If you were injured by a defective product and wish to file personal claims, then there are some steps you will need to take beforehand. Hiring our personal injury lawyer in Westlake Village and Agoura Hills can make the process much easier, but you should still have a general idea of how the process works before diving in.
Gather Evidence
As is the case with many other types of civil suits, the key to any successful product liability claim lies in the evidence. Just having been a victim isn’t enough if you don’t have the documentation to back it up.
Chronologically, the first step is to make sure that you get medical treatment as soon as an injury occurs. You want the evidence to be preserved immediately in the doctor’s records, especially if the injury diminishes in severity over time.
You also want to make sure that you keep the product in question. Even if it was damaged significantly, you should disturb it as little as possible until you can concretely record what happened. Photographic evidence is sometimes enough, but not always.
You should also make sure to collect any proof of hardship that you endured as a direct result of the product causing harm. Evidence of lost wages in particular can be used to get some, if not all, of that money back.
Make and File Your Complaint
With evidence in hand, you’ll need to draft a personal claims complaint and file it. You may be able to acquire a template for your complaint with the courts, but you can also draft up a complaint yourself.
Among other things, you need to make sure that you specify your name, the name of the court, the defendants, your allegations, the legal basis of your claim, and the amount that you are suing for.
A Product Liability Attorney Can Simplify the Process
If you aren’t sure about any of the details, it would be a good idea to talk to a product liability attorney before proceeding. They will ask you for the necessary information and even fill out the proper forms. All that you really need to do is sign at the end.
Even if you think you have everything under control, consulting our personal injury lawyer in Westlake Village and Agoura Hills can be very useful. You don’t want to miss a minor detail that could cost you some of your potential compensation or even your entire personal claim.
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