Miami Products Liability & Defective Product Attorney
When a Product Was Supposed to Be Safe — and Wasn't
You used it the way anyone would. You followed the instructions. And it still hurt you. When a defective product causes a catastrophic injury, the fault does not lie with the person who trusted it — it lies with everyone in the chain who put it in your hands.
También en español: Abogado de Productos Defectuosos en Miami →
Attorney Dennis Gonzalez represents people across Miami-Dade and South Florida who were seriously injured by defective and unreasonably dangerous products — from consumer goods and machinery to fireworks that detonate the instant they're lit. These are not simple accident cases. They are engineering fights, and they are won by lawyers who understand how the product was built, how it failed, and who along the way had a duty to stop it.
What a Product Liability Case Actually Is
Florida law recognizes that when a company makes money selling a product, it takes on the responsibility of making sure that product is safe. If it isn't — and someone gets hurt — the injured person doesn't have to prove the company was careless. That is the heart of strict liability, adopted by the Florida Supreme Court in West v. Caterpillar Tractor Co., 336 So. 2d 80 (Fla. 1976). You prove the product was defective and unreasonably dangerous when it left the company's hands, and that the defect caused your injury.
Defective product claims generally fall into three families:
- Manufacturing defect — the design was fine, but this particular unit came off the line wrong. A fuse that should slow-burn instead detonates on ignition. A weld that should hold instead cracks.
- Design defect — every unit is dangerous because the design itself is flawed. The product fails to perform as safely as an ordinary consumer would expect, and a safer alternative design was available.
- Failure to warn — the product reached you without an adequate warning of a danger the maker knew or should have known about.
The Whole Chain Can Be Held Responsible
This is what separates a products case from an ordinary injury claim. Under Florida law, strict liability reaches every commercial seller in the chain of distribution — the manufacturer, the importer of record, the distributor, and the retail store that handed you the product. Each of them profited from putting it into the stream of commerce. Each of them can answer for it.
Real Fireworks & Explosive-Injury Litigation
Our office is currently prosecuting a consumer-fireworks products liability case in the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County involving a device whose fuse failed on ignition and detonated in the user's face, causing catastrophic eye injury. The case is built on the full architecture of a modern products fight: strict liability against the retail seller and the unidentified manufacturer, importer, and distributor "Doe" defendants; a federal-standards theory under the Consumer Product Safety Commission's regulations at 16 C.F.R. Parts 1500 and 1507; the statutory presumption of defect that arises when a product violates the government safety rules that apply to it (§ 768.1256(2), Fla. Stat.); preservation of the fired remnant and same-lot exemplars under a documented chain of custody; and an import-tracing investigation to identify and serve the overseas maker.
That is hands-on, present-day experience with exactly the kind of case most personal injury lawyers never take: a defective-product explosion with a life-altering injury and a defendant chain that runs offshore. It is the difference between a firm that has read about products liability and one that is doing it right now.
Products That Cause Serious Injury
- Consumer fireworks and pyrotechnic devices (fuse failure, early detonation, mortar and shell malfunction)
- Defective machinery, power tools, and equipment
- Auto and tire defects, seatback and airbag failures
- Defective batteries and consumer electronics (fire and explosion)
- Household and recreational products with hidden hazards
- Industrial and construction products lacking guards or warnings
Florida Law You Should Know
You have less time than you think
Since Florida's 2023 tort-reform law (HB 837), most negligence-based injury claims must be filed within two years of the injury — cut down from four. § 95.11, Fla. Stat. Evidence in a products case — the actual device, the packaging, the retailer's purchase records — disappears fast. The sooner the product is preserved and the chain is put on notice of its duty to preserve, the stronger your case.
Being partly at fault does not end your case — but the rules changed
Under Florida's modified comparative-fault rule, an injured person who is found more than 50% at fault for their own harm recovers nothing; at 50% or less, recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault. § 768.81, Fla. Stat. Product defendants routinely try to blame the user. Beating that narrative — showing you used the product as intended and as foreseeable — is a core part of the work.
Breaking a safety rule can shift the presumption
When a product violates a government safety regulation designed to prevent the exact harm that occurred, Florida law can presume the product was defective and the maker liable. § 768.1256(2), Fla. Stat. Federal fireworks and consumer-product standards give that presumption real teeth in the right case.
What Compensation Can Cover
In a catastrophic-injury products case, full compensation is not a number a lawyer pulls from the air — it is built, category by category, from the medicine and the economics:
- Past and future medical care — surgery, prosthetics, and the lifetime cost of managing a permanent injury
- Lost wages and diminished future earning capacity
- Permanent disfigurement and disability
- Past and future pain, suffering, and mental anguish
- Loss of the normal enjoyment of life
- A spouse's loss of consortium
Frequently Asked Questions
Not for a strict-liability claim. You prove the product was defective and unreasonably dangerous when it left the seller's hands and that the defect caused your injury. Negligence is a separate, additional theory you can also pursue.
Often, yes. Florida's chain-of-distribution rule lets you pursue the U.S. importer, distributor, and retail seller — not only the foreign manufacturer. Identifying and serving the maker through import-record discovery can add a solvent defendant.
Keep it. Do not throw it away, repair it, or let anyone "inspect and return" it. Preserve the packaging, the receipt, and anything left from the same batch, and photograph everything. That physical evidence is frequently the case.
Generally two years from the date of injury for negligence-based claims under current Florida law, though the deadline can vary with the facts. Waiting risks both your claim and the evidence — call early.
Nothing up front. Products liability cases are handled on a contingency fee — you pay no attorney's fee unless we recover for you.
Attorney Dennis Gonzalez is licensed in Florida and Texas. This page is attorney advertising and general information about Florida law; it is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Descriptions of pending litigation are provided to illustrate the firm's experience and do not disclose confidential client information. If you have been injured, consult a lawyer promptly, because strict deadlines apply.