Product liability claims
A product liability claim says that something a manufacturer put into commerce was unreasonably dangerous, and that the danger caused injury. The claim can rest on a manufacturing defect, a design defect, or a failure to warn. Which theory applies changes the evidence required, and often changes who the defendant is. Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C. handles product claims in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey and New York.
Preserve the product
This is the one instruction that matters more than any other. Do not discard, repair, return or send the product for warranty replacement. Do not let an insurer take it without an agreement about testing. A product claim without the product is a very difficult claim, and destruction of the item — even innocently, even by someone else — can end the case. Preserve the packaging, the manual and the purchase record as well.
The three theories
A manufacturing defect means this particular unit departed from the manufacturer’s own specification. A design defect means the specification itself was unreasonably dangerous, which usually requires evidence of a feasible safer alternative design. A failure-to-warn claim says the risk was known or knowable and the warning given was inadequate for it. Design and warning cases require engineering testimony and are considerably more expensive to develop than manufacturing-defect cases.
Recalls and prior incidents
A recall is useful evidence but it is not the claim, and the absence of a recall does not defeat one. What tends to matter more is the manufacturer’s own internal knowledge: prior claims, complaint databases, testing records, and design-change history showing what was known and when. Obtaining that material is a discovery exercise that these cases are largely built around.
Filing deadlines
Product claims for personal injury run on personal-injury periods: two years in Virginia under Va. Code § 8.01-243(A) — note that injury to property from a defective product carries a five-year period under § 8.01-243(B); three years in Maryland under Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-101, where a discovery rule commonly defers accrual; three years in the District of Columbia under D.C. Code § 12-301(8); two years in New Jersey under N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2, with a discovery rule; and three years in New York under N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 214(5). Tolling, minority and repose provisions can alter these; confirm the deadline on your own facts.
Pages in this section
This section covers defective design, failure to warn, manufacturing defect, recalled products, machinery and tool injuries, and related topics.
Speak with Mr. Sris
Injury claims are governed by filing deadlines that vary by state and by claim type, and evidence degrades quickly. Request a consultation. Reach our location at (888) 437-7747. Consultations are by appointment.
Last reviewed: August 22, 2026.
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