Even though there are many laws and regulations in place to protect children from faulty or malfunctioning toys and other products, the need for a toy injury law firm Washington DC parents and families can rely on is on the rise.
Children have legal rights even though they are minors. When a child is hurt or is tragically killed because of someone else’s negligence, malice or recklessness, the child’s family may be entitled to monetary compensation on behalf of their child. When a child suffers because of a faulty or malfunctioning toy or other product that was intended for children to use, one or more of the parties involved in the design, engineering, manufacturing, distribution, and selling of the faulty product, may be liable for the child’s injury.
Children’s Product Liability and Personal Injury Claims
All personal injury lawsuits involve proving negligence (or recklessness or malice). Negligence is a term that is used to describe the failure of someone to use reasonable care. In the case of a faulty or malfunctioning toy, this will most likely be one or more of the parties who is responsible for making the product available to consumers. In this case, the consumer would be the innocent child who was hurt because of another party’s negligence.
No matter what an individual’s age is, when someone in the United States is injured by using a product according to its instructions and heeds all safety warnings, he or she may be entitled to compensation for expenses related to their injury. This is typically done by filing a personal injury, product liability claim. However, the law treats minors in this situation differently than it would an adult with injuries that were sustained in similar circumstances.
If your child was injured because of a faulty or malfunctioning toy or other product in Washington DC or the surrounding states, or if he or she unexpectedly and seemingly unnecessarily has died because of this, it may be in your best interest to discuss your situation with a reputable toy injury law firm Washington DC parents are fortunate to have in their midst.
The Law and Personal Injury Claims for Minors
Even though there are standards across the board for anyone with a personal injury claim regardless of their age, the law treats minors differently than it does adults. In a personal injury claim involving an adult, negligence can be found for the at-fault individual or party whose negligence caused the victim’s injury- AND on the part of the victim if they failed to act in a manner that a reasonable adult would be expected to behave.
A very basic example of this is if an adult was using a cell phone that caught on fire and instead of immediately putting the phone down and either extinguishing the fire or calling emergency services, if he or she continued to try to talk on the phone or use it in any way when it was obviously posing a danger, the law would consider this contributory negligence.
Children on the other hand, are not expected to act in the same way a reasonable adult would act. Typically, a child under a certain age may not be capable of being negligent when their age, physical and mental development, intelligence and level of maturity are factored into the scenario.
It is important for parents and guardians to understand the law and how it can protect an injured child. Talking to a personal injury law firm that is experienced in successfully fighting for the rights of injured children is a good place to learn what your child and your family may be entitled to.
For a highly rated toy injury law firm Washington DC parents and guardians recommend, contact Cohen & Cohen, for a free case evaluation any time of the day or night, 365 days a year.
