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Legal Help for the Injured
What happens when a product is broken or defective in a way that causes an injury or death? When a product leaves the factory or is sold in a condition that is dangerous to the person using it, and you are harmed, you may have a claim for compensation through a product liability case.
If you or a loved one has been injured by a defective product, call an Ohio product liability lawyer at Kisling, Nestico & Redick at 1-800-HURT-NOW to learn how we can help you recover compensation for your injuries and other losses. We offer a free consultation so that you can discuss your case at no financial risk to you.
At Kisling, Nestico & Redick, our lawyers understand the complexities of defective product cases and the severe injuries that result. The law gives you the option to pursue a civil product liability lawsuit or claim to recover compensation for your losses and hold the right parties accountable, and with a long history of fighting for injured Ohioans, we can guide you through it.
At KNR, we ask, “what more can we do?”
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Product liability is the area of law built on a simple principle: products should be reasonably safe for the people who use them as intended, and for the ways a manufacturer should expect them to be used. When a product is unsafe because of a defect, the person or company responsible for it can be made to pay for the injuries it causes.
A product does not have to be broken to be defective, and you do not have to prove the manufacturer was careless in the ordinary sense. Ohio’s product liability law recognizes three main kinds of defect, plus a product that fails to live up to the manufacturer’s own representations about it.
The product was made exactly as intended, and the design itself is what makes it dangerous. A gas tank placed where it is likely to rupture in a rear-end crash, a crib with slats far enough apart to trap a child’s head, or a power tool without a guard that a safer design would have included are design defects. Every unit is dangerous, not just the one that hurt you, and the question is whether a safer, practical alternative design existed.
The design was safe, but something went wrong in production: a missing screw, a substandard batch of steel, a contaminated lot of medication, a weld that did not hold. The product that hurt you differs from the one the manufacturer meant to sell. These cases turn on testing the specific product and comparing it to the specifications.
Some products are dangerous even when designed and made correctly, and the manufacturer has to warn about risks it knew or should have known of, and to give instructions for safe use. A drug sold without a warning about a serious side effect, an appliance without a warning against use near water, or a tool whose manual omits a known hazard has a marketing defect. So does a product whose advertising promised a safety it did not have.
Airbags that fail to deploy or deploy with shrapnel, tires that separate at highway speed, brakes that fail, seat backs that collapse, and roofs that crush in a rollover. A crash caused by a defective part is a product case as well as a car accident case, and the manufacturer, not just the other driver, may be liable.
Hip and knee implants, surgical mesh, pacemakers, insulin pumps, and other defective medical devices can fail inside the body, causing pain, infection, and revision surgery. These cases often involve federal recalls and coordinated litigation across many patients.
Medications with undisclosed side effects, contaminated batches, and dangerous interactions the label did not warn about. Our drug injury lawyers handle claims against pharmaceutical manufacturers, which follow their own rules.
Cribs, car seats, high chairs, strollers, toys with small parts or magnets, and clothing that does not meet flammability standards. Defective children’s products injure the people least able to protect themselves, and recalls in this category are frequent.
Space heaters, dryers, pressure cookers, and chargers that catch fire; appliances with exposed wiring; and electronics that overheat. Fires and burns from household products are among the most common product claims we see.
Saws without adequate guards, nail guns that fire unexpectedly, and industrial and farm machinery with missing safety features cause amputations and crush injuries. Many of these injuries happen at work, where a product claim against the manufacturer runs alongside a workers’ compensation claim.
Lithium-ion batteries in e-bikes, scooters, and other devices can ignite while charging or after damage, causing fires that spread in seconds and serious burn injuries. Brake and frame failures on rental and consumer scooters are a growing source of claims, and electric scooter accidents raise questions about the rental company’s responsibility as well as the manufacturer’s.
Any party in the chain that brought the product to you may be responsible:
Ohio’s product liability rules treat manufacturers and sellers differently. A manufacturer can be liable for a defect without any showing of carelessness. A seller such as a retailer or distributor is generally liable only in limited situations: when the seller was itself negligent, when it made its own representations about the product, when it altered or failed to maintain the product, or when the manufacturer cannot be sued in Ohio or cannot pay. Identifying every liable party, including foreign manufacturers, is part of the investigation.
The product is the evidence. What you do with it in the first days after an injury can decide the case:
We retain engineers and other experts to test the product, review the design and manufacturing records obtained in discovery, and compare the product to industry standards and to similar incidents reported elsewhere.
A recall is strong evidence that a product was defective, but it is not required to bring a claim, and a recall does not excuse the manufacturer from paying for injuries the product already caused. Many dangerous products are never recalled. Product recalls are announced by the agencies that regulate each category, and it is worth checking whether a product that hurt you is on the list: the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the Food and Drug Administration each publish recalls for the products they regulate.
When a defect injures many people, the claims may be consolidated. Our class action lawyers handle those cases, and our article on how to join a class action lawsuit explains when joining one makes sense and when an individual claim is the better route.
Our statewide practice is designed to make going through a defective product lawsuit in Ohio more convenient and accessible. With offices across Ohio, KNR is a call or click away:
KNR also serves Ohio’s rural counties and conducts consultations by phone and Zoom.
Fight for Everything You’re Owed
You shouldn’t be forced to bear the financial cost of someone’s reckless or negligent behavior, especially large businesses that put dangerous products on store shelves or failed to act in favor of profits.
Product liability damages will vary considerably based on the injuries involved and the overall harm done. Defective product cases are typically resolved through a settlement or court award, but you may be entitled to compensation for your:
If a defective product caused a loved one’s untimely death, a family may also be able to pursue a wrongful death claim. And while there is no standard way to calculate a defective product settlement or verdict, a lawyer can help you understand the best way to proceed.
Ohio generally allows two years from the date of the injury to file a product liability lawsuit. Separately, Ohio has a longer overall limit, called a statute of repose, that bars most product claims once a set number of years have passed since the product was first delivered to its first buyer, with exceptions for certain latent injuries and for manufacturers who concealed a defect. The two rules interact in ways that depend on the product and the dates, so confirm your deadline with a lawyer as soon as you can. The product itself, which is your best evidence, is easiest to preserve early.
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What Makes KNR Special?
Since our inception in 2005, Kisling, Nestico & Redick has been dedicated to helping personal injury victims fight for the compensation they deserve after an accident affects their way of life. We have helped more than 10,000 people, and we’re ready to keep fighting for Ohioans and anyone who deserves compensation for their personal injury claims.
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Contact KNRWhat Makes KNR Special?
Cases involving defective products can involve detailed technical information and complex legal principles. If a defective product has injured you, you likely have questions about what to do next. Our attorneys can offer insight into defective product cases and are committed to advocating for your interests.
At Kisling, Nestico & Redick, our attorneys have significant experience representing people injured by defective products. We have the resources to take on product manufacturers, retailers, and other corporations that may bear responsibility, and we are dedicated to holding reckless companies accountable.
Product liability is the legal responsibility of a manufacturer or seller for injuries caused by a defective product. A product can be defective in its design, in the way a particular unit was made, or in its warnings and instructions. If a defect made the product unreasonably dangerous when used as intended or in a way the manufacturer should have expected, and it injured you, you can recover your medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, and other losses from the responsible companies.
Not in the way you would in a car accident case. Against a manufacturer, Ohio law allows recovery for a defective product without proving the company was careless; you prove the product was defective, that the defect existed when it left the manufacturer’s control, and that the defect caused your injury. Claims against sellers such as retailers usually do require showing the seller was negligent or made its own representations about the product, unless the manufacturer cannot be reached. Proving a defect still requires expert testing and engineering evidence, which is where a lawyer earns the fee.
A recall helps your claim. It is evidence the manufacturer acknowledged a defect, and it often identifies the exact problem and the affected units. It does not end the claim in either direction: a recall does not excuse the manufacturer from paying for injuries the product already caused, and the absence of a recall does not mean the product was safe. Keep any recall notice you received, and keep the product; do not send it back to the manufacturer as part of the recall until your lawyer says so.
Sometimes. Ohio treats sellers differently from manufacturers: a retailer or distributor is liable only in the limited situations described in the section on who can be held liable, such as when the seller was itself negligent or when the manufacturer cannot be reached. In most cases the manufacturer is the primary defendant, but the seller is often the only party you can identify at the start, and we evaluate every link in the chain.
Generally two years from the date of the injury, with a separate overall limit that bars most claims once a set number of years have passed since the product was first sold, subject to exceptions. Which rule controls depends on the product and the dates, and the evidence, meaning the product itself, is easiest to preserve early. Talk to a lawyer as soon as you can after the injury.
Keep the product, and call 1-800-HURT-NOW or contact us online for a free consultation. There is no fee unless we win.
