Rockford Products Liability Lawyer
Some injuries aren’t caused by a careless driver or property owner. They’re caused by a product that should never have failed: an airbag that didn’t deploy or exploded, a tire that separated at highway speed, a seatbelt that unlatched, a ladder that buckled, a machine with a missing guard. When a defective product hurts someone, Illinois law allows the injured person to hold the companies that made and sold it responsible.
Products cases are technical, expensive, and fought hard by manufacturers and their insurers. Attorney Paul Marriett handles products liability claims along with the crash, trucking, and wrongful death cases they often grow out of. Before law school, Paul worked construction as a bricklayer and grew up racing cars with his father at the Byron track, so he understands how things are built and how they break.
Three Kinds of Product Defects
- Design defects. The whole product line is dangerous because of how it was designed, such as a vehicle roof that crushes too easily in a rollover or a machine with no practical guard.
- Manufacturing defects. The design was fine, but the specific unit that hurt you was made wrong: a bad weld, a contaminated batch, a part out of spec.
- Warning defects. The product carried a danger that wasn’t obvious, and the company failed to give adequate instructions or warnings.
Off-road machines are a common example. Rollovers, fires, and throttle or brake failures on ATVs, side-by-sides, and snowmobiles can all raise product claims; see our ATV, UTV and snowmobile accident page.
Common Products Cases in Northern Illinois
- Vehicle defects: airbags, seatbelts, tires, brakes, steering, fuel systems, and roof strength. Many serious crashes involve a defect that made injuries worse.
- Farm and industrial equipment: tractors, augers, balers, grain handling equipment, and factory machinery. Paul’s family has farmed in northern Illinois for generations, and our farm accident work often overlaps with products claims.
- Recreational vehicles: ATVs, UTVs, snowmobiles, boats, and e-bikes.
- Consumer and household products: ladders, power tools, heaters, batteries, and children’s products.
- Medical devices and drugs, in the right cases.
Who Can Be Held Responsible?
A products case can reach anyone in the chain of distribution: the manufacturer, the maker of a defective component, the distributor, and sometimes the retailer. Claims can be brought under strict liability, which focuses on whether the product was unreasonably dangerous, and under negligence and warranty theories. Identifying every company in the chain matters, because each may carry its own insurance.
The Single Most Important Thing: Keep the Product
Do not throw away, repair, or return the product, and don’t let an insurance company or dealer take the vehicle or part. The product itself is usually the most important evidence in the case. Keep packaging, manuals, receipts, and photos. If a vehicle is involved, tell the insurer and tow yard in writing that it must be preserved. We send preservation letters right away and bring in engineers to inspect the evidence properly.
Illinois Deadlines for Products Cases
Most Illinois personal injury claims must be filed within two years of the injury (735 ILCS 5/13-202). Products cases also face an outside limit called a statute of repose. For strict liability claims, Illinois generally requires suit within 12 years of the product’s first sale by a seller or 10 years of its first sale or delivery to its initial user, whichever expires first, subject to exceptions (735 ILCS 5/13-213). Older products can still lead to valid claims under other theories, but the analysis gets complicated fast. Call early.
Quick Answers About Defective Product Injuries
Do I have to prove the manufacturer was careless?
Not always. Under strict liability, the focus is on whether the product was unreasonably dangerous when it left the company’s control, not on how careful the company was.
What if the product was recalled?
A recall can be powerful evidence that a company knew about a defect, but you don’t need a recall to have a case, and a recall doesn’t guarantee one.
Can I bring a products claim and a car crash claim at the same time?
Yes. If a defect made crash injuries worse, you may have claims against both the at-fault driver and the manufacturer.
What does it cost?
Consultations are free. Call (815) 964-8303, any time.
Related: car accidents | truck accidents | wrongful death
Reviewed by Attorney Paul M. Marriett, Rockford Injury Lawyers.