West Palm Beach Product Liability Lawyer
A defective product does not announce itself. One moment everything is fine, and the next someone is in the emergency room with a burn, a fracture, a traumatic brain injury, or worse. What makes these cases different from other personal injury claims is that the danger was built in before the product ever reached a store shelf or a delivery truck. The manufacturer, the distributor, the retailer, the designer, all of them had a role in putting that product into someone’s hands. When something goes wrong, the question of who is responsible rarely has a simple answer, and the companies involved have legal teams working quickly to minimize what they owe.
For residents of West Palm Beach and the surrounding communities, West Palm Beach product liability lawyer Brett Steinberg at Steinberg Law, P.A. has spent years holding companies accountable for the harm their products cause. These are not small opponents. Manufacturers and their insurers investigate aggressively, preserve evidence selectively, and make lowball offers early when they think the injured person does not understand the full value of their claim. The goal is to close the case before a real lawyer gets involved.
Steinberg Law handles product liability cases throughout Palm Beach County on a contingency fee basis, which means no legal fees unless compensation is recovered. Brett Steinberg tries cases when necessary. That makes a difference when an insurance adjuster or corporate defense team is evaluating how far to push back.
How Product Liability Claims Actually Work in Florida
Florida recognizes three distinct theories of liability in product injury cases. Each one applies to a different kind of defect, and understanding which theory fits the facts of a case shapes everything from how evidence is gathered to what expert witnesses are needed.
A manufacturing defect means the product was designed correctly but something went wrong during production. A batch of airbag inflators gets contaminated. A welding joint is missed on an assembly line. The product that injured someone differs from what the manufacturer intended to make. A design defect is different. Here, every unit off that production line carries the same flaw because the underlying blueprint was unsafe. A step stool that collapses under normal adult weight was dangerous from the moment the engineers finalized the design. The third category, failure to warn, applies when a product carries risks that are not obvious to a reasonable consumer and the manufacturer failed to include adequate instructions or warnings. Certain prescription medications fall into this category, as do power tools, cleaning chemicals, and children’s toys with choking or suffocation risks that are not clearly disclosed.
Florida also applies comparative fault principles, which means a defendant may argue that the injured person contributed to the harm by misusing the product. That argument is almost always raised. Documenting exactly how the product was being used at the time of the incident, and preserving the product itself as evidence, matters enormously from the first hours after an injury.
Product Categories That Generate Serious Injury Claims in West Palm Beach
- Motor Vehicle Components: Defective tires, faulty brakes, malfunctioning airbags, and seatbelt failures have caused catastrophic injuries on I-95, the Florida Turnpike, and local roads throughout Palm Beach County. Vehicle defect claims often involve federal safety recall data and require expert accident reconstruction analysis.
- Medical Devices and Implants: Hip implants, surgical mesh, spinal cord stimulators, and other devices sometimes fail after implantation, requiring revision surgery and causing ongoing disability. These cases frequently involve complex premarket approval issues and federal regulatory history at the FDA.
- Children’s Products and Toys: West Palm Beach families have seen injuries from unsafe cribs, defective car seats, toy components that detach and become choking hazards, and infant sleepers that were later recalled. Age labeling and federal Consumer Product Safety Commission standards are central to liability in these claims.
- Household Appliances and Electronics: Lithium battery fires, overheating power tools, and appliances with electrical faults have caused house fires and severe burn injuries across South Florida. The distributor chain for these products often runs from an overseas manufacturer through multiple domestic importers and retailers.
- Pharmaceutical Products: Prescription and over-the-counter drugs can cause harm through inadequate warnings, contamination, or documented side effect profiles that were not disclosed to prescribers or patients. Pharmaceutical liability often unfolds as mass tort or multidistrict litigation at the federal level.
- Agricultural and Lawn Equipment: Riding mowers, commercial landscaping equipment, and pesticide products are prevalent across Palm Beach County given the density of residential developments and golf communities. Rollover incidents, blade contact injuries, and toxic chemical exposure all generate product liability claims.
- Construction Materials and Safety Equipment: Scaffolding collapses, defective harnesses, and substandard protective gear injure workers across West Palm Beach’s active construction sector. These claims may intersect with workers’ compensation but often support separate product liability actions against manufacturers.
What to Do After an Injury Caused by a Defective Product
The most important thing to do immediately is preserve the product. Do not throw it away, return it, or continue using it. Place it somewhere it cannot be further altered, and avoid any cleanup that might remove residue, marks, or physical evidence of how it failed. Photographs help, but the physical item itself is the core evidence in most product liability cases.
Seek medical treatment without delay. Emergency care at St. Mary’s Medical Center or Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach creates contemporaneous medical documentation that ties the injury to the incident. If a physician attributes the harm to product failure in their records, that documentation is valuable. Follow through with all recommended treatment and follow-up appointments. Gaps in care give defense experts room to argue that the injury was less serious than claimed.
File a report if applicable. If the injury occurred in a retail store or commercial space in Palm Beach County, a written incident report creates a contemporaneous record. If the product is subject to a federal recall, report the injury through the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s SaferProducts.gov database. That report creates an additional official record and may prompt the agency to take further action.
Florida’s statute of limitations for product liability claims is generally four years from the date of injury, though that window can be shorter in certain circumstances involving wrongful death or latent injuries that were not immediately apparent. There is also a separate statute of repose in Florida that can bar claims involving products that have been in circulation for an extended period. Waiting to consult an attorney shortens the available investigation time and risks the loss of critical evidence.
Product liability cases are heard in Palm Beach County at the Palm Beach County Courthouse located on North Dixie Highway in downtown West Palm Beach. Claims may also be removed to federal court and assigned to the Southern District of Florida. Brett Steinberg is admitted to practice in all Florida state courts and the United States District Courts for the Southern and Middle Districts of Florida, which matters when a case migrates from state to federal jurisdiction.
Why Steinberg Law, P.A. for a West Palm Beach Product Liability Claim
Product liability cases demand more than general injury experience. They require a lawyer who is willing to retain the right experts, invest in the investigation, and take the case to trial if the evidence supports it. Brett Steinberg has done exactly that throughout his career in South Florida.
Since founding Steinberg Law in 2014, Brett has recovered over $25 million in verdicts and settlements for injured clients. His courtroom background is not incidental. Before opening his firm, he served as an Assistant Public Defender in Miami-Dade County, trying over 25 cases to verdict. Early in his career he assisted in a mesothelioma asbestos exposure trial that produced a $24,170,000 verdict. More recently, Brett took a sexual assault case to trial after the defense offered $20,000 to settle, and the jury returned $2,600,000. Those outcomes reflect something that matters in product liability cases specifically: the manufacturer and its insurers know whether a lawyer will go to trial. Brett will.
He holds an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, a 10.0 Superb rating on AVVO, a 10.0 rating on Justia, and has been recognized as a Florida Super Lawyer every year since 2015. He graduated cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law and is a member of the Florida Bar, the Palm Beach County Justice Association, and the Florida Justice Association. These credentials matter to a product liability client because this litigation requires a law firm that can go up against corporate defendants who are prepared to fight hard and spend freely on their defense.
Every product liability case at Steinberg Law is handled on a contingency fee basis. No upfront cost, no fees unless the case is resolved successfully.
West Palm Beach Product Liability Questions Answered
What is the difference between a product liability claim and a regular negligence case?
In a standard negligence case, the injured person must prove that a specific party acted carelessly. Product liability claims in Florida can proceed under a strict liability theory for manufacturing and design defects, meaning the focus shifts to the condition of the product rather than whether anyone acted reasonably. If the product was unreasonably dangerous and caused harm while being used as intended, liability can attach regardless of how carefully the manufacturer operated its production line. Failure to warn claims do retain a negligence-style analysis tied to what the manufacturer knew or should have known about the risk.
Can I still recover compensation if I was not using the product exactly as the instructions said?
It depends on how the product was being used. Florida law protects consumers who use a product in a way that is reasonably foreseeable, even if it is not the precise use the manufacturer specified. A defense team will argue misuse, but foreseeable misuse is not a complete bar to recovery. If the deviation from instructions was minor or the kind of thing any ordinary person might do, that argument often does not hold up. Florida’s comparative fault framework means that even if some portion of responsibility is attributed to the injured person, compensation may still be available for the remaining percentage.
Who can be held liable for a defective product, and do I have to sue the manufacturer directly?
Florida’s product liability law allows claims against any party in the product’s distribution chain, including the manufacturer, the importer, the wholesaler, and the retailer who sold the product. If the original manufacturer is located overseas and cannot be effectively sued in a Florida court, the domestic importer or retailer may bear full liability. This is significant for products sourced through e-commerce platforms or international supply chains, which are increasingly common and present real challenges for injured consumers trying to identify who is actually responsible.
What if the product that hurt me was recalled before the injury happened?
A prior recall strengthens a product liability claim considerably because it is evidence that the manufacturer was aware of the defect. If the company issued a recall and the product was still in circulation, the injured person may also have claims against retailers who continued selling the item after the recall was announced. Recall records are public and retrievable through federal agency databases. A recall does not mean the company will automatically accept liability or pay a fair settlement; it means the evidence of a known defect already exists and needs to be developed properly.
My injury happened at work because a piece of equipment was defective. Do I have to choose between workers’ compensation and a product liability claim?
No. Workers’ compensation covers medical expenses and a portion of lost wages for a workplace injury regardless of fault, but it limits recovery against the employer. A product liability claim against the manufacturer of the defective equipment is a separate legal action that is not limited by the workers’ compensation system. Pursuing both simultaneously is common, and a successful product liability recovery through a third-party claim can produce compensation well beyond what workers’ comp provides, including damages for pain and suffering and full lost income.
How long do product liability cases typically take to resolve?
Cases that settle before litigation can resolve in months. Most product liability cases that require filing a lawsuit take considerably longer, often one to three years from filing to resolution, depending on how aggressively the defendant contests liability, how complex the expert evidence is, and how crowded the Palm Beach County or federal court docket is at the time. Cases involving mass tort or multidistrict litigation, such as certain medical device or pharmaceutical claims, may take even longer but can be coordinated with thousands of similar claims nationally, which sometimes accelerates settlement discussions.
Does a product liability case require expert witnesses, and who pays for that?
Virtually every contested product liability case requires at least one expert, and often several. Engineers assess the design or manufacturing process. Medical experts link the defect to the specific injuries. Economists calculate future economic losses. Steinberg Law handles cases on a contingency fee basis, which means the firm advances the costs of litigation, including expert fees, and those costs are recovered from the settlement or verdict. There are no upfront costs to the client for expert retention.
Is there a cap on damages in a Florida product liability case?
Florida does not impose a cap on compensatory damages in product liability cases. Injured plaintiffs can recover for past and future medical expenses, lost wages, diminished earning capacity, and pain and suffering without a statutory ceiling in most product defect contexts. Florida law does address punitive damages separately, applying standards and limitations when a plaintiff seeks to punish particularly egregious conduct by a manufacturer. The availability and calculation of punitive damages depends on the specific facts of the case.
What if the product was bought as a gift and I was not the one who purchased it?
The purchaser’s identity generally does not determine who can bring a product liability claim. Florida law allows claims by people who were injured while using or being near a defective product, regardless of whether they made the purchase. The original point of sale and the chain of distribution still matter for identifying defendants, but the injured person does not need to be the buyer to have a valid claim.
What should I do if the company or its insurer contacts me before I have a lawyer?
Do not give a recorded statement, sign any document, or accept any payment before speaking with an attorney. Companies reach out early because they want to gather information that may be used to limit their liability, and early settlement offers often reflect a fraction of the claim’s actual value. Accepting a settlement without understanding the full extent of future medical costs and ongoing disability can leave an injured person with no legal recourse for expenses that arise months or years later. Once a release is signed, the claim is closed permanently.
Serving West Palm Beach and Surrounding Palm Beach County Communities
Steinberg Law, P.A. represents product liability clients throughout West Palm Beach and the surrounding region. From the Northwood and Flamingo Park neighborhoods through the downtown waterfront corridor and into the areas surrounding Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard, the firm serves clients across West Palm Beach’s diverse residential and commercial communities. The firm’s representation extends throughout Palm Beach County, including clients in Lake Worth Beach, Greenacres, Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Loxahatchee, and Palm Springs. To the north, the firm serves Jupiter, Tequesta, Juno Beach, and North Palm Beach. To the south, clients in Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Boca Raton, and Lake Worth regularly work with Steinberg Law. The firm also handles product liability cases for clients in Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, and Deerfield Beach, as well as clients throughout Miami-Dade County and across the state of Florida.
Contact a West Palm Beach Product Liability Attorney at Steinberg Law
Product injuries often leave people dealing with substantial medical bills, time away from work, and lasting physical consequences, all because a company sold something that was not safe. A West Palm Beach product liability attorney at Steinberg Law, P.A. can evaluate your claim, identify who is responsible, and build a case that reflects what you actually lost. Brett Steinberg works directly with every client and takes these cases to trial when the evidence and the offer on the table make that the right call.
Call Steinberg Law, P.A. for a free one-hour consultation. There are no fees unless the case is won, and there is no obligation from the initial call. The sooner the investigation starts, the better the evidence that can be preserved.
