective Products Claims Work in St. James, MO

Pursuant to Missouri Revised Statute §537.760, you and your St. James, MO defective products lawyer can can hold a person or corporation liable for your injuries if three conditions are true:

1. The corporation was part of the product's design, manufacture, distribution and sale.
2. The product was used in a way reasonably expected.
3. One or both of the following:
   1. The product had a defective condition that was unreasonably dangerous when it left the manufacturer's or seller's that was the proximate cause of your injuries, and/or
   2. The manufacturer or distributor failed to warn on the products packaging of an inherently hazardous condition.

The "stream of commerce" refers to anyone involved in the product from initial design to purchase, including a distributor or vendor. Pursuant to Missouri Revised Statute §5537.762, someone who had nothing to do with the product beyond selling it may avoid liability if:

• You discover who the manufacturer is, it has not closed their business and can afford to compensate you for all of your damages.
• The distributor makes an affidavit under threat of perjury that their only involvement in the stream of commerce was selling it.
• No other party in the case comes forward with evidence that the vendor took part in any other part of the stream of commerce.
• The motion to dismiss is filed within 60 days.

If the above conditions are met, the seller would then be dismissed without prejudice, which means the decision to leave them out of the suit is not final. So, if later evidence proves that they were actually involved in the engineering of the product, were otherwise liable for the hazardous condition or the manufacturer is unable to compensate you for all of the economic, physical and emotional hardships you sustained, your defective products lawyer at Burger Law would then be able to call them back to court and ensure you get the great financial recovery you deserve.

Missouri Revised Statute §537.764 has an exception for "state of the art products," where a dangerous condition could not be completely understood before use by the consumer. This defense is only valid for failure to warn defective products claims, and it is up to the defense to prove that there is no way they could have known about the dangerous condition.

The Difference Between Strict Liability and Negligence in Defective Products Cases

The majority of personal injury suits in St. James, MO are based on the notion of negligence. We all have a civil duty to not recklessly cause injuries to other people in certain situations; for example, St. James, MO dog owners must always have control of their dog. When someone fails in that duty, for example if are injured by a fatigued truck driver they may be found responsible for your damages and would have to pay you compensation.

By contrast, most product liability or defective products cases are strict liability claims, meaning that anyone involved in the manufacture and sale of a product is accountable for any injuries that results the reasonable use of a product, 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 St. James, 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 imperfection in the design that subsequently passes the fault to all products with the same design. An example is vehicles that have a tendency to roll over if the driver swerves quickly.
2. Manufacturing Defects: This refers to a product that was safe in its design but became unsafe because of a failure in the manufacturing process. This can either affect only one product, i.e. a single vehicle, or several or all of them, as in an entire line of the same model vehicle. An example could be bugs or other contaminants found in beverages or a tainted batch of something intended for drinking containing a poisonous substance.
3. Insufficient Warnings and Instructions: This refers to a product made it through design and production safely but caused harm because it did not give proper instructions or warnings about inherent risks. Examples include failing to warn that a hairdryer might cause an electric shock if it comes in contact with water or food packaging that does not mention all the ingredients and causes an allergic reaction. A manufacturer typically does not have to warn against risks that a reasonable person would anticipate. For example, they do not have to warn you that a match could start a fire.

Strict liability is intended to hold corporations accountable and persuade them to implement exhaustive safety protocols for verifying that their products will not pose a danger to the public. Even so, too often corporations do not value our safety and concentrate more on their bottoms line than ensuring their products will not injure anyone. In those cases, your Burger Law defective products lawyer in St. James, MO will hold them responsible by conducting a full investigation of your case and insisting on nothing but maximum compensation.

Comparative Negligence in Defective Productions Claims in St. James, MO

A common defense for manufacturers in a dangerous product case is that you are responsible for all or a portion of your damages. Missouri Revised Statute §537.765 permits for those in the chain of distribution to posit that you share a portion of your injuries and, therefore, they are not liable for your full financial recovery. For example, if a jury determines that you have $100,000 in damages but finds you were 30 percent responsible for the accident, you will only receive $70,000. Often, claims of comparative fault are a dishonest attempt a defendant makes to avoid their obligation to reimburse you for the damage their product did to you. Your St. James, MO defective products lawyer at Burger Law has seen that defense and successfully fought against it many times. The statute allows for the defense of comparative fault if the following situations apply:

• You did not use the product in a way the manufacturer could foresee. A manufacturer or distributor 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, standing on one to reach something is common. So if a certain model of chair is dangerous to stand on, the manufacturer needs to include a warning not to stand on it. On the other hand, if you use a loaded rifle to prop a door open and it misfires, you likely do not have a claim because the manufacture would not reasonably foresee that use of the product.
• You used the product in a manner 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 lower it but can significantly reduce it. Suppose 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 knew of inherent risks of the product while you were using it. 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 you were using a chainsaw and hurt yourself when you lost control, the defendants could say you knew it was dangerous to use a chainsaw.
• 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 did not follow safety guidelines. Putting adequate warnings and safety instructions on a product's labeling can often protect someone in the chain of distribution from liability. If you were injured in a car accident because of faulty brakes, but you were not wearing your seatbelt, the defense can argue your injuries would have been avoided had you adhered to recommended safety measures.
• You failed to try to keep your damages to a minimum. In any personal injury claim, you are expected to try to keep your damages as low as you reasonable can. For example, you cannot seek unnecessary medical treatment. The defense may say you have no right to ask them for money they do not owe you.

Just because people in the chain of distribution can — and will — work hard to persuade a jury that you share part of the blame, that does not mean they will be successful. Powerful corporations and insurance companies employ a lot of dishonest ruses to try and minimize your claim, but your St. James, MO defective products lawyer at Burger Law knows how to combat them. We know these companies have a lot of money to throw at their defense and try to take advantage of people who do not have the same resources. All you will ever owe is a contingency fee, which means we collect a moderate percentage of the financial recovery you are awarded, and you owe us nothing until we win your case. Reach out to Burger Law now at (314) 500-HURT for legal counsel that matches and eclipses that of resistant corporations and insurance adjusters.

Defective Vehicle Parts Lawyer in St. James, MO

Our defective products lawyer team sees in St. James, MO sees more defective vehicles than any other product, both because of how many people use them and because of how many components it takes to make them run. In 2019 alone, in excess of 53.1 million recalls were issued both for entire vehicles and individual parts. Defective car parts can result in crashes and fires, and fail to protect occupants from harm as intended. Common defective car parts we see are:

• Brakes
• Airbags
• Ignitions
• Electrical wires
• Wheels
• Steering systems
• Engine cooling fan blades

Offroad vehicles like ATVs can also cause harm, for instance if a design defect gives them a heightened propensity to rolling 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 St. James, MO

We trust medical devices to enhance and extend our lives. But, sometimes they actually do the opposite and make our lives worse when they are defective. Examples of medical devices that your Burger Law defective products lawyer in St. James, MO has seen be defective are:

• Artificial joints that can cause infections, instability, chronic soreness or repeated dislocations
• Pacemakers, which can cause infections or even wrongful death when they do not last as long as anticipated
• Robotic surgical assistants intended to operate on hard to reach areas which, when they do not work properly, can cause pierced organs, infections and electrical burns
• Blood clot filters that do not sufficiently protect the lungs from dislodged blood clots
• Permanent birth control implements that can pierce organs, cause pelvic pain, abnormal hemorrhaging and unintended pregnancies

As the medical industry keeps coming up with new technologies, medical device recalls have soared. In the first quarter 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 found that over the span of a decade Medicare had to spend at least $1.5 billion to replace over 73,000 defective heart devices alone. Medical devices should help alleviate pain and lengthen our lifespans, not cause further damage. If a flawed medical device ended up worsening your condition, your St. James, MO defective injuries lawyer at Burger Law will fight for your right to be reimbursed when your trust was betrayed.

Earlier this year, Exactech, a company that manufactures implants and joint replacements, issued an Exactech Polyethylene Knee Replacement Recall. Because of oversights in their packaging and shipping process, the replacements deteriorate too quickly and have caused unimaginable pain and permanent damage to potentially as many as 150,000 patients who had received the replacement joint. When Burger Law was retained by a client, we immediately got to work bringing them what peace of mind we could and are taking on more Exactech Knee Replacement cases to this day. You can view our original complaint here:

View Complaint

Defective Drug Lawyer in St. James, MO

The Federal Drug Administration has stringent protocols that pharmaceutical companies must adhere to from manufacturing to sale. However, the administration does not actually test drugs itself; rather, it relies on data from pharmaceutical companies' own testing to determine if a drug is safe for release to the public. With no absolute independent testing many medications reach the shelves whose potential side effects greatly outweigh their potential benefits. Too many corporations put profit over the safety of the people they are supposed to be helping. Currently, recalling a drug is largely voluntary. One way to make sure dangerous prescriptions stay off the shelves: call a Burger Law defective products lawyer in St. James, MO to stand up for the vulnerable and let these corporations know that their conduct is intolerable.

Hundreds of thousands of prescriptions and medical devices are taken off the national market annually, and many of them have already been widely ingested and used. If you or a family member sustained injuries because of irresponsible pharmaceutical companies and corporations, call a Burger Law defective products injury lawyer now. We fight hard to see justice restored by winning you compensation and holding negligent corporations accountable. Burger Law has already successfully filed suits for families against opioid manufacturers so they can have some sense of peace for the wrongful death of their loved one.

Other examples of dangerous products we file suit for in St. James, MO include:

• Children's toys
• Chemicals such as week killer
• Baby powder
• Household appliances
• Industrial machinery
• Cell phone batteries
• Beauty products

Every Burger Law defective products lawyer in St. James, MO knows that being hurt by a hazardous product can completely upend your daily routine, your family and even your present and future financial security. That is why we strive to see the vulnerable in St. James 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 wining you a financial recovery for all of your medical costs and lost wages, as well as the mental and physical toll your injury has taken on you and your St. James, 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 St. James, MO right away at (314) 500-HURT or contact us online to take the first step toward being made whole again.