Virginia products liability law is essentially a set of laws, primarily including common law, that holds any party that is considered part of the chain of distribution of a defective product liable for any harm the product causes. Included along the chain of manufacture, and subject to liability under products liability law, are the manufacturer of component parts, the party who assembled the product, the wholesaler and the retailer. Depending on the circumstances, products liability claims can help injured victims recover a number of different types of damages for financial, physical and emotional harm suffered.
Products liability law takes harm caused to unsuspecting consumers seriously. Consumers have a reasonable expectation of safety when using everyday products, which include a number of everyday products consumers meet. Products liability law exists to protect consumers from dangerous and defective products. Because of the comprehensive way that products liability law protects victims of dangerous or defective products, there are a number of different types of claims that victims who have been harmed may be able to bring, including negligence claims, strict liability claims or breach of warranty claims.
There are different types of defects that can include design defects, manufacturing defects and marketing defects. Products liability laws and protections can be complex and vary by state. When consumers and the public have been injured or otherwise harmed by dangerous or defective products, products liability law steps in to help victims recover damages for the harm suffered and to ensure that parties in that chain of distribution are held liable for the harm their products cause.
Source: Law.Cornell.edu, “Products Liability,” accessed on June 15, 2015