Partner
Mark J. Miller
Learn about Mark’s background and approach to representing injured people.
Read Mark’s bio →When an everyday product causes an injury
Broward County Product Liability Lawyers
The product may have been bought in one Broward city, used in another, and sent elsewhere after the injury. Miller & Jacobs helps connect that evidence with the failure and your losses. A refund can replace an item. It does not answer the injury questions.
Free consultation. No attorney fee unless we recover compensation.
50+ years
Combined legal experience
230+ trials
Combined trial experience
South Florida
Served from Pompano Beach
Free consultation
A place to start
The first decisions
Keep the product history together while you get care.
A supported case begins with the product that was actually involved, what happened, and the resulting injury. You do not have to identify the defect yourself. Treatment, safe documentation, and an early review of possession and deadlines are useful first steps.
Care comes first.
Seek care and follow safety instructions for the suspect item. Stop using it. Do not store a hazardous battery, chemical, fuel system, or electrical product in an unsafe place for the sake of a claim.
Record the details.
Document the model, serial number, seller, date acquired, and incident location when you can do so safely. Keep purchase, service, rental, and delivery records together. The county of purchase may differ from the place where the product failed.
Ask before it changes hands.
Ask who now holds the item and what the business plans to do with it. A repair, return, or destructive test can affect the evidence. Save those communications and discuss an appropriate preservation plan that accounts for safety.
Not sure whether a product defect, poor maintenance, or someone’s conduct caused the harm? Our Broward County personal injury team can review how those issues fit together.
More than a broken item
The company can replace the item. It cannot undo the day you were hurt.
Treatment, missed wages, and changes at home deserve separate attention. Tell us what the injury has meant for you, even if the seller is treating the issue as a routine customer-service return.
Understanding the failure
Follow the failure through the product’s history.
Manufacturing, design, and warnings are possible starting points. A review also considers repairs, alterations, maintenance, and the circumstances of use. The evidence must connect a legally significant defect to the particular injury.
Manufacturing
How it was made
The individual item may differ from its intended design. A bad weld, missing fastener, or contaminated batch can make an otherwise sound product unsafe.
Design
How it was designed
The problem may be built into the product itself. We look at the alleged danger, how the product was expected to work, and the legal test that applies.
Warnings and instructions
What users were told
The review may concern a danger users were not adequately warned about. It also asks whether an adequate warning would have helped prevent this injury.
Who supplied the product?
A manufacturer, component maker, distributor, or seller may need investigation. Being in that chain does not automatically make every business liable.
What does strict liability mean?
It can allow a claim without proving the manufacturer was careless. A defect, the company’s connection to the product, and legal causation still matter. Florida’s Aubin decision discusses those principles.
A useful first conversation
Several companies may be involved. Start with the facts you have.
Tell us what was purchased or supplied, where it was used, and where the item is now. We can discuss which records and businesses need attention first.
The Broward County circumstances
An evidence request may need to follow the item across city lines.
A retailer in Fort Lauderdale, a household in Pembroke Pines, and a service company elsewhere in Broward may each have records about the same unit. Identify each location and who handled it. We assess their roles rather than treating every name as a liable party.
A visitor or renter
For borrowed or rented products, keep the agreement, condition photos, and incident report. If someone else returned the unit, tell us when and to whom. A possession history can help explain what evidence remains available.
A resident or worker
At a workplace, identify the employer, equipment supplier, and maintenance provider. Workers’ compensation, immunity, and a potential third-party claim may interact. A product failure does not automatically create the same legal path for every worker.
Checking for a recall? Search the exact model on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recall page. A recall can provide useful information and safety instructions. It does not decide an individual injury claim, and the absence of one does not settle whether a defect existed.
From review to claim
Bring the documents together before judging the explanation.
The question is not simply whether the product failed. It is how the failure caused your injury and who can legally answer for it.
1
Look at the whole account
We trace the exact unit and its supply and service history, compare the accounts of the incident, and identify the evidence that can test the cause.
2
Test the explanation
Appropriate technical and medical review may distinguish a defect from another explanation. The condition before and after any testing needs careful documentation.
3
Connect the injury and losses
The investigation then connects the failure to your injuries and supported losses. Responsibility, defenses, and the proper forum need individual assessment.
The right deadline depends on the claim.
Florida law includes a four-year period for certain product-injury actions. Negligence and wrongful death claims can involve shorter, two-year periods. The claim type, dates, and exceptions need careful review under section 95.11.
Many products also face a separate 12-year limit tied to delivery to the first buyer or lessee who was not reselling it. Exceptions and discovery rules can affect the analysis under section 95.031. Do not assume a recent injury means there is plenty of time.
What the injury has changed
The injury claim follows your losses, not the receipt total.
Compensation depends on the facts, available claims, and proof. We look at the injury’s effects, rather than guessing a value from the product’s cost.
Care and recovery
Treatment, rehabilitation, and supported future care needs may be part of the claim. Product failures can cause serious burn injuries or other lasting harm.
Work and daily life
Lost earnings, reduced ability to work, pain, and loss of normal activities may matter. A catastrophic injury can require a longer view of those needs.
A family’s loss
If the injury was fatal, a wrongful death claim involves its own rules about who can recover and which losses can be included.
Meet Miller & Jacobs
The partners behind the firm
Mark Miller and Rick Jacobs bring decades of combined legal and trial experience to the firm’s work for injured people.
Partner
Rick S. Jacobs
Learn about Rick’s background and experience handling injury cases.
Read Rick’s bio →Before you call
Questions about the next decision
These concerns often come up before anyone knows exactly why a product failed. A consultation can help put your particular facts in context.
The store offered a refund. Does that cover my injury?
A seller’s refund is separate from evaluating an injury claim in Broward County. Keep the offer and all terms, including any release. Do not assume an exchange either proves fault or preserves every possible claim.
Can I ask for help if I was injured while visiting Broward County?
Yes. Tell us where the injury happened, where you live, and who supplied or now holds the product. Those facts help assess the appropriate forum, governing law, and how evidence can be obtained.
The company says I caused the failure. What now?
Keep the company’s response and explain how you used the item, including changes or repairs. That allegation needs investigation. Under Florida’s comparative fault rules, fault can reduce recovery and, in covered actions, may bar it when the injured person is more than 50% at fault.
Is this the same as joining a class action?
Not necessarily. A case about your physical injury may focus on your own treatment and losses. A class action may concern a different issue, such as buyers’ financial losses. Any related proceeding needs review before deciding how to proceed.
Do I need to know what kind of defect caused the injury?
No. Describe what you observed without trying to test or dismantle the product. Determining whether the issue concerns manufacturing, design, warnings, or another cause is part of the investigation.
The product is already gone. Is it too late to call?
Missing the item can make proof harder, but the remaining evidence still needs assessment. Photos, messages, purchase records, incident reports, and witness accounts may help. Tell us when, why, and to whom the item was returned or discarded.