A product liability claim lets you hold the company that made a defective or unreasonably dangerous product responsible when that product caused your injury. That includes a part that failed in a crash, like a defective airbag, tire, seatbelt, or brake. At Inzina Law Injury Attorneys, Blase and Erica Inzina handle Louisiana injury cases personally.
Call (337) 347-7177 for a free consultation, or request a free case review below and we will call you back.
Reviewed and updated September 2026.
On this page
- What is a product liability lawyer, and do you need one?
- What makes a product defective?
- Was your crash caused by a defective part?
- Who can be held responsible for a defective product?
- What should you do after a defective-product injury?
- How do you prove a product liability case?
- How much is a product liability case worth?
- What if you were partly at fault?
- Why Inzina Law: A Lafayette husband and wife injury team
- Product liability questions people ask
- Talk to a Lafayette product liability lawyer today
What is a product liability lawyer, and do you need one?
A product liability lawyer helps people who were hurt by a product that was defective or unreasonably dangerous, by holding the company that made or sold it accountable. You may need one when a product failed and injured you and the maker is unlikely to simply admit it, which is almost always. These cases turn on proving the product was defective, often with the failed product itself and an engineering examination, and on standing up to a manufacturer’s insurer that defends its product hard. If a product hurt you and you are not sure it is a case, that is what the free call is for. And if another firm has already told you no, the second look is free.
What makes a product defective?
A product is generally treated as defective when it is unreasonably dangerous in one of a few ways: in how it was made, so that your unit came off the line flawed; in how it was designed, so that every unit carries the same danger; or because it lacked an adequate warning or instructions about a risk that was not obvious.
A product can also fail to live up to what the maker expressly promised about it. Which of these fits your situation is a question for a close look at the product and its history, and it is often where the whole case is decided. We do not stop at the fact that something broke. We ask why it was dangerous in the first place.
Was your crash caused by a defective part?
Sometimes the second injury in a crash comes from the vehicle itself. An airbag that did not deploy or deployed with too much force, a tire that came apart, a seatbelt that unlatched, a roof that crushed, or brakes that failed can turn a survivable wreck into a catastrophic one, and that is a product claim on top of the crash claim.
Most people never think to ask whether a part failed, which is exactly why it gets missed and the evidence gets scrapped with the vehicle. When we look at a serious car or truck wreck, we ask whether a defective part made it worse, because if it did, another company and another insurance policy may stand behind your claim.
A tire came apart and caused my crash. Can the tire company be responsible?
A tire that came apart can put responsibility on the company that made it, and sometimes on a shop that installed or repaired it improperly, on top of anything the other driver did. Not every blowout is a defect, because tires also fail from age, road hazards, low pressure, and hard use, so what decides it is what the tire itself shows on examination. That evidence lives in the tire. Tell the tow yard or the body shop not to discard the tire or the wheel, and call us before the vehicle is released.
Who can be held responsible for a defective product?
It is rarely just one company. Responsibility for a defective product can reach the manufacturer that designed or built it, a maker of a defective component inside it, and, in some cases, a distributor or retailer that knew or should have known the product was dangerous. Behind a dangerous product there is usually a decision someone made, to ship a design they knew carried a risk, to skip a warning, or to cut a corner in manufacturing, and those decisions are where the full case lives. We ask about every company that touched the product, because each one may carry its own insurance and its own share of the responsibility.
Can I sue the store that sold it, or only the company that made it?
In Louisiana a defective-product claim usually runs against the company that made the product rather than the store that sold it, because Louisiana law treats a manufacturer differently from an ordinary seller. A store or a distributor can still be brought in when it knew, or should have known, that what it was selling was dangerous, which is a different and harder thing to show. That is one reason identifying the real manufacturer early matters, including the maker of a component part that failed inside a larger product. If all you know is the store, bring us what you have, the receipt, the box, the manual, and we will work back to who made it.
What should you do after a defective-product injury?
The single most important step is different from any other injury case: keep the product, exactly as it is. Do not throw it away, return it, repair it, or let anyone else take it, because the product itself is usually the most important evidence you have. Beyond that, the steps protect both your health and your claim:
- Preserve the product and anything that came with it: the packaging, the manual, the receipt, and any recall or warning notices.
- Photograph the product, the failure, and your injuries.
- Get medical care, and be honest with the provider about everything that hurts.
- Write down what happened while it is fresh: what you were doing, how the product failed, and what you saw.
- Do not give a manufacturer or its insurer a recorded statement, and do not accept an early offer, before someone on your side has looked at it.
- Call us. The consultation is free and confidential.
If the injury involved a vehicle or a piece of machinery that has already been towed, stored, or hauled off, tell us right away, because a lawyer can often move to preserve it before it is scrapped.
How do you prove a product liability case?
You prove a product liability case mostly with the product and the company’s own records. The failed product is examined, often by a qualified engineer, to show how and why it failed, and the maker’s records, its design and testing files, prior complaints, and any recalls or similar failures, show what the company knew and when. This is careful, engineering-led work, which is one reason these cases are handled differently from an ordinary claim, and one reason preserving the product early matters so much. Evidence you throw away is evidence the case never gets.
The company says I was using the product wrong. Does that end my claim?
Being told you used the product wrong does not by itself end your claim, because a maker is generally expected to account for the ways people can be expected to use a product, not only the use described in the manual. There is a difference between a use a company should have anticipated and something no one could have foreseen, and that line is a real fight in these cases. Expect the argument, because blaming the user is the standard defense. What answers it is the product’s design history, its warnings, and what the company knew about how people were actually using it.
How much is a product liability case worth?
There is no honest flat answer, and you should be careful with any lawyer or website that gives you one. What a product case is worth depends on the facts: how badly you were hurt, the care you will need going forward, the income you lost, how the injury changes your daily life, and how strong the proof of the defect is. Product cases often involve serious injuries and large companies, but the honest read comes from the facts of your case, not from a number designed to get you to sign.
What if you were partly at fault?
You may still have a case. Louisiana changed how fault affects a recovery. If your injury happened on or after January 1, 2026, Louisiana bars recovery when you are 51 percent or more at fault, and reduces what you recover in proportion to your share below that. See La. Civ. Code art. 2323. If your injury happened before that date, the older rule applies and being partly at fault does not bar you at all, it only reduces your recovery.
Which one governs your case depends on the date of the injury, not the date you file. We can walk you through it. What has not changed is that a manufacturer has every reason to push blame onto you, usually by saying you used the product wrong, because the more fault it can move onto you, the less it pays. Do not accept that as the final word before someone on your side has looked at the product and its history.
Why Inzina Law: A Lafayette husband and wife injury team
Inzina Law Injury Attorneys is Blase and Erica Inzina, a husband and wife team in Lafayette. Blase or Erica personally oversees your case. You are not handed off to a file number. Blase spent more than twelve years defending insurance companies, including the kinds of carriers that stand behind manufacturers, which is why we know their playbook. Erica, a former teacher, makes sure you understand what is happening at each step, in plain language and without pressure. And we ask the harder question about why the product was dangerous, because the goal is not only your recovery. It is making the company fix what it broke so the next family does not go through the same thing.
Call (337) 347-7177 for a free consultation. No fee unless we win.
Product liability questions people ask
What is a product liability lawyer?
A product liability lawyer represents people injured by defective or unreasonably dangerous products and holds the companies that made or sold them accountable. The work involves proving the product was defective, often using the failed product itself and an engineering examination, and standing up to a manufacturer’s insurer. If a product hurt you, a product liability lawyer is who evaluates whether you have a claim, usually at no charge for the first conversation.
How do I choose a lawyer for a product liability case?
Look for a lawyer who will preserve the product, work with the right engineering professionals, and pursue the manufacturer’s own records. Ask who will actually handle your file, and whether the first consultation is free. At Inzina Law, Blase or Erica personally oversees your case and the first call is free. No fee unless we win.
How do I find a product liability attorney for defective machinery?
Injuries from defective machinery, industrial equipment, or tools can be product liability cases when the machine itself was unreasonably dangerous, separate from any workplace claim. The key first step is to preserve the machine and not let it be repaired, altered, or scrapped, because it is the central evidence. We handle Louisiana defective-equipment injuries and can move quickly to preserve the machine. The first call is free and confidential.
Is there a deadline to file a product liability claim in Louisiana?
Yes, and it is strict. For an injury on or after July 1, 2024, Louisiana generally gives you two years from the date of the injury to bring a product liability claim. Before that date the general rule was one year. See La. Civ. Code art. 3493.1. Missing the deadline can cost you the right to recover no matter how strong the case was.
The exceptions run shorter, not longer: a claim involving a government body, a minor, a death, or a deadline written into an insurance policy can work differently. So use two years to understand where you stand, not to decide how long you can wait. If you want the exact date that applies to your injury, ask us. That call is free.
I do not have the product anymore. Is my case over?
Not having the product anymore does not automatically end your case, though it does make it harder, because the product is usually the strongest evidence of what went wrong. Other proof can still exist: photographs, the packaging and the manual, purchase records, your medical records, and evidence that the same product failed the same way for other people. Before you give up on it, tell us where it went, because a product written off as gone is often still sitting at a repair shop, a salvage yard, a tow lot, or with the company that took it back, and it can sometimes be recovered.
My airbag did not deploy in the crash. Do I have a case?
An airbag that did not deploy can support a product claim against the maker of the vehicle or of the airbag system, separate from the claim against the driver who caused the crash. Airbags are not built to fire in every impact, so the real question is whether yours should have deployed in the crash you were actually in, and that is answered by the vehicle’s own crash data and an engineering examination of the system. The vehicle is the evidence. If it is still at a body shop, a tow yard, or a salvage lot, call us before it is repaired or sold.
The product that hurt me was recalled. Does that mean I automatically win?
A recall does not automatically win your case, but it does help, because a recall may show the company knew about the danger and it often identifies the exact defect. You still have to connect that defect to how you were hurt, and companies do argue that a recalled product was not the reason a particular person was injured. The reverse matters just as much: there does not have to be a recall for you to have a claim, because many defects are never recalled. Keep any recall or warning notice you received, and call us.
Related: we also handle car accidents, truck accidents, offshore and Jones Act injuries, slip and fall and premises injuries, and wrongful death claims. For the full picture of the injury cases this firm takes, see our Lafayette personal injury lawyer page.
Talk to a Lafayette product liability lawyer today
Call (337) 347-7177 for a free consultation. No fee unless we win. Prefer to type it out? Request a free case review and we will call you back.
Inzina Law Injury Attorneys
3861 Ambassador Caffery Pkwy Ste 601, Lafayette, LA 70503
(337) 347-7177 · inzinalaw.com