A dangerous product does not care if you act reasonably

When it comes to identifying negligent behavior, Tennessee tort law refers to the idea of the “reasonable person.” Even though this individual is something of a myth — he or she is not a real person, just a model of behavior — most of us try to emulate his or her conduct as we go about our daily lives.

Let’s take product liability law as an example. You purchase a product. It can be as complex in its manufacture as a car, or as simple as a desk lamp. You read and save the instructions. Moreover, reasonable person that you are, you even follow those instructions. Yet still, despite all of your efforts, something bad happens: the brakes fail in your car and you get into an accident that injures you, or that lamp contains an electrical short circuit that gives you or someone else in your family a serious electrical shock or even starts a fire. And that is when you realize that not everybody else out there — certainly not the people who built that car or that lamp — acts reasonably all the time. 

What a negligence cause of action is to accidents, product liability law is to unreasonably unsafe products. You have an avenue of recourse for your injury and your property damage. But proving a product liability claim may seem to be a daunting task. The product manufacturer may be a large company with considerable financial and legal resources to oppose your claim. And based on this power discrepancy, it may not be much interested in settling the matter with you. What can you do?

Fortunately, you do not need to be Goliath yourself when you face another Goliath, because holding product manufacturers accountable for their dangerously defective products is something that we at the law firm of Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette do. We have more than 60 years of combined attorney experience in negligence-based cases — including product liability actions — that can help you to even the odds. You don’t even owe us anything unless and until we win your case.

To learn more about how we can help you recover if you have been injured by a defective product, contact us online or reach us by telephone at 866-958-4414.