Product Liability Law and the Statute of Limitations in Illinois

When a defective or dangerous product is negligently marketed to the public, manufacturers and retailers can be considered liable, and therefore required to pay damages to any consumers who suffered from an injury caused by the use of the product.

Investing in a product you expected to help you, only to be harmed by its use, can be very harrowing. Laws are in place to protect, and recover compensation for, consumers who have been harmed because of the negligence of another party.

What is the Statute of Limitations for Product Liability Cases in Illinois?

There is a statute of limitations for product liability cases, so anyone who is injured by the use of a defective product must act quickly in order to receive justice. The statute of limitations on product liability cases in Illinois, in which the defective product caused an injury, is two years from the date in which the product was acquired.

For cases in which property damage resulted from the use of a defective product, the statute of limitations is five years.

Proving Negligence for Your Product Liability Case

The majority of product liability cases that involve injury consider negligence. Under Illinois product liability law, compensation can be recovered if a defect in the product (or side effect, in cases of dangerous drugs) contributed to the plaintiff’s injuries.

To prove negligence, a plaintiff must show that the party that produced or sold the defective product was either aware of the dangers of use and did not warn consumers of the risks, or was careless in its manufacture or testing. Product liability law only protects consumers who were injured when using a product for its intended purpose — if the injury resulted from misuse of the product, manufacturers and retailers are not liable.