Product Safety

Manufacturers must ensure that their products are safe for consumption.

MR. THOMAS GOWEN: Almost all product liability cases start with the failure to do adequate safety engineering in the design and manufacture of the products before they're brought to market. What we mean by that is that when a product is being designed or a machine is being designed, the manufacturer and designer should analyze every way in which that product can fail, or in every way which he creates a hazard that will cause personal injury or death to users or people in the vicinity of the product once it goes out in the field. And many of the products, especially in the industrial and agricultural fields., have the same hazards that have been well known to manufacturers and designers for many years. MR. MARC WINGARTEN: These are pretty fundamental principles of engineering. They've been known for years and years, they're taught in all the engineering schools, and the manufacturers know about these principles and they have access to this type of knowledge. Unfortunately they choose to cut a corner here and there, and it unfortunately works to the detriment of the user. Doesn't mean that it doesn't apply to the homeowner as well, because your backyard lawnmower is a big, powerful piece of equipment. Even though it's not used to mow four or five acres it can still cause serious injury even in your small backyard. So I guess the moral of the story, Tom, is if you're hurt with one of these pieces of equipment, you'll need to get some legal advice. MR. THOMAS GOWEN: That's true. And there are multiple other products, and we do handle the cases that involve injuries involving these products, and they are challenging. But we have been successful in handling them and we look forward to doing so in the future.