Columbus Product Liability Lawyer

Merritt & Merritt Law Firm Holds Companies Accountable for Dangerous Products in Columbus

Whether you are shopping at the Walmart near the airport or ordering something off Amazon, you rightfully assume that the product you are buying has been tested and is safe. After all, it is not your job to scrupulously test everything that you buy to make sure it works safely in any given scenario. That is the job of the manufacturing and design team behind the product.

Unfortunately, many companies care more about profits than your well-being. If you are injured and need medical aid from a defective product, the company sees that as nothing more than the cost of doing business. If you feel angry, betrayed, or overwhelmed by how callous they can be, you are exactly right.

Fortunately, the laws in Georgia give consumers strong rights when a product fails and causes an injury. However, these rights are of no use to you if you do not have a legal team to help you enforce them. The Merritt & Merritt Law Firm team is ready to stand up to these giant corporations for you. If you or someone you love has been hurt, please call us at 706-955-1559. We are here to have a conversational and helpful discussion about how we can help your family recover.

Design Defect vs. Failure to Warn Theories

When taking on a big manufacturing company, the specific error they made must be identified for the court. Design defects and failure to warn theories are two of the most common ways to show a company was negligent. These are distinct legal concepts. A design problem means the product was dangerous from the very beginning, before it was even built. The blueprint itself was flawed. This means even if factory workers put the product together perfectly, it remains unsafe. A classic example is a car that rolls over too easily because its roof is too heavy. Every single item that comes off the assembly line poses a threat to the public.

A warning problem happens when a product is generally safe if used correctly, but the company does not tell the customer about hidden dangers. Manufacturers have a strict duty to provide clear instructions and bold warning labels. If a powerful cleaning chemical can cause severe skin burns, the bottle must have a large, obvious warning. Our legal team gathers specific types of proof to build these cases.

• Safer Alternative Testing. We compare the item that hurt you to safer versions that the company could have easily used instead.
• Marketing Material Review. Advertisements are examined to see if the company encouraged people to use the item in a risky way.
• Labeling and Font Checks. Packaging is inspected to show that danger labels were too small or impossible to read.
• Industry Standard Benchmarking. We use standards from other manufacturers to prove that better instructions are common for similar tools.

Our Columbus product liability lawyer team focuses on the objective facts to show that the manufacturer failed to protect you.

Collecting Evidence of Recalls and Corporate Document Requests

An unfortunate part of our society is that large manufacturers and corporations often know that their products are defective (and even deadly) long before they issue a recall. This is because it may be cheaper for them to deal with a few lawsuits than to deal with the cost of pulling millions of items off the shelves and dealing with the inevitable bad publicity that follows. Even if the company does issue a recall, you may still be entitled to monetary damages if you were injured before the recall was announced.

Our team investigates the product and the company behind it for our clients. If we suspect the company is hiding the truth, we use a process called discovery to see what really happened. Discovery allows us to demand their internal emails, product schematics, meeting minutes, and safety memos. Altogether, we can piece together the evidence to demonstrate that your safety and well-being were ignored in the name of the product. Some good examples of what we look for include:

• Internal Crash or Stress Tests. These videos often show the product breaking down in the same way it did when you were injured.
• Management Emails. Discussions sometimes reveal decisions to ignore safety rules to save money on manufacturing costs.
• Draft Manual Revisions. Previous drafts might show that safety warnings were intentionally removed to boost sales.

By digging into these records, we expose the truth to the judge and jury. These files are particularly persuasive because they come directly from those responsible for your injury.

Expert Testing and Chain of Custody

If a defective product causes an injury, that specific broken item is the most important piece of evidence. It must be kept safe. Do not throw it away, try to fix it, or send it back to the company if they ask for it. A company’s risk management team may call right after an accident and offer a new replacement if you mail the broken one back. This is often a tactic to ensure the broken item is destroyed or lost, which can end your case.

To win your case, we have to prove that the product failed because of a defect, not because you broke it. We must maintain a flawless record of where the item has been and who has touched it since the accident. This is called the chain of custody. If we cannot prove the item was kept perfectly safe and unaltered, the judge might not let us use it as evidence. To prevent this, our firm uses secure storage facilities to lock the item away until inspection.

Qualified professionals are then brought in to analyze the evidence, such as:

• Independent Lab Stress Tests. We run tests on similar models to see how much pressure the item can take before it snaps.
• Safety Engineering Reports. Professionals write detailed reports explaining exactly why the failure happened and how it caused your injuries.
• High-Resolution Photography. Every angle of the damage is documented before any testing begins.
• Secure Evidence Transport. Teams ensure the item is safely moved from our vault to the testing lab without being altered.

Handling expert testing and chain of custody rules is a highly technical process. We manage these strict requirements so you can focus on healing.

Comparative Fault Defenses in Product Cases

When it comes to product liability issues, Georgia follows what lawyers call “the modified comparative negligence rule.” You may also hear it called the “50% bar rule.” In short, this rule basically breaks down to “If the victim is 50% or more responsible for the accident, then they cannot recover monetary damages from someone else.” Additionally, the victim’s compensation will be deducted by their percentage of fault. So, if a jury determines that the victim was 10% responsible and the manufacturer was 90% liable, then the manufacturer only has to pay for 90% of the damages.

This rule encourages large companies, manufacturers, and insurers to pull every trick in the book to make the victim look bad. They may try to pressure the victim into admitting liability or trick them into making statements that can later be twisted against them. Over the process of an entire investigation, these little tricks can add up and cost victims their entire legal recovery. That is why it is so important to call the Merritt & Merritt Law Firm as soon as possible, so we can prevent victims from being taken advantage of.

Our Columbus product liability lawyer team uses strong arguments to shut down attempts to shift blame onto you. In our many years of experience defending people of Columbus, we have used many strategies to protect our clients, including:

• Predictable Usage Arguments. We show that your actions were normal and that the company should have expected consumers to use the item that way.
• Instruction Ambiguity. Confusing manuals are presented to show that the “correct” way to operate the machine was unclear.
• Witness Substantiation. Our investigators track down independent witnesses who can substantiate your side of the story.

We never let a corporation avoid responsibility just by pointing the finger at the person they hurt. We stand up for your reputation and your rights.

Get the Professional Legal Help You Need After a Product Injury in Columbus

Taking on a large manufacturing company and its insurance teams is not something you should do alone. They have extensive resources and lawyers dedicated to protecting their profits. You need a legal team in Columbus that has the resources, knowledge, and determination to match them step for step.

At Merritt & Merritt Law Firm, we are committed to helping our neighbors get the justice they deserve. We handle all the upfront costs of the investigation, the expert testing, and the corporate fights. You do not pay us anything unless we successfully recover a settlement or a verdict for you. If a dangerous product has turned your life upside down, do not wait for the evidence to disappear. Call our friendly and professional team today at 706-955-1559 for a free, no-obligation conversation about your situation.