Legal Question in Product Liability in California

Re: do i have a case?

Foreign substances in food products is an interesting area of law. The courts do not always enforce strict products liability even where there has been serious injury unless the foreign substance is likely to be harmful if not kept out of the product and it is not reasonably expected to be in the product. I don't think a cookie manufacturer could successfully defend getting a bb in a cookie. It actually may have been a small ball bearing from a machine.

That being said you need to be aware that lawyers are not likely to be interested in a products liability case unless the damages are very serious. To prove a products liability case, the evidence needs to be preserved. There needs to be proof of injury caused by the defect in the product. The damages must be enough to cover the costs of bringing a suit, paying experts to develop the case and if necessary to testify, and paying an attorney a fair wage to cover his time. That may require a case in excess of $50,000.00 damages.

In a time when insurance companies have been losing money in the stock market because of a slow economy, and have been blaming attorneys and lawsuits for higher premiums, when the truth is otherwise, it causes jurors to believe the big lie. Most jurors today in California have been told in political adds that attorneys and sue happy people are responsible for jobs leaving California. The truth is that jobs are down everywhere. The number of suits for injuries have steadily declined over the past ten years.

We are seeing a challenge at both the state and national level to continue to take away rights from consumers to protect multi billion $ corporations, including product manufacturers, Drug companies, insurance companies and the like.

Many intelligent people have been swept into the need to reform to take away consumer rights, when the reforms are well financed by the exceedingly rich corporations. They talk about billions as if the individual has a true understanding of how much that is. One thousand Million is a lot. If a person earned $1,000 for every day they were alive for 100 years that would only be $36 and a half million. Somehow, we need to stand up for consumers and protect those rights. The few lawsuits that actually need to be filed are in truth necessary, and the losses should be born by the industry involved rather that left on the person who has suffered the significant damages. Thanks for the good question.