Fight Back Against Defective Products With An Experienced Product Liability Attorney

When you have been injured by a product, you want to hold the responsible parties accountable while also preventing others from being harmed or accidentally killed in the future. At the law firm of Hanna Vander Ploeg, LLC, we serve clients who have been injured by defective products throughout the Chicagoland area.

Product Liability Attorneys With More Than 40 Years Of Combined Experience

Our product liability attorneys hold decades of combined experience in handling important legal matters. That experience means we have the judgment you need should your case fall into a gray area or involve a principle of law still in development.

We can assist you with a wide variety of product liability matters, including those cases involving, for instance:

• Medical devices: Medical devices such as hip implants, pacemakers, IUDs, hernia mesh, and insulin pumps can cause serious harm when they malfunction or are defectively designed. Common defects include premature device failure, toxic material leaching, improper sizing, inadequate sterilization, and lack of proper warnings about potential complications or side effects.
• Cars: Defective automobiles including sedans, SUVs, trucks and motorcycles, can lead to catastrophic injuries when critical components fail, such as defective airbags, faulty brakes, steering system malfunctions, tire blowouts and unintended acceleration. Manufacturing defects, design flaws in rollover protection and failure to warn consumers about known safety issues are common grounds for product liability claims against auto manufacturers.
• Appliances and household products: Everyday household appliances like refrigerators, washing machines, dryers, space heaters and pressure cookers can become dangerous when they contain defects that cause fires, explosions, electrical shocks or carbon monoxide poisoning. Product failures often stem from faulty wiring, inadequate safety guards, defective thermostats, flammable materials and insufficient warnings about proper use and maintenance.
• Power tools: Power tools including table saws, nail guns, chainsaws, circular saws and drills pose significant injury risks when manufactured with inadequate blade guards, defective safety switches or poor trigger mechanisms. Common defects involve missing or ineffective safety features, tools that activate unexpectedly, kickback issues and insufficient warnings about proper protective equipment and operational hazards.
• Toys: Children’s toys including cribs, strollers, high chairs, small parts toys and battery-operated items, can pose choking hazards, entrapment dangers or toxic exposure risks when improperly designed or manufactured. Common defects include small detachable parts that violate safety standards, toxic materials, sharp edges, unstable structures that tip over and inadequate age-appropriate warnings for parents and caregivers.
• Pharmaceuticals: Prescription and over-the-counter medications can cause devastating side effects when pharmaceutical companies fail to adequately test drugs, properly warn about dangerous interactions or continue marketing medications despite known health risks. Defects include contaminated ingredients, incorrect dosage formulations, failure to warn about birth defects or organ damage, and inadequate testing for long-term effects or interactions with other medications.
• Beauty products: Cosmetics, hair care products, skin treatments and personal care items such as hair relaxers, talcum powder, sunscreens and antiaging creams can contain toxic chemicals, carcinogens or allergens that cause serious health problems. Product defects often involve contamination with heavy metals, inclusion of banned or dangerous ingredients, failure to disclose cancer-causing compounds and inadequate testing for skin reactions or long-term health effects.

Product defect cases often involve large businesses and large law firms. At Hanna Vander Ploeg, LLC, our product liability lawyers work on your behalf to level the playing field.

Our experience includes regular trial work. In fact, our attorneys are in court every day. You will be able to rely on us to help you understand your legal options. We will also help you choose from those options wisely.

Our product defect lawyers regularly receive referrals from other law firms. Those firms know that we work directly with our clients in cases large and small. Our personalized approach in dangerous product cases means improved communication for you. We know that you want to know what is happening in your case. We make it our job to guide you through the often impersonal legal system.

Frequently Asked Questions About Defective Product Injuries

People hurt by a defective product often have the same initial questions, and the answers shape what to do in the days after the injury. Here are the ones our attorneys hear most.

What should I do immediately after being injured by a defective product?

Get medical care first. Then, protect the evidence: Keep the product, its packaging and any receipts. Do not return it or let the manufacturer inspect it before your lawyer has seen it. Photograph the product and your injuries. Illinois generally gives you two years from the date of injury to file a product liability lawsuit, so talk to an attorney early.

What are common injuries caused by defective products?

Faulty power tools and appliances lead to burns, lacerations and electrical injuries. Defective auto parts, including air bags and tires, contribute to fractures, and head and spinal injuries. Contaminated medications and implanted medical devices can cause internal injuries. Whatever the injury, the legal question is the same: Did a defect in the product’s design, manufacturing or warnings cause it?

What does it mean if the product was recalled?

A recall is strong evidence that the manufacturer or a government agency identified a hazard. It does not automatically win your case or bar you from filing one. You still need to show the defect caused your injury. If the manufacturer knew about the danger and delayed acting, that history becomes part of your case. Keep any recall notice and keep the product.

Who can be held liable in a product liability case?

Illinois law allows a strict liability claim against parties throughout the product’s chain of distribution, not only the company whose name is on the box. Identifying every responsible party is one of the first things our attorneys do. Liability may reach:

• The manufacturer: The company that designed and built the product, including the maker of a defective component such as a battery
• The distributor or wholesaler: Businesses that moved the product toward the shelf, even if they never opened the box
• The retailer: The store or online seller that sold you the product

Some nonmanufacturing sellers can step out of a lawsuit once the manufacturer is identified, so how you bought the product shapes who remains. Sorting that out is part of the free consultation offered by Hanna Vander Ploeg, LLC. If travel is difficult, an attorney can come to you.

Speak To Our Product Liability Lawyers About Your Case

Call us at 312-883-7623 to schedule your free first consultation with a product liability attorney at our Chicago or Willowbrook office. You can also contact us online.