Charlotte Product Liability Lawyer | Free Consultation 980-239-2275

Key Legal Point:

The product differs from the manufacturer’s own design specifications

Key Legal Point:

Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 99B-6, the plaintiff must prove the design posed unreasonable risks that outweighed the product’s benefits

Key Legal Point:

Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 99B-5, the plaintiff must prove the manufacturer knew or should have known of the danger and failed to provide adequate warnings

🚗 Automotive Products

• Defective brakes and brake pads
• Faulty airbags (including Takata recalls)
• Tire blowouts and tread separation
• Defective seat belts and child car seats
• Accelerator and steering system failures
• Defective fuel systems causing fires

🏠 Household & Consumer Products

• Space heaters and portable heating devices
• Pressure cookers and kitchen appliances
• Lithium-ion batteries (phones, laptops, e-bikes)
• Furniture tip-over hazards (dressers, TVs)
• Defective smoke and carbon monoxide detectors
• Electric blankets and heating pads

🩺 Medical Devices & Pharmaceuticals

• Defective hip and knee implants
• Hernia mesh complications
• IVC filters that migrate or fracture
• Contaminated or mislabeled medications
• Defective insulin pumps and glucose monitors
• Dangerous surgical instruments

🧸 Children’s Products

• Cribs, bassinets, and sleep products
• Choking hazards in toys
• Defective strollers and high chairs
• Child car seat harness failures
• Toxic materials in toys and clothing
• Unsafe playground equipment

🔧 Tools & Industrial Equipment

• Table saws without flesh-detection technology
• Defective ladders and scaffolding
• Nail guns and pneumatic tools
• Defective safety guards on machinery
• Chain saws with kickback defects
• Defective protective equipment (PPE)

Duty of Care

The manufacturer, distributor, or retailer owed a duty of reasonable care to design, produce, and sell products that are safe for their intended use and foreseeable misuse.

Breach of Duty

The defendant breached that duty by manufacturing a defective product, using a dangerous design, or failing to provide adequate warnings or instructions.

Causation

The product defect or the defendant’s negligence was the direct and proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injury—not an intervening cause or the plaintiff’s own actions.

Damages

The plaintiff suffered actual, quantifiable damages—including medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, or wrongful death—as a result of the defective product.

💵 Economic Damages

• Past and future medical expenses
• Hospital bills and surgery costs
• Prescription medications and medical devices
• Physical therapy and rehabilitation
• Lost wages during recovery
• Diminished future earning capacity
• Cost of in-home care or assistance
• Property damage or replacement costs
• Funeral and burial expenses (wrongful death)

💜 Noneconomic Damages

• Physical pain and suffering
• Emotional distress and mental anguish
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Permanent disability or impairment
• Disfigurement and scarring
• Loss of consortium (for spouses)
• Loss of companionship
• Inconvenience and lifestyle disruption

Steve Hayes, J.D.

Founder & Managing Attorney

Steve Hayes founded Charlotte NC Car Accident Lawyers Group in 1991 and has spent more than 33 years representing injured consumers throughout North Carolina. He leads the firm’s product liability practice, handling complex claims involving defective consumer products, automotive components, medical devices, and industrial equipment. Mr. Hayes has litigated negligence-based product claims under NC Chapter 99B against manufacturers, distributors, and retailers—including multinational corporations with aggressive defense teams. He is licensed in both North Carolina and South Carolina and is a member of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice.

Cameron Bauer, Esq.

Associate Attorney

Cameron Bauer is an associate attorney focusing on product liability investigation, evidence preservation, and case development. Mr. Bauer works closely with engineering experts and product safety consultants to analyze manufacturing processes, identify design defects, and document failure-to-warn claims. He manages the pre-litigation investigation phase—including defective product examination, expert witness coordination, and insurance negotiations—for the firm’s product liability cases throughout North Carolina.

⚖️ 33+ Years of Trial Experience

We have more than three decades of experience litigating complex product liability cases in North Carolina, including claims against large corporations and multinational manufacturers.

🔬 Expert Engineering Analysis

We work with product safety engineers, metallurgists, biomechanical experts, and industry consultants to investigate defects and establish manufacturer negligence.

📊 Full Damage Documentation

We calculate the complete lifetime cost of your injuries—including future medical care, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, and long-term disability needs.

💰 No Fee Unless We Win

We handle product liability cases on a contingency fee basis. You pay $0 upfront and owe no attorney fees unless we recover compensation for your injuries.

🏛️ NC Law Specialists

We understand North Carolina’s unique product liability framework—including the negligence requirement, contributory negligence defense, and Chapter 99B procedures that make these cases more complex than in other states.

🤝 Personalized Attention

When you hire our firm, you work directly with experienced attorneys—not case managers or paralegals. We keep our caseload manageable to give every client the attention their case deserves.

Yes. Under Chapter 99B of the North Carolina General Statutes, you can file a product liability claim against manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. However, unlike most states, North Carolina requires you to prove the defendant’s negligence—not just that the product was defective. You must show a specific manufacturing defect, design defect, or failure to warn, and that the defendant’s negligence in creating or selling the product directly caused your injuries.

North Carolina is one of only a few states that explicitly prohibits strict liability in product liability actions. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 99B-1.1 states: “There shall be no strict liability in tort in product liability actions.” This was enacted in 1995 as part of the North Carolina Products Liability Act. The practical effect is that injured consumers bear a higher burden of proof—they must identify the specific negligent act or omission that caused the defect, rather than simply proving the product was defective.

North Carolina imposes two critical time limits. First, the statute of limitations requires you to file your claim within 3 years from the date of injury (or the date you discovered or should have discovered the injury). Second, the statute of repose under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-46.1 bars all claims filed more than 12 years after the product’s initial purchase for use or consumption—regardless of when the injury occurred. Missing either deadline permanently bars your claim.

North Carolina follows pure contributory negligence, which means that if you are found even 1% at fault for your injury, your entire claim is barred. Manufacturers commonly raise this defense, arguing the consumer misused the product, ignored instructions, or modified the product. This makes it critical to work with an experienced attorney who can counter contributory negligence arguments and prove the manufacturer’s negligence was the sole cause of your injury.

You can potentially sue any party in the chain of distribution—including manufacturers, component part makers, importers, distributors, and retailers. However, North Carolina’s sealed container defense under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 99B-2(a) may protect retailers and distributors if the product remained in a sealed container and they had no opportunity to inspect it. This defense only applies if the manufacturer is subject to NC court jurisdiction. If the manufacturer is a foreign company outside NC jurisdiction, the retailer or importer may bear full liability.

Successful product liability plaintiffs in North Carolina can recover economic damages (medical bills, lost wages, future care costs, property damage) and noneconomic damages (pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, disfigurement). In cases involving willful or wanton negligence, punitive damages may also be available under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1D-15 to punish the manufacturer and deter future misconduct. Unlike medical malpractice, there is no cap on compensatory damages in product liability cases.

Absolutely yes. The defective product is the single most critical piece of evidence in any product liability case. Do not repair, discard, return, or modify the product. Preserve it exactly as it was at the time of the incident. Also save all original packaging, instruction manuals, receipts, and warranty documents. Your attorney and expert witnesses will need to examine and test the product to identify the defect and establish the manufacturer’s negligence.

A product recall supports your claim by demonstrating the manufacturer recognized the product was dangerous. However, a recall alone does not automatically establish negligence or liability. You must still prove the specific defect in your product caused your injury and that the manufacturer was negligent. Conversely, the absence of a recall does not mean the product is safe—many dangerous products remain on the market for years before recalls occur. You can check for recalls at CPSC.gov/Recalls.

The value of a product liability case depends on the severity of your injuries, the extent of your economic losses, and the degree of the manufacturer’s negligence. Unlike medical malpractice, North Carolina places no cap on compensatory damages in product liability cases. Economic damages include medical bills, lost wages, future care costs, and property damage. Noneconomic damages cover pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life. In cases of willful or wanton conduct, punitive damages may be awarded up to the greater of $250,000 or three times compensatory damages under N.C. Gen. Stat. Chapter 1D. Catastrophic product injuries involving permanent disability, amputation, or wrongful death can result in significant compensation.

Yes. Under North Carolina law, you do not need to be the person who purchased the product to file a product liability claim. If a defective product injured you, you may have a valid claim regardless of whether you bought it, received it as a gift, borrowed it, or were simply a bystander injured by someone else’s product. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 99B-2(b) specifically allows breach of implied warranty claims even without privity of contract between the injured consumer and the manufacturer.

If the manufacturer is a foreign company not subject to the jurisdiction of North Carolina courts, you may still have legal options. Under NC product liability law, the U.S. importer steps into the shoes of the foreign manufacturer and assumes the same liability. This means the American company that imported the product can be sued as if it were the manufacturer. Additionally, North Carolina’s sealed container defense does not apply when the manufacturer is outside NC jurisdiction—meaning retailers and distributors may face direct liability for foreign-made defective products.

In most product liability cases, yes. Because North Carolina requires proof of negligence rather than strict liability, you must demonstrate the specific defect and how the manufacturer’s negligence caused it. This typically requires expert testimony from engineers, product safety consultants, metallurgists, or industry specialists who can analyze the product, identify the defect, and explain how it fell below accepted manufacturing or design standards. Our firm retains qualified experts in every product liability case to establish the technical evidence courts require.

Yes—and you should. If you were injured at work by a defective product (such as a power tool, industrial machine, or safety equipment), you can pursue both a workers’ compensation claim against your employer and a separate product liability lawsuit against the manufacturer. Workers’ comp covers medical bills and partial lost wages regardless of fault, while the product liability claim can recover full damages including pain and suffering, which workers’ comp does not cover. These are two separate legal avenues, and pursuing both maximizes your total recovery.

At Charlotte NC Car Accident Lawyers Group, we handle all product liability cases on a contingency fee basis. You pay $0 upfront—no retainer, no hourly fees, no out-of-pocket costs. We also advance all case expenses, including expert witness fees, engineering analysis, product testing, medical record retrieval, and litigation costs. You owe nothing unless we successfully recover compensation for your injuries. This arrangement ensures that victims of defective products can pursue legitimate claims against manufacturers without financial burden.