Product Liability Lawyers
If a manufacturer, distributor, or retailer sold you a product that caused injury or property damage, Cohen Highley LLP’s Personal Injury Team can help you understand your options for pursuing a claim. Product liability law in Ontario holds businesses across the supply chain accountable for manufacturing defects, design defects, and a failure to warn consumers of known risks. Unlike some jurisdictions, Canadian product liability claims are generally based on negligence rather than strict liability. Product liability claims commonly arise from defective consumer electronics, automotive parts, industrial machinery, household goods, and medical devices or pharmaceuticals. Cohen Highley LLP draws on the evidence a defective product claim requires to pursue the parties responsible on your behalf.
Product Liability Services We Offer
Cohen Highley’s Personal Injury Team represents clients in claims arising from a wide range of unsafe or defective products, and works to identify every party in the supply chain who may share responsibility. Our product liability work includes claims involving the following:
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Defective consumer products and household goods
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Faulty automotive parts and components
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Unsafe industrial or workplace equipment
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Defective medical devices and pharmaceutical products
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Inadequate warnings, instructions, or labelling
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Product recall-related claims
Our Approach to Product Liability Claims
A product liability claim generally requires establishing four things: the manufacturer, distributor, or retailer owed you a duty of care, they fell below the expected standard of care, this failure caused your injury, and the extent of the damages that resulted. Cohen Highley’s Personal Injury Team investigates each of these elements from the outset, working to preserve the product, purchase records, and any recall notices before evidence is lost or altered.
Because these claims often involve large manufacturers, insurers, and technical questions about how and why a product failed, we work with qualified third-party experts where needed to establish the defect and the connection between it and your injury. Our approach is to build a claim methodically, so that the parties responsible for putting an unsafe product into the market are held to account.
Why Choose Cohen Highley LLP
Cohen Highley LLP’s Personal Injury Team represents clients in product liability claims from offices in London, Kitchener, Windsor, Strathroy, and Sarnia. Because these claims typically involve a manufacturer, distributor, or retailer with far more resources than an individual claimant, our approach starts with a methodical investigation, so that the claim is built on solid evidentiary ground before it’s advanced.
If you or a loved one has been injured by a defective product, the parties responsible for that product bear the legal obligation to answer for it. You shouldn’t have to navigate that process alone. Contact us to discuss your situation and find out where you stand.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does product liability mean?
Product liability refers to the legal responsibility held by manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, and retailers for their products. They have an obligation to ensure that products sold to consumers are safe, free from defects, and meet certain quality standards. When a product fails to meet these standards and causes harm or injury to consumers or their property, the parties involved in its production and distribution may be legally responsible for damages.
How long do I have to file a product liability claim in Ontario?
Under Ontario’s Limitations Act, 2002, a claim generally must be started within two years of discovering the injury and its cause, with an outer limit of 15 years from the date of the act or omission that caused it. Because the “discovery” date isn’t always the date of the injury itself, it’s worth having a lawyer review your specific timeline rather than assuming the clock has already run out.
Who can be held responsible for a defective product?
Liability can extend to any party in the chain of production and distribution depending on where the defect was introduced and what each party knew or should have known. More than one of these parties can be named in the same claim.
Do I need to prove the manufacturer was negligent, or is it automatic?
In Canada, product liability claims are generally based on negligence rather than strict liability, which is different from the rule in some other countries. This means a claimant typically must show that the responsible party owed a duty of care, fell below the expected standard of care, and that this failure caused the injury.
What kind of evidence does a product liability claim require?
Claims often rely on the product itself (which should be preserved, not discarded or repaired), purchase records or receipts, any recall notices connected to the product, and photographs or documentation of the injury. In many cases, input from third-party technical or medical experts is also needed to explain how the product failed and how that failure caused the harm.
What if the product involved has already been recalled?
A recall notice can be useful evidence in a product liability claim, since it may indicate the manufacturer or Health Canada identified a safety issue with the product. A recall doesn’t automatically resolve a claim, however, and doesn’t replace the need to establish that the defect caused your specific injury.
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