Proving a Product Liability Claim

You do not have to prove negligence to win a product liability claim. You do need to establish four elements to successfully recover compensation. Our team at Bell Legal Group dives deep into research and uses science to build compelling cases.

We can help you prove the four elements of a product liability claim:

• The defective product injured you. To successfully pursue a product liability claim, you must be able to show you sustained losses due to the defective product. Almost getting injured is not enough. If you were not actually injured, you most likely do not have a claim.
• The product is defective. Next, you must demonstrate the product is defective under one of the categories described above, meaning you must prove the product has a manufacturing defect, design defect, or defective warnings or instructions. 
• The product’s defect led to your injuries. You must then show that the defect (and not some other factor) caused your injuries. This typically requires establishing what specifically happened and how you were injured. We can help recreate malfunctions and other accidents in our state-of-the-art Science and Research Center.
• You used the product as intended. You will need to rule out the possibility that you were using the product in an unsafe manner or in a way that was not intended or recommended by the manufacturer. If you were ignoring safety warnings or using a product beyond the scope of its intended use, you likely do not have a strong claim. 

How Long Do I Have to File a Product Liability Lawsuit in South Carolina?

South Carolina’s statute of limitations for product liability lawsuits is three years. This means you must start the legal process within three years of the date you were injured by a defective product. If someone dies because of a defective product, the executor of the deceased’s estate has three years from the date of their passing to bring a wrongful death claim. You also only have two years from the date of harm to file your lawsuit if a government entity is the defendant.

The state does have a discovery rule that delays the expiration of the statute of limitations if your injuries were not immediately obvious. This can be common in situations involving defective pharmaceuticals whose ill effects do not become apparent until many years after they were first consumed. In these scenarios, you have three years from the date you discovered or should have reasonably discovered your injuries to file a claim.