Legal Question in Business Law in Maryland

Re: Product Liability

Your question is an extremely broad one and cannot be completely answered in this format. You should resend it including the facts specific to your case.

However, the general rule is that if a manufacturer makes an unreasonably dangerous product and as long as the consumer's use of it at the time of injury was foreseeable by the manufacturer, he can be held liable even if the consumer was negligent. If the consumer was not using it in a way reasonably contemplated by the manufacturer, that is a valid defense.

If the product is not unreasonably dangerous, then a consumer's negligence in using it can be a defense.

The rules are different for a retailer or lessor. Unless they knew of the dangerous nature of the product and failed to warn the consumer, they cannot be held liable, assuming they didn't alter the product as received from the supplier and merely made it available for sale or lease.