CONNECTICUT PRODUCT LIABILITY LAWYER & PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEY

When a manufacturer, retailer, or distributor places a dangerous and defective product in the stream of commerce an adult or child can be seriously injured. If this happens to you, you need an experienced personal injury product liability law firm like The Rotatori Law Firm to prosecute your product liability case caused by that dangerous product, defective product or improperly packaged product.The defective product injury may have happened at home, work, or at a retail store. The injury may have been caused by food, a hand tool, power tool, home appliance, child's toy, crib, cooking utensil, lawn equipment, a defective automobile seatbelt, exploding tire or by an airbag that failed to deploy. Often, the injury is caused by the way the product is packaged, sealed, bottled or boxed.

Many times the product liability injury happens on the job. Often, the injured employee has both a work related claim against the employer along with a third party product liability claim against the retailer, distributor, or manufacturer of the work equipment. Product liability claims and work related injuries frequently overlap.

There frequently are workers' compensation liens in third party product liability cases. These reimbursement liens must be skillfully handled by the attorney handling both the product liability claim and the workers' compensation case. Often, a reduction in the lien percentage can be negotiated at the time of settlement. There are also multiple statutory rules that must be followed before a workers' compensation insurance carrier can cause a lien to attach to third party product liability claim proceeds.

In Connecticut, the Connecticut Product Liability Act provides the exclusive remedy for product liability actions.The Act went into effect in 1979. The CPLA incorporates common law legal theories into a "product liability claim". These common law legal theories include: negligence,breach of implied warranty, breach of express warranty, strict liability in tort, breach of or failure to discharge a duty to warn or instruct, whether negligent or innocent and misrepresentation or nondisclosure, whether negligent or innocent. Product Liability claims are not limited to those enumerated theories. Conn. Gen. Stat.52-572m(b).

The CPLA also defines a product seller. A product seller by statute is defined as" any person or entity including a manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor or retailer engaged in the business of selling products whether for resale, use or consumption". A product seller also includes lessors or bailors of products engaged in the business of leasing or bailment of products Conn. Gen. Stat. 52-572m(a).

Even if the claimant did not buy the product from the seller or enter into a contacual relationship with that seller, the law allows for a claim under Conn. Gen. Stat. 52-572n(b). A child injured while using a mountain bicycle owned by another child can qualify as an example. If the mountain bike was unreasonably dangerous and defective in its structural design and the friend was injured by that defect through product use, the injured child would have a claim against the "product seller". That product seller as noted above could be the manufacturer, distributor or retailer.

Product Liability claims are complex personal injury matters.They need analysis by an experienced product liability personal injury attorney. Call The Rotatori Law Firm to make an appointment to talk to Peter Rotatori III at 203 264 3313 if you have been injured by a dangerous and defective product at home, work or in a retail store.

The Rotatori Law Firm practices product liability and personal injury law for clients injured in the following cities and towns in Fairfield County Connecticut: Berkshire, Bethel, Branchville, Bridgeport, Brookfield, Byram, Cos Cob, Cranbury, Danbury, Darien, Easton, Fairfield, Georgetown, Glenville, Greenfield Hill, Greenwhich, Hawleyville, Huntington, Long Hill, Lyons Plain, Mill Plain, Monroe, New Canaan, New Fairfield, Newtown, Nichols, Noroton, Norwalk, Redding, Redding Ridge, Ridgefield, Riverside, Round Hill, Sandy Hook, Saugatuck, Shelton, Sherman, Southport, Stafford, Stamford, Stepney, Stratford, Trumbull, Weston, Westport and Wilton.