Does the law really work to protect us?
Answer: Yes! This explains how product liability law has made products more safe.
Generally, today, product liability law requires that manufacturers must design and produce their products so as to be safe to the users and people exposed to the use when the products are used as intended.
It was not always so.
This did not come about until the 1950’s – 1960’s. Prior to that, manufacturers were only liable for breach of contract, which meant that they were only liable for defective products to people they had directly contracted with in the sale of their products. Consequently, manufacturers were not liable when they sold to a middleman and not directly to the user.
Then, in the 1950’s, some lawyers believed that society needed a change in the law so as to make manufacturers responsible to injured users of products for defects that caused such injuries. They filed lawsuits claiming that the law should be changed to protect injured users of products. These lawsuits were rejected at first because the existing law did not permit recovery of damages by users who were injured by defective products. However, some farsighted courts saw that the production and marketing of products had changed from the early days of our industrial society and that there was now a need to change the law. Those courts saw that fairness required manufacturers to manufacture safe products and to stand behind them. They also saw that if the law required manufacturers to pay for damages because of injuries their products had caused, this would motivate manufacturers to make safer products. The result would be a great benefit to society. Consequently, these farsighted courts declared that the law, which should be responsive to the needs of society, had changed and now protected users of products. This, incidentally, is an excellent example of how the common law works to keep pace with changes that occur in our lives in the interest of fairness and safety.
Later, State Legislatures caught on and enacted product liability statutes that mostly codified the changes that the common law had developed.
The creation of product liability law also resulted in changes in educational institutions. The senior member of our firm, Gerald McGlone, lived through this period, saw the changes occur, and describes it as follows:
“When I graduated from Rose Polytechnic Institute in 1955 as a mechanical engineer, the focus of machine design class was to design products that worked and did the job they were designed to do. There was no focus on those products being designed to operate safely to the user or any person who might be exposed to the product. When I returned to Rose as a lawyer teaching a class 15 years later, the focus of design was on creating products that worked safely. What had happened in the interim? Today’s product liability law had developed.”
As a result of these legal developments, manufacturers are now required to prioritize consumer safety, leading to significant product design and accountability improvements. If a defective product has harmed you or a loved one, McGlone Law is ready to provide you with the guidance and representation you need. Contact us today to learn more about your rights.
