Billings, MontanaBillings Product Liability
Billings Product Liability Lawyers: Defective Machinery, Vehicle Parts, Heaters and Recalled Products in Yellowstone County
Boland Aarab PLLP.
If a defective product injured you or a family member in Billings, the manufacturer and the sellers can be held strictly liable in Montana: you must prove the product was defective and unreasonably dangerous and that the defect caused the injury, not that anyone was careless. Keep the product exactly as it is, and call promptly, because Montana has a 10-year statute of repose for most products.
Hurt by a defective product? Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.
What kinds of product cases come out of the Billings area?
Billings is the shopping, service and equipment hub for a large part of eastern Montana and northern Wyoming, so products bought and repaired here end up on farms, job sites and highways across the region. The product cases that arise here reflect that:
- Farm and ranch equipment. The irrigated Yellowstone Valley, from Laurel through Huntley and on toward Custer, runs balers, augers, power take-offs, tractors and grain-handling equipment. Missing guards, failed shields and inadequate warnings cause amputations and crush injuries, and much of that equipment is decades old.
- Industrial and oil-field equipment. Contractors in and around the county’s refineries and the energy work that is managed out of Billings use pressure vessels, valves, hoses, lifts and rigging that can fail without warning.
- Vehicles and vehicle parts. Tires, airbags, seat belts, brakes and roof structures on vehicles traveling I-90, I-94 and the long two-lane routes out of Billings. A crash case is sometimes also a product case.
- Heaters, furnaces and generators. A cold Billings winter means furnaces, space heaters and portable generators. Defective heaters and poorly designed vents can start fires or cause carbon monoxide poisoning.
- Consumer goods. E-bikes and lithium batteries, power tools, ladders, children’s products and household appliances.
What happens after a product injury in Billings?
Preserve the product. This is the single most important step. Do not repair it, throw it away or return it to the store. If it is in a tow yard, a rental company’s shop or your employer’s warehouse, it needs a written hold. If the manufacturer’s insurer asks to take it for “testing,” say no; inspections should happen under an agreed protocol with your own engineer present.
Keep the paper. Receipts, manuals, warning labels, packaging and service records all matter, as does the name of the Billings-area dealer or store that sold or serviced the product.
Get the medical record right. Serious injuries in the region are treated at Billings Clinic and St. Vincent Regional Hospital, the area’s two Level 1 / Comprehensive Trauma Centers (DPHHS designated facility list). Severe burns may require transfer to a regional burn center outside Montana. Tell every provider how the injury happened.
Expect federal court. A product case filed in state court in Billings is heard in the Thirteenth Judicial District Court at the Yellowstone County Courthouse, 217 North 27th Street (§ 3-5-101, MCA). Most manufacturers are based in other states or countries, and many remove product cases to the Billings Division of the U.S. District Court, at the James F. Battin Federal Courthouse, 2601 2nd Avenue North (District of Montana). The Billings Division also hears cases from much of eastern Montana, including Big Horn, Carbon, Custer, Richland, Rosebud and Stillwater Counties.
Who can be held responsible?
- The manufacturer of the finished product.
- The maker of a defective component, such as a valve, battery or airbag inflator.
- Distributors and retailers, though Montana now lets a seller that did not make the product be dismissed unless an exception applies, such as the manufacturer being unidentifiable, beyond a Montana court’s reach or bankrupt.
- A repair shop or installer whose own negligence contributed.
When the injury happened at work, a claim against the maker of a defective machine is a third-party claim that can proceed alongside workers’ compensation (§ 39-71-412, MCA). We handle the product claim; the comp claim runs separately.
Montana law that applies
- Strict liability for a product sold “in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous,” even if the seller “exercised all possible care” (§ 27-1-719, MCA).
- Design, manufacturing and warning defects, and no “state of the art” defense in strict liability (Sternhagen v. Dow Co., 935 P.2d 1139 (Mont. 1997)).
- Defenses include unreasonable misuse and use of a known defect, applied under comparative fault (§ 27-1-702, MCA).
- Deadlines: generally 3 years from injury (§ 27-2-204, MCA) and a 10-year statute of repose from first sale, with exceptions for concealment, certain recalls, latent diseases and longer warranties (§ 27-1-719(6)(b)).
The repose rule matters in eastern Montana, where tractors, pickups and furnaces stay in use for decades. An older product is not automatically barred, but it needs review at the start. See our Montana product liability page for the full statute.
Why hire a Great Falls firm for a Billings case?
Product cases are won with engineers, documents and preparation for trial, not local connections. We are based in Great Falls and handle product cases statewide. Our attorneys travel to Billings and the surrounding counties for inspections, depositions, hearings and trial, our firm has tried jury trials in Yellowstone County, and we regularly practice in the federal court where manufacturers move these cases. We do not have a Billings office.
The Boland Aarab Way
- We know federal court. Our attorneys have handled more than 40 cases in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana over nine years, and Samir Aarab has argued twice before the Ninth Circuit.
- We try cases. More than a dozen jury trials, in Cascade, Phillips, Meagher and Yellowstone Counties, and more than 4,000 hours in the courtroom.
- We protect verdicts. The Montana Supreme Court reinstated a $168,500 jury verdict for our client (Voegel v. Salsbery, 2023 MT 137).
- We are part of the trial bar. Both attorneys belong to the American Association for Justice and the Montana Trial Lawyers Association; Samir Aarab is also a member of Public Justice.
Related Billings pages: burn injury · ATV and UTV accidents · all Billings personal injury cases
Frequently Asked Questions
The dealer in Billings wants the broken part back. Should I return it? No. Keep the product and parts exactly as they are, and let any inspection happen under an agreed protocol with your own engineer present.
Can I sue the Billings store that sold the product? Sometimes. Montana allows a non-manufacturing seller to be dismissed unless an exception applies, such as the manufacturer being unidentifiable or beyond a Montana court’s reach.
My tractor is 20 years old. Is it too late? Not necessarily. The 10-year statute of repose has exceptions, including knowing concealment and certain recalls. Have a lawyer review it quickly.
Where will a product case against an out-of-state manufacturer be heard? Often in the federal court’s Billings Division at the James F. Battin Federal Courthouse, after the manufacturer removes it from the Thirteenth Judicial District Court.
Does the product have to be recalled? No. Many defects are never recalled. A recall can be strong evidence, and a government-mandated recall related to the injury is an exception to the repose statute.
Talk to a Billings Product Liability Lawyer
Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.
Our attorneys: Caitlin Boland Aarab · Samir F. Aarab
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
