ABA Family Legal Guide

Personal Injury

Strict Liability

Product Liability

How does strict liability apply to product liability cases?

Strict product liability, now the law in nearly every state, allows an action against a manufacturer that sells any defective product that causes an injury to a buyer or anyone who uses it. A product can be defective in design, manufacture, or labeling.

Strict liability holds designers and manufacturers strictly liable for injuries from defective products. If you are injured by a defective product, you do not have to establish negligence of the manufacturer. Rather, you need to show that the product was defective--designed or manufactured in a manner that made it unreasonably dangerous when used as intended.