Indianapolis Products Liability Lawyer
A product that injures you does not have to have been misused, misbuilt by a careless worker, or even out of date for the maker to be liable; sometimes the problem was drawn into the design before a single unit came off the line. That is what separates a products liability claim from most other injury cases, and it shapes how an Indianapolis products liability lawyer investigates one. Whitfield Crosby & Flynn is a personal injury and wrongful death trial firm that represents people hurt by defective products, dangerous drugs, and faulty medical devices in Indianapolis, Marion County, and across Central Indiana.
The people who end up in these cases are often not the ones who were doing anything unusual. They were driving a vehicle with a component that failed, taking a prescribed medication, living with an implanted device, or operating equipment on a job site. The question is rarely “who made a mistake in the moment.” It is what the manufacturer knew, what the design allowed, and whether a safer alternative existed. Answering that takes engineers, medical specialists, and a team willing to read thousands of pages of corporate documents.
What Makes a Product “Defective” Under Indiana Law
Defects generally fall into three buckets, and which one applies changes the evidence you need. A manufacturing defect means the product came out wrong compared with its own intended design: a weld that did not hold, a contaminated batch, a part made from the wrong material. A design defect means every unit is built exactly as planned, but the plan itself is unreasonably dangerous, often because a safer and practical alternative was available. A warning defect means the product carried risks that users could not be expected to guess, and the maker failed to say so clearly.
Design and warning cases tend to be the hardest fought, because they put the company’s decision-making on trial rather than a single bad unit. Internal testing records, prior complaints, regulatory correspondence, and engineering emails often decide them. This is where a firm that prepares for trial from day one earns its keep, since manufacturers fight document requests hard when they know a jury may eventually read what they wrote.
Liability can reach more than the company whose name is on the box. Component suppliers, assemblers, distributors, and retailers can all sit in the chain, and identifying every responsible party and every insurance policy is part of building the case properly.
Why Choose Whitfield Crosby & Flynn for a Product Liability Claim
Whitfield Crosby & Flynn represents seriously injured people and grieving families in Southern Illinois, Western Kentucky, Southeast Tennessee, and Central Indiana, including Indianapolis and its surrounding communities. The firm’s attorneys bring more than 90 years of combined experience and have played a role in settlements and verdicts totaling over $1 billion. Clients have a direct line to their attorney, and the firm explains each option and decision in plain terms rather than disappearing after the first meeting.
Product cases against national manufacturers are not a new frontier for this team. The firm took part in a $165 million settlement in a worldwide class action over defective heart valves made by a major drug company, and it has recovered $1.2 million for the death of a miner caused by the faulty design of a shuttle car. Those are exactly the kinds of cases where the argument is that the product, not the person using it, was the problem. The firm has also taken on coal companies, trucking companies, municipalities, and major drug manufacturers, which means large corporate defendants and their lawyers are familiar territory.
Chuck Flynn, an attorney in the firm, is a Notre Dame Law School graduate admitted to practice in Indiana. He is a member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum and was recognized as an Attorney for Justice by the Tennessee Supreme Court. John Whitfield, the firm’s founding attorney, has practiced law for more than 40 years, is certified as a Trial Specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, and has obtained more than 30 settlements and verdicts over one million dollars. Sarah Bearden, a former public defender, Tim Crosby, who focuses his practice on personal injury and wrongful death trial work, and Andrew Flynn, who has argued before the Illinois Supreme Court, round out a team that approaches every file as a case headed to court. The firm’s attorneys are members of the American Association for Justice, the Kentucky Justice Association, and the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association, and the firm has been recognized by Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome in any future case.
Products and Situations That Lead to Liability Claims
- Defective Drugs: Medications with undisclosed side effects, flawed testing, or inadequate warnings can injure thousands of patients at once. Many of these cases are handled as coordinated litigation against large pharmaceutical companies.
- Defective Medical Devices: Implants, heart valves, surgical hardware, and similar devices can fracture, migrate, or fail inside the body. Injuries often surface months or years after the procedure, and revision surgery is common.
- Vehicle and Auto Part Failures: Brake failures, tire tread separations, airbag malfunctions, roof crush, and fuel system fires can turn an ordinary crash into a catastrophic one. Indianapolis drivers on the I-465 loop, I-65, I-70, and I-69 are exposed to the same vehicle defects as anyone else, and a defect claim can run alongside the crash claim.
- Industrial and Workplace Equipment: Machinery without adequate guarding, defective lifts, and faulty safety controls injure workers every day. A workers’ compensation claim does not bar a lawsuit against the equipment manufacturer, which is often where the larger recovery lies.
- Heavy Equipment and Truck Components: Failures in trailers, couplings, brake systems, and cargo-securing hardware matter in the freight-heavy corridors that converge on Indianapolis, and may implicate the manufacturer in addition to the carrier.
- Consumer Goods: Space heaters, power tools, ladders, children’s products, and household appliances with fire, shock, or structural hazards. Recalls help prove the hazard but do not by themselves resolve who pays.
- Aviation and Boating Equipment: Mechanical and design failures in aircraft components, engines, and watercraft can produce severe injuries and fatalities and often involve multiple manufacturers.
- Elevators and Escalators: Entrapment, sudden drops, and mechanical failures can implicate the manufacturer, the installer, and the maintenance company.
What to Do After a Product Hurts You or Someone in Your Family
Get medical care first, and tell your providers exactly what the product was and how the injury happened. Then protect the product itself. Do not throw it away, return it to the store, repair it, or send it back to the manufacturer. The physical item is often the single most important piece of evidence, and once it is altered or lost, the defense will argue the defect cannot be proven. Store it somewhere safe, photograph it from every angle, and keep the packaging, manuals, receipts, lot or serial numbers, and any recall notices. If you are dealing with a drug or implant, keep the bottles, pharmacy printouts, and device cards your provider gave you.
Be careful with the manufacturer’s insurer or a claims representative who contacts you early. A friendly call asking for a recorded statement is not a courtesy; it is an effort to lock in your words before anyone has examined the design. Write down what happened while it is fresh, keep a log of symptoms, missed work, and treatment, and avoid posting about the incident or your recovery online.
Deadlines matter, and Indiana’s are strict. Under Indiana law, an action for personal injury must generally be started within two years of the injury, and wrongful death claims likewise carry a two-year deadline from the date of death. If a government entity is involved, for example a public agency that owned or maintained the equipment, Indiana requires notice within 180 days of the loss. If your injury came from medical care rather than a defective item, a separate path applies: medical malpractice claims against a provider generally go through the Indiana Department of Insurance and a medical review panel before a lawsuit can proceed, with the same two-year clock running from the act or omission. If the claim concerns a defective device or drug, it may involve both a product claim and a care claim, so the right order of filing needs to be sorted out early.
Civil cases in Marion County are heard in the Marion Superior Court and the Marion Circuit Court, and federal cases arising here go to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. Large manufacturers often try to move cases into federal court, which can change the pace and the procedure. A lawyer should be involved before that fight starts, not after.
Fault, Damages, and Why Defendants Blame the Victim
Expect the manufacturer to argue that you misused the product, ignored a warning, modified it, or failed to maintain it. Indiana uses a modified comparative fault system, and it matters here. If a jury finds your share of the fault is greater than the combined fault of everyone else who contributed to the harm, you recover nothing. At exactly 50 percent you can still recover, with your award cut in half; at 51 percent the claim is barred. That is why a defendant’s first move is so often to shift blame onto the injured person, and why the evidence about foreseeable use and inadequate warnings is so important.
Damages in a serious product case can include medical bills past and future, lost income and reduced earning capacity, the cost of long-term care, and pain and suffering. For permanent injuries, life care planners and economists help show what a lifetime of consequences actually costs. In a death case, surviving family members may pursue a wrongful death claim.
Product Liability Questions We Hear From Indianapolis Clients
Do I have to prove the manufacturer was careless?
Not always in the way people assume. In a manufacturing defect case, the focus is on whether the product left the factory in a dangerous condition. In design and warning cases, the focus is on whether the product was unreasonably dangerous given what could have been done differently. Evidence of what the company knew often helps, but the claim is built around the product itself.
How long do I have to file a products liability lawsuit in Indiana?
Most injury claims in Indiana must be started within two years of the injury, and wrongful death claims must be filed within two years of the date of death. Special rules shorten the window against government entities, with notice required within 180 days. Do not wait to see how recovery goes before talking to a lawyer.
What if I used the product the wrong way?
Misuse is a common defense, but the question is whether the use was reasonably foreseeable. A manufacturer cannot ignore the ways people predictably use its products. If you bear some of the fault, Indiana reduces your recovery in proportion, and bars it only if your fault is greater than that of everyone else involved.
Can I sue if the product was recalled?
Yes. A recall can be strong evidence that a hazard existed, but it does not erase the injury you already suffered, and many injured people were hurt before or without ever seeing a recall notice. A recall also does not automatically mean the company will pay.
Should I keep the product even if it is broken or burned?
Yes, keep it exactly as it is. Do not clean it, repair it, or let anyone test it without a qualified expert present. If it cannot be stored safely, such as a burned appliance, photograph it thoroughly and ask a lawyer how to preserve it before discarding anything.
Who can be held responsible besides the manufacturer?
Component makers, assemblers, distributors, wholesalers, and sometimes retailers can be liable depending on where the defect came from. Identifying every responsible party matters because each may carry its own insurance, and manufacturers sometimes try to blame a supplier to escape accountability.
What if my injury happened at work and I already have a workers’ compensation claim?
Workers’ compensation generally covers benefits against your employer, but it does not stop a separate lawsuit against the maker of defective equipment. Third-party product claims frequently produce more compensation than the workers’ compensation system alone, since they can include pain and suffering.
Is it a medical malpractice claim or a product liability claim if a medical device failed?
It can be either or both. If the device itself was defective, a product claim against the manufacturer may exist. If a provider chose the wrong device or implanted it improperly, malpractice may be involved, and Indiana requires a medical review panel process for claims against health care providers before a lawsuit. Sorting out which claims exist and in what order is an early part of the work.
How long does a product liability case take?
These cases generally take longer than a standard car accident claim, because the investigation often requires expert engineers, testing, and extensive document discovery from large corporations. Settlements can come after the defendant sees how thoroughly the case has been prepared, but some cases do go to trial, and we prepare as if they will.
Will my health insurance cover treatment while the claim is pending?
Generally you should keep using your health insurance so your care is not interrupted. Insurers and other payers may later assert reimbursement rights from a recovery, so it helps to have a lawyer handling those liens as part of the overall case.
Can a class action be better than an individual lawsuit?
Sometimes. When many people are hurt by the same drug or device, a class or coordinated action can be an efficient route, as in the worldwide heart valve litigation our firm took part in. Whether it is the right choice depends on the severity of your injuries and what an individual claim would recover, so the decision should be made with a lawyer’s guidance.
Serving Indianapolis and Central Indiana Injury Clients
Our work for product injury victims begins in Indianapolis and Marion County, reaching families across the city’s neighborhoods and the communities around it. We represent clients throughout Indianapolis, as well as in Lawrence, Avon, Plainfield, and Greenwood. North of the city, we serve injured people in Carmel, Fishers, and Noblesville, in Hamilton County, where civil cases are heard in the county’s circuit and superior courts.
The firm also serves injury victims across Southern Illinois, including Marion, Carbondale, Herrin, Carterville, Benton, West Frankfort, Murphysboro, and Harrisburg, as well as clients in Western Kentucky communities such as Madisonville, Earlington, Nortonville, Dawson Springs, Hanson, Mortons Gap, White Plains, Nebo, and St. Charles. In Southeast Tennessee, we represent clients in Chattanooga and Hamilton County, East Ridge, Red Bank, Hixson, Ooltewah, Collegedale, Soddy-Daisy, and Cleveland. Because defective products travel far from where they are made, we are used to handling claims that cross state lines.
Talk With an Indianapolis Product Liability Attorney
If a product, a drug, or a medical device has hurt you or taken someone you love, the evidence is most vulnerable in the first days and weeks, and the deadlines do not wait for recovery. Our Indianapolis product liability attorney team will listen to what happened, tell you what a claim would realistically involve, and explain who may be responsible. Call Whitfield Crosby & Flynn today to schedule a consultation and start building the case.