Washington Product Liability Attorney
A defective product claim in Washington is rarely a fight over whether someone was careless. It is a fight over the product itself: how it was designed, how it was made, and what the maker told you about its dangers. Injury Law Group NW is a personal injury firm that represents people hurt by dangerous and defective products, along with other injury victims, across King County, the greater Seattle area, and the rest of Washington.
If you are searching for a Washington product liability attorney, you are probably holding a damaged tool, a recalled appliance, a failed safety device, or a stack of medical bills tied to something you bought and trusted. The product may be long gone from your hands. It may have been destroyed in a fire, sent back to a manufacturer, or thrown away. What happens to that physical evidence in the first weeks often decides how strong your case becomes.
These cases also run on a different clock than most injury claims. Washington has its own product liability statute, and it contains a built-in expiration for the products themselves, which we explain below.
How Washington Product Liability Cases Are Built
Washington product liability law is statutory, found in chapter 7.72 of the Revised Code of Washington. The claim is aimed at the product, not just at a person’s mistake. Most cases fall into one of three theories: the design was unsafe, the manufacturing departed from the intended design, or the warnings and instructions were inadequate. A single injury can support more than one theory at once.
Liability can reach beyond the company whose name is on the box. Manufacturers are the usual target, but product sellers, distributors, and retailers can also be drawn into a claim depending on their role. Part of the early work is sorting out who actually designed, built, assembled, and sold the item, which is not always obvious with imported goods or products assembled from components made elsewhere.
Expect these cases to be expert-heavy. Engineers examine the product, test exemplars, and explain to a judge or jury why a reasonable design would have prevented the harm. Medical experts connect the defect to the injury. Defense companies hire their own experts, and they often argue that the product was misused, modified, or simply worn out. A lawyer who has sat on the defense side of this kind of litigation knows how those arguments are assembled and where they are weakest.
Why Choose Injury Law Group NW for a Defective Product Claim
Injury Law Group NW represents injured people and grieving families throughout King County, Seattle, the Eastside, and the greater Puget Sound region. The firm’s attorneys spent decades defending insurance companies before they began representing injury victims, and that history matters in product cases, where the other side is usually a well-funded manufacturer backed by corporate counsel and insurers. We work on a contingency fee basis, so you owe no attorney fee unless we recover money for you, and the first consultation is free and confidential. If your injuries make travel hard, we will meet you at home or in the hospital.
Troy Hunter, Founding Partner, spent 16 years in insurance defense litigation, mostly as a partner at Floyd, Pflueger & Ringer, defending insurers and corporate clients against personal injury, wrongful death, fire loss, and construction defect claims. Fire loss and defect work is directly relevant when a faulty appliance or component starts a fire. Troy also serves as a dispute mediator.
David D. Mordekhov spent two decades at Gardner Trabolsi & Mordekhov trying wrongful death, catastrophic injury, and product liability cases before judges and juries across Washington. He teaches trial and deposition skills as faculty at the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, has been selected to the Super Lawyers list, and is fluent in Russian. Troy and David are both rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell. Associate attorneys Warren Barreiro, who speaks Spanish, and Hannah Shergold complete the team, supported by case managers who return calls and texts promptly. Our attorneys have argued at every level of the Washington court system, from district court to the Washington Supreme Court, and the firm is a member of the Washington State Association for Justice.
We prepare every claim as though it will be tried, because manufacturers and their insurers pay more fairly when they believe the lawyer across the table will go to court. Our results include more than $1 million for parents whose newborn died after a hospital failed to adequately test for Group B Strep, a case that also led the hospital to change its procedures, along with mid-six-figure settlements in serious crash cases. Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee a future outcome. Clients consistently describe our team as responsive, honest, and communicative.
Common Sources of Defective Product Injuries in Washington
- Vehicle and Tire Defects: Brake failures, steering faults, airbag malfunctions, roof crush, and tire tread separation can turn an ordinary drive on I-5, I-90, or I-405 into a catastrophic crash. These cases often run alongside a claim against the at-fault driver, and the vehicle must be preserved before it is sold for salvage.
- Power Tools and Industrial Equipment: Missing blade guards, defective safety interlocks, and unstable ladders injure homeowners and tradespeople alike. When the injured person was on the job, a product claim against the manufacturer can sit alongside a workers’ compensation claim.
- Household Appliances and Electronics: Space heaters, lithium-ion batteries, e-bikes, scooters, and kitchen appliances can overheat, ignite, or shock. Fire cases require careful scene and device preservation, since the product itself is often damaged by the fire.
- Medical Devices and Pharmaceuticals: Implants that fail, surgical tools that break, and drugs with undisclosed side effects raise product claims that are separate from, and sometimes in addition to, a medical malpractice claim against the treating providers.
- Children’s Products: Cribs, car seats, strollers, toys with small parts, and furniture that tips over cause serious injuries to young children, often because warnings or assembly instructions were inadequate.
- Construction Site Equipment: Scaffolding components, cranes, forklifts, and fall protection gear can fail. Workers hurt by defective equipment may pursue a third-party claim beyond what workers’ compensation provides.
- Consumer Goods With Inadequate Warnings: Chemicals, cleaning products, and recreational gear can be dangerous even when built as intended if the maker failed to warn of foreseeable hazards.
- Motorcycle and Cycling Equipment: Helmets that fail on impact, defective brakes, and faulty frames injure riders. A separate crash claim against another driver may exist at the same time.
What to Do After Being Hurt by a Dangerous Product
Get medical care first, and tell every provider exactly how the injury happened. Your records become the backbone of the claim, so gaps and vague descriptions hurt later.
Then stop using the product and keep it. Do not repair it, clean it, return it to the store, or ship it back to the manufacturer. Keep the packaging, manuals, receipts, and any recall notices. Photograph the item, the scene, and your injuries. If the product was destroyed in a fire or a crash, tell us before anyone clears the scene or releases a vehicle, because a defense expert may ask to inspect it, and a formal evidence-preservation letter may be needed.
Be careful with the manufacturer. A company representative may call, apologize, offer a refund, or ask for a recorded statement. A refund can come with a release of claims, and your own words can be used to argue misuse. You are generally not required to give a recorded statement to an insurer for the other side, and speaking with a lawyer first is the safer course.
Watch the deadlines. Washington’s general injury deadline is three years under RCW 4.16.080, and the product liability statute has its own three-year period that runs from when you discovered, or should have discovered, the harm and its cause. Separate rules apply if a government agency is involved, such as a city-owned vehicle or a public facility. A claim against the state requires a standard tort claim form filed with the Office of Risk Management, and local governments require their own claim, each followed by a 60-day waiting period before a lawsuit can be filed. Wrongful death claims also run three years, counted from the date of death.
Most serious product cases are filed in King County Superior Court, which sits in Seattle and at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. Because manufacturers are often out-of-state corporations, some cases land in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, whose Seattle division covers King County. Smaller claims can be heard in King County District Court, but district court civil jurisdiction is capped, so serious injury cases belong in superior or federal court.
The Useful Safe Life Rule and Other Defenses You Should Expect
Washington law gives manufacturers a defense that surprises many injured people: the useful safe life of the product. A seller is not liable if it proves, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the harm happened after the product’s useful safe life had expired. If the harm occurs more than twelve years after the product was delivered, the law presumes the useful safe life had run out. That presumption can be rebutted, but it puts the burden on you.
There are exceptions. A seller can still be liable for harm from an older product if it warranted a longer safe period, if it intentionally misrepresented or concealed facts that caused the harm, or if the harm resulted from exposure that first occurred within the useful safe life. That last exception matters for long-latency injuries, where exposure began years before the diagnosis.
Expect other defenses too. Manufacturers argue the product was altered after sale, used in a way no one could have foreseen, or used despite a clear warning. They also point at the injured person. Washington follows pure comparative fault, meaning any fault attributed to you reduces your compensation proportionally but never bars recovery. There is no threshold at which you lose your claim, though adjusters routinely inflate an injured person’s share of the blame.
If you were hurt at work by defective equipment, Washington’s industrial insurance law allows an injured worker to seek damages from a third party outside the same employment. The Department of Labor & Industries, or a self-insurer, must be notified when that lawsuit is filed and may assert a statutory interest in the recovery, so those claims need careful handling from the start.
Questions About Washington Product Liability Claims
What is a product liability claim?
It is a claim for injuries caused by a product that was unreasonably dangerous because of a design flaw, a manufacturing defect, or missing or inadequate warnings. Washington’s statute lays out the theories and defenses, and the claim focuses on the product’s condition rather than only on someone’s carelessness.
How long do I have to file a product liability lawsuit in Washington?
The product liability statute generally allows three years from when you discovered, or should have discovered, the harm and its cause, subject to tolling rules. Washington’s general injury deadline is also three years. Because tolling and discovery questions can get complicated, it is best to call as early as possible.
Do I have to prove the manufacturer was negligent?
Not in the same way as an ordinary negligence case. Many claims focus on whether the product was unsafe as designed or made, or whether warnings were inadequate. The details depend on which theory fits your facts, and often more than one does.
Who can be held responsible?
Potentially the manufacturer, a component maker, a distributor, or a retailer, depending on the role each played. Identifying the right parties early matters, especially for imported or assembled products.
What if the product is more than twelve years old?
Washington presumes a product older than twelve years was past its useful safe life, but the presumption can be rebutted with evidence. Exceptions also exist for longer warranties, intentional concealment, and exposure that began within the safe life.
What if I kept using the product after noticing a problem?
The defense will likely argue fault on your part. Under Washington’s comparative fault rule, that reduces your compensation by your percentage of responsibility but does not bar a claim.
What if the product was destroyed or thrown away?
You may still have a case, but the evidence is harder. Photos, purchase records, packaging, similar exemplars, and testing of identical models can help, which is why contacting a lawyer quickly is so valuable.
Can I bring a product claim if I was hurt at work?
Often yes. A worker covered by industrial insurance can generally pursue a third party outside the same employment, such as the manufacturer of a defective machine. Those claims can provide compensation beyond workers’ compensation benefits, and the Department of Labor & Industries has to be notified when the suit is filed.
Will a recall help or hurt my case?
A recall can be strong evidence that the maker knew of a hazard, but it does not automatically prove your claim, and its absence does not mean the product was safe. Keep any recall notices you received.
Can family members recover if someone dies from a defective product?
Yes. A wrongful death action is brought by the personal representative for the benefit of the spouse or state registered domestic partner and children, or, if none exist, the parents or siblings. The estate can also pursue the decedent’s own losses. The three-year deadline runs from the date of death.
How much does it cost to hire your firm for a product case?
The consultation is free and confidential, and we work on contingency, so you pay no attorney fee unless we recover compensation for you.
Is it worth hiring a lawyer if the injury seems minor?
Product cases require expert testing and early evidence preservation, which is hard to do alone, and some injuries worsen over time. A consultation costs nothing and will tell you whether a claim is worth pursuing.
Serving Product Liability Clients Across King County and Washington
We represent people hurt by dangerous products throughout King County, from Seattle, Bellevue, and Issaquah to Sammamish, Redmond, Kirkland, Kent, and Renton. Our work reaches across the Eastside and the greater Seattle area, and we take cases throughout the Puget Sound region and the rest of Washington. Families come to us from neighborhoods near the I-90 corridor, along I-405 and I-5, and from smaller communities throughout the area. Because defective products travel with their owners, a case that begins in one community can involve a manufacturer, a store, and a court in several others. If an injury makes travel difficult, we can meet you at home or in the hospital.
Talk to a Washington Product Liability Attorney Today
If a defective or dangerous product injured you or took someone you love, a Washington product liability lawyer at Injury Law Group NW can tell you what the evidence supports and what needs to be preserved right now. Call or text us for a free, confidential consultation. We will listen to what happened, explain your options, and pursue the medical care and compensation you need. We give hope. We get results.
