When defective products cause injuries, New Orleans consumers deserve justice. Smiley Injury Law represents victims harmed by dangerous products, fighting manufacturers and distributors for full compensation. Our product liability attorneys handle defective drug cases, faulty medical devices, dangerous consumer products, and automotive defects throughout Louisiana—securing maximum recovery for your injuries, medical bills, and suffering.
Product liability law holds manufacturers, distributors, and retailers accountable when their products harm consumers. In New Orleans and across Louisiana, victims injured by defective products have legal rights to compensation—even when they used the product exactly as intended.
Louisiana’s strict product liability laws recognize three primary defect types: manufacturing defects, design defects, and failure to warn (marketing defects). Unlike negligence claims, you don’t need to prove the manufacturer was careless. You only need to demonstrate the product was defective and that defect caused your injuries.
Our product liability attorneys at Smiley Injury Law investigate every aspect of your case, from the product’s design and manufacturing process to its marketing and distribution. We work with engineering experts, medical professionals, and industry specialists who can testify about how the defect occurred and why it caused your specific injuries.
Time matters in product liability cases. Louisiana’s one-year prescription period for personal injury claims means you must act quickly. Additionally, crucial evidence like the defective product itself, packaging, and instructions must be preserved immediately to build the strongest possible case.
Manufacturing Defects
Manufacturing defects occur when something goes wrong during the production process, making the product dangerous despite a safe design. A contaminated batch of medication, improperly assembled machinery, or a vehicle with faulty brakes due to assembly errors all represent manufacturing defects.
These cases often involve identifying when and where the manufacturing error occurred. Our attorneys subpoena production records, inspect facilities, and consult with manufacturing experts to pinpoint exactly how the defect entered the supply chain. We hold every responsible party accountable—from the component manufacturer to the final assembler.
Design Defects
Design defects are inherent flaws that make all products of a particular model dangerous. Even when manufactured perfectly, the product’s design itself creates unreasonable risks. Examples include unstable furniture that tips easily, vehicles with rollover tendencies, or power tools lacking necessary safety guards.
Proving design defects requires demonstrating that safer alternative designs existed when the product was created. Our legal team works with engineers and product designers who can show the jury how simple design modifications would have prevented your injury without significantly increasing costs or reducing functionality.
Failure to Warn (Marketing Defects)
Products with dangerous characteristics must include adequate warnings and instructions. Manufacturers that fail to warn consumers about known risks face liability when those undisclosed dangers cause injuries. Prescription drugs without side effect warnings, chemicals without hazard labels, and machinery without operation instructions all represent failure to warn cases.
Louisiana law requires warnings to be clear, conspicuous, and specific about the actual dangers. Generic cautionary language isn’t enough. Our attorneys demonstrate how better warnings would have prevented your injury and hold manufacturers accountable for prioritizing profits over consumer safety.
Defective Medical Devices
Medical device failures cause devastating injuries. Defective hip replacements, faulty pacemakers, dangerous surgical mesh, and malfunctioning insulin pumps can all lead to additional surgeries, permanent disabilities, and life-threatening complications. The FDA’s recall process often moves slowly, allowing dangerous devices to remain on the market for years.
Smiley Injury Law represents New Orleans patients harmed by defective medical devices. We pursue compensation for revision surgeries, ongoing medical treatment, lost wages during recovery, and the pain of living with complications from devices that were supposed to improve your health.
Dangerous Pharmaceutical Products
Pharmaceutical companies must thoroughly test medications before release and warn consumers about all known side effects. When they rush products to market, hide dangerous side effects, or fail to conduct adequate testing, patients suffer serious injuries including organ damage, birth defects, cardiovascular events, and wrongful death.
Our pharmaceutical product liability cases often involve medications prescribed for years before their dangers became public. We investigate clinical trial data, FDA communications, and internal company documents that show what manufacturers knew about risks and when they knew it.
Defective Automotive Products
Vehicle defects cause accidents that result in catastrophic injuries and fatalities. Faulty airbags, defective ignition switches, brake failures, tire blowouts, and steering malfunctions can all transform routine drives into disasters. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) tracks automotive recalls, but many dangerous vehicles remain on Louisiana roads.
When automotive defects cause accidents, victims may have claims against both the at-fault driver and the vehicle manufacturer. Our attorneys handle the complex litigation involved in automotive product liability cases, often consolidating claims to maximize your total recovery.
Dangerous Consumer Products
Everyday household products can harbor hidden dangers. Defective appliances that cause fires, toxic children’s toys, dangerous cosmetics, faulty ladders, and unstable furniture injure thousands of New Orleans residents annually. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) monitors consumer product recalls, though many of these products reached store shelves despite known safety issues.
We hold retailers, distributors, and manufacturers accountable for selling dangerous consumer products. Our investigations uncover prior complaints, injury reports, and internal safety testing that companies ignored before releasing hazardous products to the public.
Manufacturers
Product manufacturers bear primary responsibility for safety. Whether they designed the product, assembled it, or created component parts, manufacturers can face liability when defects cause injuries. In many cases, multiple manufacturers in the supply chain share responsibility.
Distributors and Wholesalers
Distributors and wholesalers who sell products to retailers can also face product liability claims. They have duties to inspect products for obvious defects and to pass along safety information from manufacturers to downstream sellers and consumers.
Retailers
The store where you purchased a defective product can be liable even if they didn’t manufacture or design it. Louisiana’s product liability laws recognize that retailers benefit from product sales and should share responsibility when those products harm consumers.
Component Part Manufacturers
When a defective component causes the larger product to fail, the component manufacturer faces liability. For example, if faulty brakes manufactured by one company cause a vehicle accident, both the brake manufacturer and the vehicle assembler may be responsible for your injuries.
Preserving Evidence
The defective product itself provides the most crucial evidence. Never throw away, repair, or modify the product that caused your injury. Keep all packaging, instruction manuals, receipts, and warranty information. Photograph the product and the scene where your injury occurred from multiple angles.
Our attorneys arrange for professional evidence preservation, including secure storage and expert examination. We ensure opposing counsel cannot claim evidence was tampered with or altered after your injury.
Medical Documentation
Comprehensive medical records linking your injuries directly to the defective product strengthen your claim. Seek immediate medical attention after product-related injuries, even if they seem minor initially. Follow all treatment recommendations and attend every medical appointment.
Your medical records should detail how the injury occurred, what product caused it, and how the injuries have impacted your daily life. Our legal team works with your healthcare providers to ensure documentation thoroughly supports your claim.
Expert Analysis
Product liability cases require expert testimony about how products should be designed, manufactured, and marketed safely. We retain engineers, medical professionals, economists, and industry experts who can explain complex technical issues to judges and juries in understandable terms.
These experts examine the defective product, review manufacturing processes, analyze industry standards, and provide opinions about how the defendant’s conduct fell short. Their testimony often proves decisive in securing maximum compensation.
Economic Damages
Economic damages compensate for measurable financial losses. Medical expenses including emergency treatment, surgeries, rehabilitation, prescription medications, and future medical care all qualify as economic damages. You can also recover lost wages from missed work during recovery and diminished earning capacity if injuries prevent you from returning to your previous employment.
Product replacement costs, property damage, and other out-of-pocket expenses caused by the defective product also qualify for compensation. Our attorneys meticulously document every economic loss to ensure nothing gets overlooked in your claim.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages address intangible injuries that don’t have specific price tags. Physical pain, emotional suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and permanent disfigurement or disability all warrant non-economic compensation. These damages often exceed economic losses in serious product liability cases.
Louisiana law doesn’t cap non-economic damages in product liability cases, allowing juries to award compensation that truly reflects your suffering. Our trial attorneys effectively communicate the full impact of your injuries to maximize these crucial damages.
Punitive Damages
When manufacturers demonstrate reckless disregard for consumer safety, Louisiana law permits punitive damages to punish wrongdoing and deter future misconduct. Evidence that companies knew about dangers but sold products anyway, concealed safety testing results, or prioritized profits over human safety can justify punitive damage awards.
Punitive damages in product liability cases sometimes reach millions of dollars, sending clear messages that corporations cannot endanger consumers without serious consequences.
Free Case Evaluation
Your product liability case begins with a thorough consultation at Smiley Injury Law. We review the circumstances of your injury, examine evidence you’ve preserved, and assess the strength of your potential claim. This consultation costs you nothing, and we explain your legal options in clear, understandable language.
During this evaluation, we identify all potentially liable parties and discuss the compensation you may recover. We also explain our contingency fee structure, where you pay no attorney fees unless we win your case.
Investigation and Filing
Once you hire Smiley Injury Law, our investigation begins immediately. We preserve evidence, consult experts, research similar incidents involving the same product, and review FDA reports, recall notices, and safety databases. This investigation typically takes several weeks to months, depending on case complexity.
After completing our investigation, we file your product liability lawsuit in Louisiana state or federal court. Our complaint details the defect, how it caused your injuries, and the compensation you deserve. We serve all defendants and begin the formal litigation process.
Discovery Process
Discovery allows both sides to gather evidence through document requests, interrogatories, and depositions. We subpoena the manufacturer’s internal communications, safety testing results, consumer complaint records, and financial documents. We also depose company representatives, engineers, and safety personnel.
This phase reveals what defendants knew about product dangers and when they knew it. We frequently uncover damaging internal documents showing companies prioritized profits over safety—evidence that strengthens your negotiating position and trial presentation.
Settlement Negotiations
Most product liability cases settle before trial. Armed with strong evidence from discovery, we negotiate aggressively for maximum compensation. Manufacturers and their insurance companies know that Louisiana juries award substantial damages in product liability cases, motivating them to make fair settlement offers.
We never pressure you to accept inadequate settlements. Every settlement offer gets presented to you with our honest assessment and recommendation. The final decision about whether to settle or proceed to trial always remains yours.
Trial
When defendants refuse fair settlements, we take product liability cases to trial. Our attorneys have extensive courtroom experience presenting complex product liability claims to New Orleans juries. We use demonstrative evidence, expert testimony, and compelling narratives that help jurors understand how defects caused your injuries.
Louisiana juries consistently hold negligent manufacturers accountable with substantial verdicts. Our trial preparation ensures we’re ready to fight for maximum compensation before a jury when necessary.
Extensive Product Liability Experience
Product liability cases demand specialized knowledge of complex engineering concepts, manufacturing processes, regulatory standards, and Louisiana’s unique legal framework. Our attorneys have successfully handled numerous product liability claims involving medical devices, pharmaceuticals, automotive defects, and dangerous consumer products.
This experience allows us to quickly identify viable claims, anticipate defense strategies, and build cases that maximize your compensation. We understand how manufacturers operate and what evidence proves their liability most effectively.
Resources to Fight Major Corporations
Product liability defendants include some of the world’s largest corporations with unlimited legal resources. Winning against these opponents requires substantial financial investment in expert witnesses, scientific testing, document analysis, and trial preparation.
Smiley Injury Law has the resources necessary to compete on equal footing with corporate defense teams. We advance all case expenses, so you never pay out of pocket for the investigation and litigation costs that winning product liability cases requires.
Personalized Client Service
Despite handling complex litigation against major corporations, we never forget that your case is personal. Product injuries disrupt your life, cause physical suffering, and create financial stress. You’ll have direct access to your attorney, not just paralegals or support staff.
We keep you informed throughout your case, promptly return phone calls and emails, and ensure you understand every development. Your questions and concerns receive immediate attention from attorneys who genuinely care about your recovery and your case outcome.
Proven Track Record
Our product liability attorneys have secured substantial compensation for New Orleans clients injured by defective products. While past results don’t guarantee future outcomes, our track record demonstrates our capability to hold manufacturers accountable and win the compensation our clients deserve.
We’re prepared to fight your case through trial if necessary, and manufacturers know our reputation for aggressive, effective litigation. This reputation often motivates better settlement offers than attorneys without proven courtroom success might achieve.
RECENTLY ASKED TOPICS
Possibly—if your misuse was reasonably foreseeable to the manufacturer, you may still recover compensation, though damages might be reduced based on comparative fault. Manufacturers must anticipate common misuses and design products to be safe or provide warnings about foreseeable misuse. For example, if you used a ladder on uneven ground and it collapsed due to a defect, recovery might be possible even though instructions warned against uneven surfaces. Each case requires individual analysis of the specific misuse and defect involved.
You can recover medical expenses, lost wages, future medical costs, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and potentially punitive damages if the manufacturer acted recklessly. Economic damages include all past and future financial losses caused by the defective product. Non-economic damages compensate for physical pain, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and other intangible harms. Punitive damages may apply when manufacturers knowingly sold dangerous products or concealed known risks from consumers.
Product liability cases typically take 18 months to three years to resolve, depending on case complexity, the number of defendants, and whether trial becomes necessary. Simple cases with clear liability and moderate damages may settle within a year. Complex cases involving multiple expert witnesses, extensive discovery, and large corporations defending aggressively often take longer. We work efficiently while ensuring thoroughness that maximizes your compensation—rushing your case could mean leaving money on the table
Yes, you don’t need to be the original purchaser to file a product liability claim against the manufacturer—anyone injured by a defective product has standing to sue. Your relationship to the original buyer doesn’t affect the manufacturer’s liability. However, you generally cannot sue the person who gave you the product or the seller in a used sale, though the original manufacturer and other supply chain entities remain liable for defects.
Louisiana’s two-year prescription period requires filing product liability lawsuits within one year from the date you discovered or should have discovered your injury. This deadline is strictly enforced, and missing it typically means losing your right to compensation entirely. Some circumstances may extend this deadline, but you should consult an attorney immediately to protect your rights. For wrongful death cases involving defective products, family members generally have one year from the death date. You can learn more about Louisiana’s prescription periods from the Louisiana State Legislature.
You may have a product liability case if a product injured you when used as intended or in a reasonably foreseeable way, and the product had a defect making it unreasonably dangerous. The defect must have directly caused your injuries, and you must have suffered actual damages like medical expenses, lost wages, or pain and suffering. Even if you were partly at fault, Louisiana’s comparative fault law may still allow recovery.
Seth Smiley – New Orleans Product Liability Attorney
At Smiley Injury Law, our team of legal experts can help you analyze your product liability claim.
By speaking to a New Orleans product liability attorney with extensive personal injury and trial experience, you can feel confident that our experienced team of legal professionals will fight for you.
Contact us today for a free consultation at (504) 434-7700. All calls are confidential.
201 St Charles Ave Ste 2500
New Orleans LA, 70170
Phone: (504) 788-1319
Hours: M-F, 9AM-5PM
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