Find Lawyers in Brisbane, Australia for Product Liability Litigation
Practice Area Overview
Under the ACL, businesses must guarantee products and services that they sell against faults and products must match descriptions and be fit for any marketed purpose. This applies to all goods sold for under $40,000 and to goods sold for more than that amount which are usually acquired for household or domestic use. In addition, the ACL renders liable manufacturers and in some cases importers of goods which, because of some safety defect, cause injury or damage to property. It does this by establishing a statutory cause of action for damages where goods have a safety defect and this defect causes damage or injury. Importers of goods from overseas companies who do not have a place of business in Australia are deemed to be the manufacturer and can be sued on the same basis. The term safety defect is given a wide definition to include goods whose safety is not such as people generally are entitled to expect.
In addition to these statutory rights, common law rights still exist. If a manufacturer negligently produces goods which are sold and which cause injury or damage, there also may be a cause of action in negligence.
Lawyers practising in this area must have a good working understanding of these principles and may be called upon to act in matters involving individual injuries or damage. In addition, in some local jurisdictions, products which cause more widespread damage or injury can be the subject of class action litigation.
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Kiley is a specialist insurance and construction lawyer with 20 years’ experience resolving disputes on behalf of local and UK-based insurers and private companies as well as front-end contract negotiation. Kiley is passionate about driving change at all levels so, in addition to her practice, she recently became a member of Sparke Helmore’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee. She is an advocate for bringing your “whole self” to work—with a long history in the dis...
Jacinta has extensive expertise in commercial and insurance-related litigated matters having practised exclusively in these areas for over 20 years. She represents national and international insurers, insureds, and large corporate self-insureds. Jacinta specialises in the defence of all classes of liability including complex product, catastrophic public and property liability matters as well as personal injury and professional indemnity matters. She holds panel appointments with national and ...
Kelli has extensive experience in insurance, product liability, public liability and workers’ compensation having acted for more than 30 years on behalf of insurers (both domestic and international), corporations, government bodies and instrumentalities. In the insurance area she has vast experience in acting on liability claims, particularly product liability, public liability and workers’ compensation. She has appeared before courts, regulatory bodies, inquiries and coronial inq...
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