Most dangerous products are never recalled at all, and a recall is a decision the company itself makes about the stock still on its shelves. Your claim rests on what it did to you.
CHARLESTOWN PRODUCT LIABILITY LAWYER
You can be paid even if the product was never recalled.
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A Charlestown product liability lawyer builds the case around the evidence.
We trust the things around us to be reasonably safe. The tools we work with, the appliances in our homes, the vehicles we drive, the medical devices we depend on. When one of them fails the results can be severe. A power tool that shatters, a heater that catches fire, a machine missing a guard, a device that stops working at the wrong moment. A claim of this kind is about holding the companies that designed, made and sold the thing responsible for the harm it caused, and the law here gives an injured person a strong route to do exactly that.
Getting paid properly, for the medical care, the income lost while you are off work, and the pain and lasting disability a serious failure causes, takes fast work to preserve the product and a firm claim against every company in the chain that put it in your hands. These cases are directed by Daniel J. Larson, and you can read his background on his profile. From the first call you deal directly with a lawyer who will explain, in plain terms, how a claim like this works and who can be held responsible.
The approach taken here differs from many states, and the difference favors the injured person. Instead of a separate rule for dangerous products, the law uses the promise that comes with every sale, that a thing is fit for its ordinary use. If it is not, and it injures someone, the maker and the seller are both answerable, with no need to prove either of them was careless. Nor do you have to have dealt with the manufacturer directly, because a maker, a distributor and a retailer can each answer to anyone they should have expected to use the thing or be affected by it.
None of that is what the injured person feels in the moment. They feel the pain, the shock that something they trusted caused it, and the worry about bills and lost work. Turning a failure into a fully documented, fairly valued claim, and proving the fault in the thing itself, is exactly what a lawyer is for.
These cases are not about argument. They turn on the object. What the fault was, whether it lay in the design, in how that particular unit was built, or in a warning that was never given, and how it caused the injury. A design fault makes an entire range unsafe, a manufacturing fault makes one unit dangerous, and a missing warning leaves people unaware of a hidden risk. Preserving the actual item, unaltered, is often the single most important step, because once it is repaired or thrown away the case becomes far harder to prove. A recall is no part of this, and its absence proves nothing about whether the thing was safe, and the same method runs through the rest of our injury work.
We take hold of the item that injured you.
- We preserve the defective product itself, the single most important evidence, before it can be repaired, discarded, or altered.
- We use Massachusetts’s warranty law, which works much like strict liability, so you need not prove the maker was careless.
- We pursue every company in the chain, the manufacturer, the distributor, and the seller, and the enhanced damages Chapter 93A allows.
- We work with engineering and safety experts to establish the defect and how it caused your injury.
- We deal with the companies and their insurers, so you are not fighting them while you heal.
- No fee unless we win
- Free, private case review
- Same-day response
- Honest advice from day one
The law leans toward the person who was hurt.
Four rules do the work in a claim of this kind, and they lean toward the person who was hurt. Knowing how they fit together, and in what order, is much of what a lawyer adds to one of these cases.
The first is a promise that comes with every sale. Anything sold by a business carries an assurance that it is fit for the ordinary purposes people buy such things for. A product that injures someone during normal use has broken that assurance, and the injured person does not have to prove the maker was careless, only that the thing was not fit and not safe. Courts treat that promise as close to an outright rule of responsibility, which is why these cases start on firmer ground than most.
The second removes the question of who you bought it from. A maker, a seller, a hire company or a supplier answers to anyone it could reasonably have expected to use the thing, to consume it, or to be harmed by it. That reaches the manufacturer directly, and it reaches a bystander who never bought anything at all. The same rule sets the deadline, and a claim generally has to be brought within three years of the injury.
The third deals with companies that behaved badly rather than carelessly. Where a business has acted unfairly or deceptively, someone injured by that conduct can recover what they lost together with legal costs, and where the conduct was deliberate or knowing the sum can be doubled or trebled. A company that hid a known fault, or that saw a safety problem and did nothing, is exposed to far more than the ordinary value of the claim. That both compensates the injured person more fully and puts a real price on the conduct.
The fourth covers partial blame, and it worries people more than it should. You can still be paid as long as you were not more than half responsible, with whatever you receive reduced by your share. Manufacturers routinely argue that the user misused the thing, so answering that with the evidence of the fault, and with how the product was actually being used, is frequently the difference between a claim paid in full and one paid at a discount.
Those four work together. The promise establishes responsibility without any fight over how careful the maker was. Removing the purchase requirement lets the claim reach every company in the chain. The unfair conduct rule adds the threat of a much larger sum where a fault was hidden or ignored. Partial blame then limits only a genuine misuse defense. A serious case is won by preserving the product, proving the fault with people qualified to examine it, and reaching every company that should answer.
Physical evidence drives all of it, because the product is the proof. Whether the failure lay in the design, in the building of that particular unit, or in a warning never given is established through the thing itself, its history, and expert examination of it. Preserving the item unaltered, and recording how it was being used and how it failed, is central to proving the fault and to securing the full value of the claim.
A product that fails at work brings two claims.
These injuries do not belong to one street the way a crash or a fall does. They happen wherever people use things. At home, when an appliance or a heater fails. At work, when a tool, a machine or a piece of safety gear does not do what it should. On the road, when a vehicle or one of its parts is faulty. In a hospital bed, when a device or a medicine causes harm. The common thread is simple. Something meant to be safe was not.
Where it happened decides who has to pay. If it failed at work, you may have a claim on the job and a separate claim against the company that made the equipment, and the two run at the same time. If it failed at home, the maker and the shop that sold it both answer. If a vehicle part failed, the claim usually runs to a national manufacturer, and there may be a record of the same fault reported by other owners. Finding every company that has to pay is how you get paid in full, and it directly affects the income a serious injury costs you while you cannot work.
The kind of fault decides what proof you need. A design fault makes a whole range unsafe. A building fault makes one unit dangerous. A missing warning leaves people unaware of a risk. Each one calls for different evidence and a different kind of specialist to examine it. Matching the investigation to the fault is what separates a claim paid fairly from one a manufacturer settles cheaply, and it is why the first few weeks matter so much.
The item is the most important evidence you have. Keep it exactly as it is. Its labels and instructions, its repair and purchase history, any notice issued about the same model, and a report from someone qualified to say why it broke together prove the fault and how it caused the injury. Get hold of it early, before it is repaired, returned or thrown out. That step alone often decides whether the claim can be proved at all.
Different products cause different injuries. Tools and machines crush hands and cut fingers off. Appliances and heaters cause burns and house fires. Faulty vehicle parts cause crashes. Unsafe devices and medicines cause internal damage that can take months to show. Knowing which kind of product and which kind of fault is involved tells you which companies have to answer and what evidence will decide it.
One piece of proof can win an argument the manufacturer would otherwise win. The item itself, a notice about the same model, or an expert’s report on why it failed can establish a fault the company would simply deny. That evidence is easy to lose, so moving fast to keep hold of it is the most useful thing an injured person can do.
One failure can cost you years of earnings.
A serious product injury costs far more than the first hospital visit. A full claim has to cover the emergency and corrective care, the surgery and rehabilitation that follow, the income lost while you cannot work, and the pain and lasting disability the failure caused. There is no automatic cover sitting behind a claim like this, so every one of those losses has to come from the companies responsible. That total, which can grow larger still where a company hid a known fault, is exactly what a manufacturer’s insurer works hardest to keep down.
The stakes are highest with the injuries these products cause. Burns, lost fingers or limbs, crushing damage, and the harm a failed medical device or medicine can do. The gap between an insurer’s first offer and what the injury will actually cost, in later treatment and in lost earning power, can be enormous. Closing it takes the medical record, the treating doctors, an engineer who can say why the thing failed, and sometimes someone who can put a figure on a career that has been cut short. Whether the fault was in the design, in the building of that one unit, or in a warning never given has to be proved from the physical evidence.
Facing a manufacturer alone is not a fair contest. These companies and their insurers defend claims like this constantly. They are practiced at blaming the user for misuse, at disputing the fault, at making an early low offer, and at running the clock down while the product quietly disappears. A lawyer who preserves the evidence, proves the fault, and pursues every company in the chain is what levels that field.
Acting early protects the whole case. The sooner the product is kept safe and the injury is documented, the harder it is for an insurer to lock in a low number. Because a product usually passes through several hands, a maker, a distributor and a shop, more than one company and more than one policy may be responsible. A serious injury should not be limited to whichever single company is easiest to name.
None of this is something an injured person should manage alone while trying to heal. A private conversation at the start can explain which companies are responsible and what the case may realistically be worth, and fees are taken as a share of what comes in at the end, set out in plain terms before anything is signed. There is also a wider point. A claim that forces a hidden fault into the open can push a dangerous product toward a redesign, so that what happened to you does not happen to the next family.
Emergency and Corrective Care
Lost Income and Earning Capacity
Pain, Suffering, and Disability
Chapter 93A Enhanced Damages
Do not let anyone repair or take the product.
Get medical care and keep this item
Get treated right away and, just as important, keep the product exactly as it is; do not repair, alter, wash, return, or throw it away, because it is the single key evidence in your injury claim here.
Note exactly how the product failed
Write down how you were using the product and how it failed while it stays fresh, note any witnesses, and check for recall notices on the model. Give no recorded statement to the maker or its insurer.
Call a lawyer before you discard it
Product cases turn on evidence that is easily lost and on experts who must examine the product, so before you sign anything or let it be discarded, a free review preserves the claim right now for you.
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The strongest proof you have is still in your house.
Right now the case is sitting wherever the product is. A landlord clears a hallway, an employer sends a machine back to the supplier, a repairer takes something away to look at it, and the strongest proof in the claim is gone before anyone has decided anything. Tell us where the item is and we will make sure it stays exactly as it is. From there we work out which companies have to answer for it, while you get on with treatment.
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Larson Law helps injured people and families across Massachusetts after a serious accident. If you were hurt by someone else’s carelessness in Boston, we are ready to listen and explain your options at no cost.
Most people want to know if they still have a case.
Do I have to prove the maker was careless?
No. Massachusetts relies on the implied warranty of merchantability, which the courts treat much like strict liability. You need to show the product was not fit and safe for its ordinary use and that it injured you, not that the manufacturer was negligent, which puts a defective-product claim on strong footing.
Can I sue a manufacturer I never bought from?
Yes. Massachusetts removed the old requirement that you bought the product from the company you are suing. A manufacturer, distributor, seller, or supplier can be held responsible to anyone it should have expected to use or be affected by the product, including a bystander who never purchased it.
Why is keeping the product so important?
Because the product is the single most important piece of evidence. Whether the defect was in the design, the manufacturing, or a missing warning is proven through the item itself and expert analysis. If it is repaired, returned, or discarded, the case becomes far harder, and sometimes impossible, to prove.
What kinds of defects can support a claim?
Three main kinds. A design defect makes an entire product line unsafe; a manufacturing defect makes a particular unit dangerous; and a failure to warn leaves users unaware of a hidden risk. Identifying which kind caused your injury shapes the evidence, the experts, and the companies that will be held responsible.
How long do I have to bring a product liability claim?
A product claim generally must be brought within three years of the injury. But the practical deadline is often sooner, because the product itself can be lost or altered within days or weeks, so preserving it and getting advice early is essential to protecting the claim.
What is Chapter 93A and how does it help?
Chapter 93A is Massachusetts’s consumer-protection law. Where a company’s conduct was unfair or deceptive, such as hiding a known defect, it allows recovery of attorney’s fees and, for a willful or knowing violation, double or treble damages. That can significantly increase a recovery and hold bad corporate conduct to account.
I was hurt by a product at work. Do I have extra options?
Often, yes. A workplace product injury can support both a workers’ compensation claim and a separate claim against the maker of the defective tool, machine, or equipment. That third-party product claim can recover damages, including pain and suffering, that comp alone does not pay.
The company says I misused the product. Does that end my claim?
Not necessarily. Manufacturers routinely claim misuse to avoid responsibility, but the question is how the product was actually used and whether the defect caused the injury. Comparative negligence may reduce a recovery for genuine misuse, but it rarely bars a claim, and the evidence of the defect answers the argument.
What if there was a recall on the product?
A recall can be powerful evidence that the product was defective and that the manufacturer knew of the danger. It does not automatically win the case, but it supports the claim and can bear on enhanced damages under the consumer-protection law. We check for recall history on the model as part of building the case.
What is my product liability claim worth?
It depends on the severity and permanence of your injury and the conduct of the companies involved, not on an insurer’s first offer. A fair value accounts for medical care and future treatment, lost income and earning power, pain and disability, and, where warranted, enhanced damages under Chapter 93A.
Do I need a lawyer for a product liability claim?
For a serious injury, almost always. Preserving the product, proving the defect with engineering experts, reaching every company in the chain, and using the consumer-protection law are specialized tasks, and manufacturers defend these claims aggressively. Your own advocate preserves the proof, proves the defect, and lets you focus on healing.
What does hiring you cost?
Nothing upfront. These cases are handled on a contingency fee, so you owe no attorney fee unless we recover for you, and the first consultation is free. That lets you take on a manufacturer and pursue the full value of your claim, including any enhanced damages, without any financial risk of your own.
Results Disclaimer: Past case results, settlements, and verdicts mentioned on this website do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case. Every case is unique and depends on its own facts and legal issues.