Stamford Product Liability Lawyer

Connecticut product liability claims run on a separate statute from every other injury case in the state, and the differences favor the injured person at almost every turn. There is no fault percentage that ends your claim. You get an extra year to file. One defendant can be made to pay the whole judgment. Jacobson Injury Firm represents people harmed by dangerous products across Fairfield County.

Attorney Adam Jacobson is licensed in Connecticut and handles every case personally. Contact us today for a free consultation.

No Percentage of Fault Ends a Product Claim

In an ordinary Connecticut injury case, section 52-572h bars recovery entirely once you are more than 50 percent responsible. That single line ends a large number of claims.

Product liability claims are governed by a different provision. Section 52-572o states that the claimant’s comparative responsibility shall not bar recovery but shall diminish the award proportionately. The Connecticut Supreme Court has described this as a system of pure comparative responsibility, under which a partial recovery is allowed even where the injury is attributable mostly to the claimant’s own conduct.

The practical difference is large. A person found 70 percent responsible recovers nothing in a negligence case and still recovers 30 percent in a product case. Where a claim could be framed either way, which statute governs can decide whether it is worth bringing at all. The court set this out plainly in Mahon v. Unitron Manufacturing.

A second difference runs alongside it. In ordinary negligence claims Connecticut defendants are generally severally liable, meaning each pays only its own share. Under section 52-572o, judgment in a product case is entered on the basis of common law joint and several liability, so a single solvent defendant can be required to satisfy the full award and then seek contribution from the others. Where a manufacturer is overseas, dissolved, or judgment-proof, that changes everything about collectability.

Three Years, Ten Years, and a Way Around the Ten

Section 52-577a gives product claims their own deadlines, and the first one is longer than the general rule. Suit must be brought within three years from when the injury, death, or property damage was first sustained or discovered, or should reasonably have been discovered. Ordinary negligence claims in Connecticut carry two.

The second deadline is a repose. No action may be brought more than ten years from the date the defendant last parted with possession or control of the product. That runs from the sale or transfer, not from the injury, which means a claim can expire before anyone is hurt.

Connecticut then provides an escape that most repose statutes do not. The ten-year limit does not apply where the claimant can prove the harm occurred during the product’s useful safe life. A machine built to last thirty years and properly maintained may still be within its useful safe life at year fifteen, and a claim against its manufacturer may proceed. The legislature broadened this exception in 2017, removing a restriction that had limited it to claimants outside the workers compensation system, so it is now available to any claimant. Establishing useful safe life takes engineering evidence, and it is the question that decides whether an older product case exists.

One Claim Replaces Negligence, Strict Liability, and Warranty

Section 52-572n makes the product liability claim the exclusive remedy against a product seller. It is brought in lieu of all other claims, including negligence, strict liability, and warranty. You do not plead three theories and hope one survives. You plead one statutory claim, and the theories become ways of proving it.

Two features of that structure help. Privity is not required, so you can recover from a seller even though you never bought the product or dealt with them in any way, which covers a borrowed tool, a gift, a rental, or a product used at work. And section 52-572m defines product seller broadly enough to reach manufacturers, component makers, wholesalers, distributors, lessors, and retailers, which matters when the manufacturer cannot be reached.

One limit is worth knowing. As between commercial parties, commercial loss caused by a product is not treated as harm under the Act and must be pursued under the Uniform Commercial Code instead. That does not affect a person injured by a product, but it does affect a business claiming economic loss.

Why Choose Jacobson Injury Firm for Your Stamford Product Claim?

Licensed in Connecticut, With the Attorney Handling Your Case

Adam Jacobson practices in Connecticut, New York, Florida, and Illinois. Product claims are won on the item itself and on the standards that governed it, which means the work begins with preservation and identification rather than argument. Connecticut places no statutory cap on non-economic damages. Claims in Stamford proceed through the Connecticut Judicial Branch in the Stamford-Norwalk judicial district.

Demonstrated Results for Injured Clients

The firm has recovered millions of dollars for injured clients. Our client reviews describe how the firm communicates through technical cases that run for a year or more.

Connecticut Caps What a Lawyer May Charge

Section 52-251c limits contingency fees on a sliding scale: one third of the first $300,000 recovered, 25 percent of the next $300,000, 20 percent of the next $300,000, 15 percent of the next $300,000, and 10 percent above $1.2 million, applied net of costs. We work within that schedule and advance the costs these cases require, including engineering analysis and testing. No recovery means no fee.

Key Components of a Stamford Product Liability Claim

Do Not Let Go of the Product

This single step decides more product cases than any legal argument. The item is the evidence. Once it is thrown away in cleanup, returned to a retailer for a refund, repaired, or handed to an insurer for testing, the claim usually goes with it. Keep it exactly as it is, along with its packaging, manuals, receipt, and any replacement parts. Photograph model and serial numbers before anything else, since those identify the manufacturing run and connect the item to any recall. The purchase record also establishes when the seller parted with the product, which is what the ten-year repose runs from.

Proving the Defect

Connecticut recognizes manufacturing defects, design defects, and failures to warn. For design defect claims the modified consumer expectation test is the primary route, weighing the utility of the design against the risk and the availability of a safer alternative, with the ordinary consumer expectation test reserved for cases where a product fails to meet commonly accepted minimum safety expectations. Which test applies shapes the engineering evidence the case requires.

Recalls Help, But They Are Not the Case

A recall is strong evidence that a hazard existed and that the manufacturer knew, and recall records are searchable through the Consumer Product Safety Commission, NHTSA for vehicles, and the FDA for drugs and devices. Connecticut consumer protection matters are handled by the Department of Consumer Protection. A recall does not establish liability on its own, and the absence of one does not defeat a claim, because many defective products are never recalled.

Punitive Damages and Attorney Fees

The Act contains its own remedy where a claimant proves the harm resulted from reckless disregard for the safety of product users. Section 52-240b allows punitive damages in that situation, awarded by the court rather than the jury and capped at twice the compensatory award. Section 52-240a allows the court to award reasonable attorney fees to a defendant where a claim is frivolous, which is a reason to assess a case honestly before bringing it.

Answering Misuse and Modification

Expect the argument that you used the product in a way it was not intended for, or that someone altered it. Neither automatically ends a claim, and under the pure comparative rule neither can end it outright. A manufacturer must account for reasonably foreseeable misuse, and the question is whether the use was foreseeable rather than whether it matched the manual exactly.

Damages and the Collateral Source Rule

Recovery covers medical costs, future care, lost wages, diminished earning capacity, pain, disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life, with no statutory cap on non-economic damages. Serious cases fall within our catastrophic injury practice, and head trauma within our brain injury practice. Separately, section 52-225a reduces economic damages by collateral source payments less premiums paid, except where that source holds a right of subrogation, which most health plans do.

“Excellent service and results. Attorney Jacobson was professional, responsive, and truly cared about my case. They explained everything clearly and delivered great results.”

Isaac M.

Product Liability Claims We Handle in Stamford

Vehicle and Auto Part Defects

Defective airbags, seat belts, brakes, steering components, tires, and fuel systems. A defect can cause a crash or worsen injuries in one that would otherwise have been survivable, and both support a claim alongside the ordinary car accident case. Motorcycle and bicycle component failures follow the same path.

Lithium-Ion Battery Fires

E-bikes, scooters, phones, tool packs, and hoverboards have become a fast-growing source of severe residential fires. These claims run against manufacturers, importers, and retailers alike, which matters because the manufacturer is frequently overseas and the joint and several rule keeps a domestic seller on the hook.

Household Appliances and Electronics

Water heaters, space heaters, dryers, pressure cookers, and wiring faults. Scald injuries, fires, and electrical shock follow from design and manufacturing failures a consumer has no way to detect.

Tools, Machinery, and Industrial Equipment

Missing guards, defective safety interlocks, failed lifts and harnesses, and collapsed scaffolding. Where the injury happened at work, the product claim proceeds independently of workers compensation, as our construction accident page explains, and the useful safe life exception frequently matters because industrial equipment stays in service for decades.

Medical Devices and Pharmaceuticals

Defective implants, surgical mesh, and drugs with inadequate warnings. Federal approval status can preempt certain state law claims, particularly for devices that went through premarket approval, and that analysis has to happen first. Where treatment error is also involved, our medical malpractice practice applies.

Children’s Products and Toys

Cribs, car seats, strollers, and toys with choking or strangulation hazards. Children’s products are subject to stricter federal standards, which makes a compliance failure particularly significant.

Food Contamination and Chemical Exposure

Contaminated food, mislabeled allergens, and exposure to toxic substances in consumer goods. Where a defective product causes death, our wrongful death practice applies. Browse all practice areas and the communities we cover on our areas we serve page.

What to Do After a Defective Product Injury

• Keep the product. Do not return it, repair it, discard it, or give it to an insurer. Retailers offer refunds and insurers ask to take items for testing, and either one can end the claim.
• Photograph the product including model and serial numbers, the packaging, and any labels or warnings, before anything is moved or cleaned up.
• Keep the box, the manual, the receipt, and any replacement parts. Purchase records establish when the seller parted with the product, which determines whether the ten-year repose has run.
• If the product is older than ten years, do not assume the claim is dead. Whether the harm occurred during its useful safe life is a separate question that requires engineering assessment.
• Get medical attention and make sure the record reflects how the injury happened and what product was involved. Check whether a recall exists through the CPSC or NHTSA.
• Decline a recorded statement to any insurer or manufacturer representative until you have spoken with a lawyer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I recover if the accident was mostly my fault?

In a product liability claim, yes. Connecticut applies pure comparative responsibility to these claims, meaning your share of fault reduces the award proportionally but never bars it. Someone found 70 percent responsible still recovers 30 percent. That is the opposite of an ordinary negligence claim, where being more than half at fault ends the case entirely.

How long do I have to file a product liability claim in Connecticut?

Three years from when the injury was sustained or reasonably discovered, which is a year longer than the general negligence deadline. A separate ten-year repose also applies, running from when the defendant last parted with possession or control of the product rather than from when you were hurt.

The product is more than ten years old. Is my claim over?

Not necessarily. Connecticut allows a claim outside the ten-year period where you can prove the harm occurred during the product’s useful safe life. Industrial machinery, appliances, and equipment built to last decades are frequently still within it. The legislature broadened this exception in 2017, so it is available to any claimant.

Do I have to prove the manufacturer was careless?

No. Connecticut’s Product Liability Act replaces negligence, strict liability, and warranty with one statutory claim, and you establish that the product was defective and that the defect caused your harm. How careful the manufacturer’s processes were is not the question.

Can I sue the store rather than the manufacturer?

Often yes. The Act reaches manufacturers, component makers, wholesalers, distributors, lessors, and retailers, and privity is not required, so you can recover even though you never bought the product. Connecticut also applies joint and several liability in these cases, so one solvent defendant can be required to satisfy the full judgment.

Why does joint and several liability matter?

Because it changes collectability. In ordinary Connecticut negligence cases each defendant generally pays only its own share, so an insolvent or foreign manufacturer means that share goes unpaid. In a product case a single solvent defendant can be made to satisfy the whole award and then seek contribution from the others.

Why does keeping the product matter so much?

Because it is the evidence. A manufacturing defect is proven by comparing the item against the manufacturer’s specifications, and a design defect is proven through engineering examination. Once it is discarded, returned, repaired, or handed to an insurer, a strong claim frequently becomes unprovable.

Does a recall mean I automatically win?

No. A recall is powerful evidence that a hazard existed and that the manufacturer knew, but liability still has to be proven. The reverse is also true: the absence of a recall does not defeat a claim, and many defective products are never recalled.

Can I recover punitive damages?

Where you prove the harm resulted from reckless disregard for the safety of product users. Connecticut’s Act provides for punitive damages in that situation, awarded by the court rather than the jury and capped at twice the compensatory award.

What will a lawyer charge?

Connecticut caps contingency fees by statute on a sliding scale, beginning at one third of the first $300,000 recovered and decreasing from there, applied net of costs. These cases carry significant expense for engineering analysis and testing, which we advance. If there is no recovery, no attorney fee is owed.

Speak With a Stamford Product Liability Lawyer

The product that injured you is the case, and it is usually gone within days, cleared out with the debris, returned for a refund, or collected by an insurer. Reaching out early is what preserves it, and it also establishes the purchase date that determines whether the repose period has run. Consultations are free and you pay nothing unless we recover for you. Call (561) 567-7163 or send us a message. Further reading is available on the firm blog.