Product Liability Lawyer in Utah
Table of Contents
When a space heater catches fire or a tire blows out on the freeway, the injured person usually did nothing wrong. The product failed. Utah law lets injured people go after the manufacturer or seller for that, but these claims are rarely simple.
The company has insurers and is ready from day one, and the best evidence is the product itself, which can disappear if no one holds on to it. Cockayne Law represents people in Utah who were injured by defective products, and we can help you figure out whether you have a claim.
Call For a Free Consultation: (801) 268-2491
Types of Defective Product Cases We Handle
Defective products turn up in every part of daily life, and we handle claims across most categories.
Defective Consumer Products and Household Appliances
A lot of these start at home. A space heater tips over and sets the curtains on fire; a pressure cooker lets go while someone is standing over it, or an e-bike battery overheats while it’s charging in the garage. We also see claims over ladders and dressers, which seem harmless until one gives out or someone falls on it.
Dangerous Tools, Industrial Equipment, and Machinery
If a machine hurt you at work, you probably started with a workers’ comp claim. That is not always the end of it. When the injury came from a defective saw, press, or forklift, the company that built the equipment can sometimes be sued on top of the comp claim.
Defective Vehicle Components and Safety Equipment
Not every serious crash comes down to the driver. Sometimes the airbag never fired, the seat belt let go, or a tire came apart on the interstate. Brake and steering failure fit here, and so do helmets and car seats that didn’t hold up when they were needed.
Defective Medical Devices and Pharmaceutical Products
These take more paperwork than most because of FDA rules and long medical histories involved. Think of hip implants that wear out early, surgical mesh, or drugs that never warned about a serious side effect. We read through the records first and then tell you honestly whether it’s worth pursuing.
Children’s Products, Toys, and Other Dangerous Goods
Cribs, strollers, and toys with smart parts or strong magnets are common ones. A recall only helps if the family hears about it, and plenty of this stuff gets passed down or sold at a garage sale years after it was pulled from stores.
Three Types of Product Defects That May Lead to a Lawsuit
A product liability claim usually rests on one of three kinds of defects. Some cases usually have two of them.
Design Defects
This is when the product is dangerous because of how it is designed. Nothing went wrong at a factory. Every unit was made the way the company intended, and everyone has the same problem. A space heater with no way to shut itself off when it gets knocked over is a good example.
These cases tend to come down to whether the company could have used a safer design and didn’t.
Manufacturing Defects
A manufacturing defect was a mistake made while the product was being built. The design was fine, but your unit came out wrong, maybe with a weld that cracked or a contaminated batch. Others from the same run might be perfectly good. If you still have the product, hold on to it. Once it’s thrown out or repaired, it’s much harder to show what went wrong.
Failure to Warn or Inadequate Instructions
A well-built product can still hurt people if nobody told them what they needed to know. Maybe a known risk was omitted from the label, or the warning was printed where nobody would see it, or the instruction was so confusing that people used the thing wrong.
Medications and medical devices come up a lot here. A company doesn’t have to warn about the obvious, though. Nobody needs a sticker on a kitchen knife saying it’s sharp.
Do You Have Grounds for a Product Liability Lawsuit?
Usually it comes down to a few questions. Was the product defective in its design, in how it was made, or in what it told you? Was it already defective when it left the company’s hands, rather than damaged or changed after you bought it?
Were you using it the way it was meant to be used or in a way anyone could expect? And did the defect actually cause your injury, with real losses like medical bills or missed work behind it?
You don’t need all of that figured out before you call. Most people don’t know yet whether the product failed or whether they did something wrong, and sorting that out is the first thing we do. Keep the product if you still have it, and don’t try to fix it.
Call For a Free Consultation: (801) 268-2491
Who Can Be Held Responsible for a Defective Product?
More than one company can be on the hook. The manufacturer is the obvious one, but the maker of a single faulty part can be responsible too, like the company that supplied the brake line or the battery cell.
Distributors and retailers sometimes are as well, which matters when the manufacturer is overseas or has gone out of business. Importers can also be part of the picture, and so can whoever assembled or installed the product.
We usually don’t know who’s at fault when a case starts. The label might name one company, the receipt can name another, and the actual part could come from a third. Working out who made, sold, and handled the product is part of the investigation, and it’s one more reason to keep the packaging, manuals, and receipt if you still have them.
Utah Product Liability Laws and Filing Deadlines
Understanding the Utah Product Liability Act
Product injury claims in Utah fall under the Utah Product Liability Act, which starts at Utah Code 78B-6-701. Under the Act, the products only count as defective if the problem was there when the manufacturer or first seller sold it, and it makes the product unreasonably dangerous.
That means more dangerous than an ordinary, careful buyer would expect, taking into account what that particular user knew about the product. A few things can work against you.
If you designed or manufactured it to meet government standards for the industry at the time, the law presumes the product wasn’t defective, although that can be challenged. If the product was changed after the sale or used for something it was not made for, that can be counted as your share of the fault.
How Long Do You Have to File a Product Liability Claim in Utah?
You have two years. The clock starts when you find out or reasonably should have found out both that you were hurt and that the product caused it.
That can matter when the link is not obvious right away, as with a medical device or a drug. Still don’t count on a later start date.
Products get thrown out, evidence goes missing, and witnesses forget. Other deadlines can apply too, including different ones for wrongful death claims and for injured children. Call us early, and we’ll work out which one applies to you.
What Compensation May Be Available After a Defective Product Injury?
What you can recover depends on how badly you were hurt and what it has cost you so far, plus what’s likely to cost later.
Medical Expenses and Future Treatment
Medical bills are usually the biggest piece. That covers ER visits, surgery, hospital stays, and prescriptions, and it also covers care you’ll still need down the road, like physical therapy, follow-up surgeries, or changes to your home, if you can’t get around the way you used to.
Lost Income and Reduced Earning Capacity
Lost income comes next. If you missed work, you can ask for the pay you lost if the injury changed what kind of work you can do or whether you can work at all; a claim for reduced earning capacity covers the gap over the years ahead.
Pain, Suffering, and Other Recoverable Losses
Pain and suffering is harder to put a number on, but it counts. Scarring, ongoing pain, anxiety, and not being able to do things you used to enjoy are all part of it. Damaged property can be claimed too, such as belongings lost in a fire caused by a faulty appliance.
Wrongful Death Damages in Eligible Cases
When someone dies, the family may be able to bring a wrongful death claim for funeral costs, lost financial support, and the loss of that person’s company and guidance.
COME BACK STRONGER
After Accident
How Cockayne Law Can Help With a Product Liability Claim
- We start by listening to what happened and looking at the product, plus whatever came with it, like the box, the manual, the receipt, and photos of the injury. The first conversation usually tells us whether there is something worth digging into.
- The product itself comes next, and that part can’t wait. We’ll tell you how to store it so nothing about it changes. Where it makes sense, we may also send the company a letter asking it to hold on to its own records and testing files. Don’t throw the product out, clean it, or send it back, even if the company offers you a replacement.
- From there, we work out what went wrong. That usually means having an engineer or another expert examine the product and checking for recalls, earlier complaints, and similar injuries. We also track down who made each part and sold the product so the companies get named.
- Once we know what the injury cost is and what it will probably cost later, we put a demand on the company’s insurer. Plenty of cases settle at that point. If the offer is too low, we are ready to file a lawsuit and take the case to trial.
What to Do After an Injury Caused by a Defective Product
- Get medical care. Do it even if the injury seems minor. Some injuries take time to show, and the records tie them to the incident.
- Keep the product. Don’t clean it, fix it, or throw it out. Store it somewhere safe, away from kids.
- Keep everything that came with it. That means the box, manual, receipt, any charger, or attachments.
- Take photos of the product, the scene, and your injuries before anything is moved or cleaned up.
- Write down what happened. Include who was there and how you were using the product.
- Be careful with the company and its insurer. You don’t have to give a recorded statement or sign anything. Talk to a lawyer first, even if they offer a replacement or a quick settlement.
- Call a lawyer soon. Utah’s deadline for these claims is short.
FAQs
It’s a case against the company that made or sold a product that injured you. Utah doesn’t make you prove the company was careless. What you do have to show is that the product was defective and dangerous when it was sold and that this is what caused your injury.
You can. A recall doesn’t end your claim, and sometimes it helps, since it suggests the company already knew something was wrong. The company might say you should have stopped using the product once the notice went out, so tell us if it reached you. A product recall generally does not pause the applicable filing deadline.
Yes. Lawyers can usually trace a product without one, using a card statement, an order confirmation email, photos, or the serial or lot number printed on it. If you still have the product, hold onto that above all.
Being partly at fault doesn’t automatically end your claim. Utah works out how much of the blame is yours and takes that percentage off your compensation. If your damages are $100,000 and you’re found 20 percent responsible, you’d recover $80,000. At 50 percent or more, you can’t recover anything. The company will usually blame misuse or product changes, which is why we push back on those numbers.
Usually not. A company can be responsible for a defective product even if it was careful when making it. Showing that it knew about the problem and kept selling anyway can still help your case.
Nothing up front. We take injury cases on contingency, so our fee comes out of whatever we recover, and if we recover nothing, you owe no fee. Case costs and the exact percentage depend on the case, and we go through all of it with you at the free consultation.
Cockayne Law represents people hurt by defective products across Utah. If you’re in the Wasatch Front, our West Jordan personal injury attorney page covers the Salt Lake Valley, and we also work with clients in Weber County through our Ogden personal injury attorney page and in Utah County through our Provo personal injury attorney page.
Don’t see your city? Call us anyway. We take product liability cases from other parts of the state too.
Speak With Cockayne Law About a Defective Product Injury
If a defective product hurt you or someone in your family, contact Cockayne Law for a free consultation. We’ll listen to what happened, look at what you have, and tell you honestly whether there’s a claim. You pay no fee unless we win; we recover money for you. Utah’s filing deadline is short, so it helps to call soon at (801) 268-2491.
[Legal Disclaimer]
This page provides general information about product liability claims in Salt Lake City, Utah, and is not legal advice. Every case is different. For your case-specific guidance, consult a qualified attorney.
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Our Locations
6671 S Redwood Rd Ste 110, West Jordan, UT 84084, United States
574 E 1400 S, Orem, UT 84097, United States
2650 Washington Blvd, Ogden, UT 84401, United States
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- kearns
- magna
- Salt Lake City
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- West valley city
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