Design Defect Laws

When a product does exactly what it was designed to do and someone still gets hurt, the maker may say nothing was wrong with it. If you’re not sure whether a product that worked as designed can still be to blame, that’s normal.

Here’s the plain answer. A design defect is a flaw in the product’s plan, so every unit made to that plan shares it. Depending on the state, courts ask whether the product was more dangerous than an ordinary consumer would expect, weigh its risks against its usefulness, or both (Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute, or LII). In Michigan, you must also show that, under generally accepted production practices when your unit left the maker’s or seller’s control, a practical, technically feasible alternative that would have prevented the harm was available (MCL 600.2946(2)), and you generally have three years to sue (MCL 600.5805(12)).

The hard part usually isn’t showing you were hurt. It’s the claims process: the maker holds the design records, its insurer handles claims like yours every day, and the deadline runs while you heal. Michigan’s rules are in the boxes marked “In Michigan.”

Hurt by a product that was dangerous by design? Get a free case review. Four quick questions, no cost, no obligation.

What is a design defect?

A design defect exists before anything is made: the product “might serve its purpose well” and still be unreasonably dangerous because of its design (LII).

It’s one of the three types of product defects. A manufacturing defect is a flaw in how one unit, or a batch, was made (how manufacturing defect claims work); a warning defect means users weren’t given the warnings or instructions they needed.

A made-up example: a stovetop pressure cooker’s lid can be twisted open while the pot is still under pressure, and a cook is scalded. Every cooker of that model opens the same way, so the question isn’t whether one unit was built wrong, but whether a lid lock that holds until the pressure drops was a practical option when that cooker was made.

How do courts decide whether a design is defective?

Two tests are common, and states use one or both (LII):

• Consumer expectations: did the product fail “to perform as safely as an ordinary consumer would expect when used in an intended or reasonably foreseeable manner” (Mikolajczyk v Ford Motor Co, Ill. 2008)?
• Risk-utility: do the design’s risks outweigh its usefulness (LII)? This test weighs the alternatives and trade-offs the maker faced (Prentis v Yale Manufacturing Co, 1984).

The Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability, a 1998 American Law Institute treatise that courts often cite but aren’t bound by (LII), builds a safer alternative into the definition: a product “is defective in design when the foreseeable risks of harm posed by the product could have been reduced or avoided by the adoption of a reasonable alternative design by the seller or other distributor, or a predecessor in the commercial chain of distribution, and the omission of the alternative design renders the product not reasonably safe” (§ 2(b), as quoted in Mikolajczyk). Not every state requires it: in 2008, the Illinois Supreme Court “declined to adopt section 2 of the Products Liability Restatement as a statement of substantive law” and held that a feasible alternative design, though relevant, wasn’t something a plaintiff had to prove in every case (Mikolajczyk).

How do you prove a safer design was possible?

The alternative design is usually the center of the case. Expect to show that it:

• was available and would have prevented your injury;
• was feasible then, given what was known and affordable when your unit was made, sometimes called the “state of the art.” In Michigan, a design case turns on “the risks and utility of the product at the time of manufacture” (Gregory v Cincinnati Inc, 1995);
• wouldn’t have made the product worse, less useful or dangerous in another way. A Michigan wrongful death claim over a forklift without a driver restraint failed at trial for lack of evidence on “the magnitude of the risks involved and the reasonableness of the proposed alternative design” (Owens v Allis-Chalmers Corp, 1982).

That proof usually comes from experts. Design choices are “deliberate and documentable decisions,” so the maker’s records can be sought in discovery, the exchange of evidence before trial, and “expert witnesses and technical data” can help show a design decision “was ill considered” (Prentis).

Industry practice counts but doesn’t settle the question. In Michigan, evidence that the product was made to “generally recognized and prevailing nongovernmental standards” in effect when it was sold is admissible (MCL 600.2946(1)), yet industry custom “cannot, however, be determinative of the standard” of care (Owens, quoting an earlier decision). If, when first sold, the aspect of the product that caused the harm met relevant standards in a federal or state statute, or was approved by or met the rules of the federal or state agency responsible for reviewing its safety, the maker or seller is presumed not liable, but you can rebut that (MCL 600.2946(4)).

Wondering whether a safer design was possible for the product that hurt you? Get a free case review. Four quick questions, no cost, no obligation.

Who can be held responsible for a design defect?

Design claims usually center on the manufacturer, whose design decisions are at issue (Prentis). But in many states, sellers and others in the chain of distribution can also be liable: the maker of a component part, the assembler, the wholesaler and the store (LII). When one design hurts many people, their claims may be brought together (how class actions and mass torts work).

Does a recall prove the design was defective?

No, but it can be a useful lead.

• Consumer products: search the recalls and product safety warnings of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Each notice describes the hazard and the remedy, such as a refund, repair or replacement.
• Vehicles: check your vehicle identification number (VIN) with the recall lookup of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Larger automakers must also offer a free VIN recall search online and send the data to NHTSA (49 C.F.R. § 573.15).

You still have to prove your unit was defective and that the defect caused your injury (what a recall means for your claim). And a product that was never recalled can still be defective: in a lawsuit over a consumer product, the CPSC’s failure to act “shall not be admissible in evidence” (15 U.S.C. § 2074(b)). Not hurt? See your options when a defective product hasn’t injured you.

What should you keep?

Every unit shares the design, but yours still matters: its labels can show which version you had and when it was made. The maker may also argue it was altered, misused or poorly maintained. In Michigan, there’s no liability for harm caused by an alteration or misuse that wasn’t reasonably foreseeable, and alteration includes damage from skipped routine care (MCL 600.2945(a), 600.2947(1), (2)). Keep:

• the product and every piece of it, unrepaired and out of use, with its box, manual and labels, especially any model, serial or lot number and date code;
• the receipt, photos of the product, the scene and your injuries, and witnesses’ names;
• medical records and bills, and every recall notice or letter from the maker, the seller or an insurer.

Get advice before anyone takes the product “for inspection” (how to preserve evidence).

What can you recover?

There’s no reliable “average”; see what a product liability claim is worth.

How long do you have to file a claim?

Every state sets its own deadline; see injury deadlines in every state and deadlines for product liability lawsuits.

What to do next

1. Get medical care, and keep every record. Tell each provider what product was involved.
2. Keep the product as it is, and get advice before anyone takes it apart or away.
3. Check for recalls on the CPSC’s list, or NHTSA’s lookup for a vehicle, and report an unsafe consumer product on SaferProducts.gov.
4. Write down your deadline, and put the seller on notice. In Michigan, it’s generally 3 years from the injury. If you bought the product, tell the seller about the problem in writing, and don’t give a recorded statement or sign a release before you’ve had advice (what to say to an insurance adjuster).
5. Get a free case review. A lawyer can check whether a safer design was feasible, arrange the expert review a design case needs and confirm your deadline. Get any fee agreement in writing (how injury lawyers get paid). Get a free case review, or, if you were hurt in Michigan, compare Michigan injury lawyers.

What waiting can cost

• The evidence. A product that’s repaired, used, thrown out or taken apart without notice may no longer show which design you had or what happened, and in Michigan, failing to keep it can lead to sanctions (Brenner v Kolk).
• Your right to sue. In Michigan, generally 3 years from the injury (MCL 600.5805(12)).
• Warranty remedies. A buyer who doesn’t notify the seller of a breach within a reasonable time can be “barred from any remedy” (MCL 440.2607(3)(a)).

What a good outcome looks like

Experts examine your product and test the safer design, and the claim names everyone responsible and is filed on time. Those responsible cover your medical bills and lost income and compensate you for what you went through, and you know what you’ll take home before you sign. From wondering whether anyone answers for a product that worked as designed to knowing whether a safer design was available, who is responsible and how long you have to act.

For more on defective products, drugs and toxic exposure, browse the defective product and toxic exposure guides.

Updated September 28, 2026

This guide is general information, not legal advice, and laws change. For advice about your situation, talk to a lawyer licensed in your state. Reading this page or contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship.