Product Liability

Heading into cold weather season, fire danger typically increases, sometimes in unexpected ways, including the lithium-ion batteries used to power micromobility devices. Earlier this month, at least 38 people were injured, some of them critically, in a Manhattan, NYC high-rise apartment building fire that started when a lithium-ion battery powering a micromobility device self-combusted. According…

Actor Anton Yelchin’s untimely death in June 2016 due to a rollaway incident with his 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee highlighted the deadly consequences of defective products. Six years later, another automobile manufacturer has issued recalls for a similar problem. In late June, Ford Motor Company announced that 2.9 million owners of Ford cars and SUVs…

Imagine you come to a slow stop at a traffic light, when out of nowhere, the headrest behind you smacks into the back of your head, sounding like gunfire. Or, you have just parked your car and are gathering your belongings when the headrest explodes, hitting the side of your head, leaving you with a…

Over the past few years, millions of infant sleepers, like the Fisher-Price Rock ‘n Play Sleeper, have been recalled for the risk of infant suffocation. Phelan Petty represented a family in one such case, and we are familiar with how dangerous sleeper-rockers are. Fisher-Price, in conjunction with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), has issued…

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) released a mandatory recall of two magnet ball and cube products due to ingestion hazards. Because of these high-powered magnets, the risk of ingestion can lead to fatalities. Further, because the company refused to agree to a voluntary recall, the CPSC sued the manufacturer to force a mandatory recall.…

A June product recall of CPAP machines has led to a lawsuit, filed by an Oregon truck driver in an example of how corporate negligence harms working-class citizens every day. After the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) announced a Class I recall of millions of Philips Respironics CPAP and BiPAP machines, many sleep apnea…

Many homeowners and renters use dehumidifiers to remove excess moisture from the air. Especially in warmer months and climates, dehumidifiers are particularly useful in basements where condensation tends to collect, especially near an air conditioning unit. Many homeowners set up their dehumidifier and simply let it do its job, often forgetting it is even there.…

Juul, the embattled e-cigarette company, is facing a crossroads. Once the most popular vaping device in the country, Juul’s low sales and constant lawsuits have the company campaigning for its life. As Juul attempts to meet a September deadline with the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to continue selling their products in the United States,…

A recent report to Congress shows dangerously high levels of heavy metals, like lead and arsenic, in a variety of popular baby foods. This report, released on February 4, states that some of these baby foods contain “significant levels” of these toxic metals, which can lead to irreversible neurological damage in infants and children. This…

Paraquat dichloride (“Paraquat”) is a chemical agent commonly used as an herbicide. It is used on over 100 different types of crops. Because Paraquat is so toxic, it is classified as a Restricted Use Product, meaning only licensed applicators are able to purchase and use the product. As a result of its toxicity, Paraquat has…