If you get hurt because a consumer product you bought had a dangerous defect, you may be able to hold that product’s manufacturer strictly liable for the harm that their misconduct has caused you. More specifically, you could demand financial compensation through a settlement demand or lawsuit for specific compensable damages that you can trace directly to the product defect. However, this process can be hard to manage without guidance from skilled legal counsel.
Achieving a positive result from a product liability claim requires understanding what kinds of damages you can seek compensation for. A dedicated product liability lawyer from Tomeny | Best could explain how damages in Lafayette product liability cases work and help you obtain the recovery you deserve.
Special Versus General Damages Under Product Liability Law
The primary focus of any personal injury claim in Lafayette, including one pursued under product liability law, is to recover for specific compensatory damages that the plaintiff only suffered because of the misconduct of the defendant. These damages can be further subdivided into two categories. Special damages have objective financial values that can be quantified through evidence such as bills and receipts. General damages must be valued through qualitative evidence, such as personal testimony and previous court verdicts.
Special damages in a product liability case generally include the costs of all medical care needed to treat injuries caused by a defective product, reimbursement for lost work income and/or loss of future earning capacity stemming from those injuries, and the costs of replacing damaged or destroyed personal property, if applicable. General damages are sometimes called pain and suffering damages because physical pain and suffering factor into the majority of personal injury claims, but it is also possible to recover for losses such as emotional anguish and lost enjoyment of life.
What Are Punitive Damages and When Might They Be Available?
In addition to compensatory damages, Lafayette civil courts also have the authority to make defendant companies in product liability claims pay punitive damages. As the name suggests, these damages are meant to punish a defendant for extremely egregious misconduct rather than to reimburse an injured person for identifiable losses.
In order to convince a court to impose these damages in your case, you need to show through clear and convincing evidence that the company you are suing showed reckless disregard for public safety and/or acted with intentional malice, which can be difficult to prove. It is important to note that Louisiana only allows punitive damages in very limited and specific cases.
Contact a Lafayette Attorney To Learn More About Damages in Product Liability Cases
Money alone will likely not solve every problem that arises in your life because of an injury caused by a defective product. What compensation can do, though, is maximize your overall enjoyment of life and mitigate specific forms of harm that your injuries are expected to cause you. It can also give you some measure of justice for the corporate misconduct you unfairly suffered from.
Our team at Tomeny | Best has years of experience fighting passionately and effectively for people like you to receive damages in Lafayette product liability cases. Call today to learn how we could help you.
