Were you or a loved one harmed by a dangerous consumer product in Las Vegas, NV? You might be entitled to compensation for your injuries. Contact the Las Vegas product liability lawyers at De Castroverde Accident & Injury Lawyers for legal help today. Call us at (702) 222-9999.
We all use hundreds of consumer products annually, and we trust their designers and manufacturers to ensure our safety. All too often, however, an accident happens. A lighter might explode, for example, or you might fall ill due to a defective prescription medication. Suddenly, you have a product liability claim.
At our personal injury law firm, we’re proud to say that we still get angry on behalf of our clients. Given our record of awards and accomplishments, opposing parties generally don’t want to mess with us.
Contact our Las Vegas product liability lawyers today to learn more. We offer a free consultation to discuss preliminary legal advice.
How De Castroverde Accident & Injury Lawyers Can Help With Your Product Liability Claim in Las Vegas
Frankly speaking, there are a thousand ways an experienced Las Vegas personal injury lawyer can help a personal injury victim pursue a product liability claim. With 100 years of combined experience and hundreds of millions of dollars collected for our clients, you can trust us to handle your case with effectiveness. When you hire us, we can:
- Assess the merits of your case to determine whether there are legal grounds to pursue it.
- Determine how much your claims are likely to be worth;
- Consult with expert witnesses who can help strengthen your claim;
- Perform legal research to connect product liability statutes, cases, and precedents with the specific facts of your case.
- Prove that the product that injured you was defective and unreasonably dangerous;
- Negotiate with the insurance company, the product manufacturer, the distributor, or whoever else would be responsible for paying your claim;
- File a lawsuit if necessary, and complete the pretrial discovery process to gather evidence from the opposing party; and
- Draft a settlement agreement that fairly represents your best interests.
A complete list of all of the activities we perform on behalf of product liability clients would list hundreds of items. These cases can get complex, but De Castroverde Accident & Injury Lawyers has successfully navigated product liability claims on many previous occasions.
Reach out to our law offices in Las Vegas, Nevada, today. Your initial consultation is free, with no strings attached.
How Product Liability Works
“Product liability” refers to liability for money damages caused by anything from defective auto parts to contaminated prescription drugs to food poisoning. Nevertheless, it takes more than an injury caused by a product malfunction to generate a product liability claim.Here are the facts you must prove to win your claim:
- A consumer product contained a design defect, a manufacturing defect, or a warning defect (inadequate product warnings).
- The defect rendered the product “unreasonably dangerous”. This is a judgment call that requires discretion on a case-by-case basis.
- The defendant was a manufacturer, retailer, or distributor of the product.
- The defect existed when the product left the defendant’s possession.
- The product was used in a manner that the defendant could have reasonably foreseen.
- The product defect actually caused the damage or injury you suffered.
You do not have to prove fault to win a strict product liability claim. Because of this, you can sue any party in the product’s chain of distribution, from the manufacturer all the way down to the retailer.
You can sue any of these parties for 100% of the value of your claim, leaving it up to them to fight it out for contribution from each other.
Damages Available in Las Vegas Product Liability Cases
Nevada recognizes two primary categories of damages: economic and non-economic. Examples of them include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Medical bills. You can claim any reasonable and necessary medical expense.
- Lost earnings. You can claim lost earnings whether you are an employee, self-employed, or an independent contractor, as long as you lost earned income.
- Mobility aids, like a wheelchair or alterations to your home to deal with a physical disability.
- Occupational therapy, if you require retraining for another job due to your injuries.
- Physical therapy, if there is a reasonable medical and occupational need for it.
- Pain and suffering damages, which apply to the physical, mental, and emotional consequences of your injuries.
- Disfigurement. Facial scarring, for example. Compensation for medical bills simply isn’t going to be enough to cover the actual extent of your losses here.
- Loss of enjoyment of life. These damages figure in when you lose the ability to engage in pleasurable physical activities that you once enjoyed, such as mountain biking or bodybuilding.
“Loss of consortium” is another available form of non-economic damages, but only your spouse or registered domestic partner can claim them. They might apply, for example, if you can no longer have sexual relations with your spouse. This claim belongs to your spouse alone, not to you.
Special Case: Diminished Earning Capacity
Diminished earning capacity is a category of damages that applies if your injuries prevent you from returning to your previous occupation. If this means you have to settle for less lifetime income because of your injuries, then you probably have a diminished earning capacity claim.
A diminished earning capacity claim is worth the most if you earned a lot of money before your accident, you are still young, and your injuries forced you to retire early.
Special Case: Punitive Damages
The purpose of punitive damages is not to compensate you for the losses that you suffered. The economic and non-economic damages mentioned above will suffice for that.
The purposes of punitive damages are to punish the defendant for outrageous behavior, to prevent the defendant from re-offending, and to make an example of them to prevent others from imitating their behavior. Nevertheless, the money still goes to you, not to the State of Nevada.
Although Nevada law limits the amount of punitive damages, it waives those limits with respect to strict product liability claims. That means you can ask for as much punitive damages as you like. Do keep in mind that defendants rarely agree to punitive damages in settlement negotiations—you have to go all the way to trial to get them.
What Does It Cost To Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer in Clark County?
If what you mean by “cost” is upfront out-of-pocket expense, the answer is zero. At De Castroverde Accident & Injury Lawyers, anyway, we don’t charge upfront fees. We only charge you if we win your case, either in court or (more likely) at the settlement bargaining table. We calculate our fees as a percentage of the total amount you win. And if we don’t win your claim, you will owe us nothing in attorney’s fees.
This method of billing, known as the contingency fee system, works best for both you and us. It works for you in part because it provides us with no motive to exaggerate the merits of your claim. After all, if you don’t win, we don’t win either. It also provides us with maximum motivation to win as much as possible for you – the more you win, the more we win. That is good for both of us.
The Statute of Limitations in Nevada Product Liability Cases
In Nevada, the statute of limitations for strict liability product liability cases is four years from the date of the accident. If your lawsuit is filed too late, you will effectively lose your right to pursue compensation.
There are exceptions to the statute of limitations in some cases. It is best to get in touch with an attorney as soon as you can to protect your rights and confirm the deadline for your particular circumstances.
The Use of Expert Witnesses in Las Vegas, Nevada
Parties involved in product liability claims frequently use expert witnesses to prove their case. This is because product liability claims are often scientifically complex.
An ordinary witness is expected to testify from their own experience (“I heard a scream coming from the living room”). An expert witness, by contrast, can testify on matters with which they have expertise but no direct experience (“The DNA test reveals that the blood on the cup belonged to the defendant”).
In court, the court must allow an expert witness to testify, and the judge can refuse to allow an unqualified “expert” witness to testify. You can use an expert witness in settlement negotiations, too–sometimes with great effect. A persuasive expert witness can convince an otherwise stubborn opponent to settle the claim.
Schedule a Free Case Evaluation With a Las Vegas Product Liability Lawyer
Over the years, the seasoned personal injury attorneys at De Castroverde Accident & Injury Lawyers have helped many Las Vegas residents resolve product liability claims while achieving favorable settlements and verdicts along the way. Should you choose us to represent you, we will be there for you as well.
All you need to do is pick up the phone and give our Las Vegas product liability attorneys a call to set up a free consultation.
Visit Our Personal Injury Law Offices in Las Vegas, NV
De Castroverde Accident & Injury Lawyers – Downtown Office
1149 S Maryland Pkwy,
Las Vegas, NV. 89104
(702) 222-9999
De Castroverde Accident & Injury Lawyers – Summerlin Office
410 S Rampart Blvd Ste 480
Las Vegas NV 89145
(702) 297-6373
De Castroverde Accident & Injury Lawyers – Henderson Office
9555 S Eastern Ave #200
Las Vegas, NV 89123
(702) 997-4264
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