Kalispell, MontanaKalispell Product Liability
Kalispell Product Liability Lawyers: Defective Snowmobiles, Heaters, Boats, Tools and Recalled Products in the Flathead Valley
Boland Aarab PLLP.
If a defective product hurt you in Kalispell or anywhere in Flathead County, the manufacturer and the sellers can be held strictly liable. You do not have to prove they were careless. You must prove the product was defective and unreasonably dangerous and that the defect caused your injury. Keep the product, and call promptly: Montana now has a 10-year statute of repose for most products.
Hurt by a defective product in the Flathead Valley? Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.
What kinds of product cases come out of the Flathead Valley?
The products that injure people in northwest Montana reflect how people here work, heat their homes and spend their weekends.
- Winter heating. Long, cold winters in the valley mean wood stoves, pellet stoves, propane heaters, furnaces and portable generators, often in cabins and older homes. Gas leaks, carbon monoxide, stove fires and generator exhaust can cause burns, brain injury and death. A missing warning or a defective shutoff valve may be the cause.
- Snowmobiles and winter gear. Riders use the Flathead National Forest and surrounding backcountry all winter. Throttle, brake and track failures, and defective avalanche equipment, can turn a ride into a rescue.
- Boats and personal watercraft. Flathead Lake, Whitefish Lake and the Flathead River draw heavy summer boat traffic. Steering failures, fuel-system fires and engine cutoff switches that don’t work are product claims, not just boating claims.
- Saws, splitters and wood-products machinery. Many valley residents cut firewood or work in the timber and wood-products industry. Chainsaw kickback, log splitters without guards, and mill machinery with missing or defeated safety devices cause amputations and crush injuries.
- Vehicles, tires and child seats. Tire failures and airbag or seat-belt defects on US-2 and US-93 can make a survivable crash deadly.
- E-bikes and lithium batteries. A defective battery or charger can start a fire in a garage or apartment and cause serious burns.
What happens after a product injury in Kalispell?
Medical care. Most serious product injuries in the valley are treated first at Logan Health Medical Center in Kalispell. Severe burns are often transferred to a regional burn center, such as Harborview in Seattle, which serves Montana. Remote injuries may involve Logan Health’s air-ambulance program, long known as A.L.E.R.T.
Save the product. This matters more than anything else. Do not throw away the stove, the battery, the helmet or the saw. Do not let a dealer repair it. Do not hand it to the manufacturer’s insurer for “testing.” If a fire department responded, ask what it kept. If an insurer or a salvage yard has the vehicle or boat, we send written preservation demands at once and arrange a joint inspection with our own engineer.
Report it. Consumer products can be reported to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Vehicle and equipment defects can be reported to NHTSA. Those databases, and the manufacturer’s own reports to them, often show that others had the same problem.
Court. A Flathead County product case can be filed in the Eleventh Judicial District Court at the Flathead County Justice Center, 920 South Main Street, Kalispell. Manufacturers are almost always out of state, and they routinely remove these cases to the U.S. District Court’s Missoula Division, at the Russell Smith Courthouse. Federal-court experience therefore matters in nearly every product case from the valley. If the product was bought from a Kalispell or Whitefish dealer, that local seller may or may not stay in the case under Montana’s seller rules, which we explain below.
Montana law that applies
The short version follows. For the full picture, see our Montana product liability lawyer page.
- Strict liability. A seller of a product in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous to a user is liable for the harm it causes, even if the seller “exercised all possible care” (§ 27-1-719, MCA).
- Three kinds of defects. Montana recognizes manufacturing, design and warning defects, and it bars “state of the art” evidence in strict-liability cases (Sternhagen v. Dow Co., 935 P.2d 1139 (Mont. 1997)).
- Local sellers. A retailer that did not make the product may be dismissed unless an exception applies. Exceptions include the seller modifying the product, making its own warranty, or knowing of the defect, and cases where the manufacturer can’t be reached or is bankrupt (§ 27-1-719).
- Defenses. Unreasonable misuse and knowingly using a defective product are defenses, and fault is compared under § 27-1-702, MCA.
- Deadlines. Generally 3 years from the injury (§ 27-2-204, MCA). A seller may also raise a 10-year statute of repose from the product’s first sale, with exceptions for concealment, some recalls, latent diseases and longer warranties (§ 27-1-719(6)(b)).
The repose rule matters in the Flathead, where snowmobiles, boats, stoves and shop tools are often used for decades. An older product claim is not necessarily barred, but it needs prompt review.
What if I was hurt by a machine at work?
If a defective machine injured you on the job, a claim against its manufacturer is a third-party claim, separate from workers’ compensation (§ 39-71-412, MCA). We do not handle the workers’ comp claim itself. We handle the product case against the manufacturer, and we coordinate with your comp lawyer or insurer so the lien is dealt with correctly.
Why hire a Great Falls firm for a Kalispell case?
Product cases are decided by engineering, documents and federal procedure, not by a nearby storefront. We are based in Great Falls and handle product cases statewide. We travel to Kalispell for inspections and depositions, and to Missoula for federal hearings and trial. We do not have a Kalispell office.
The Boland Aarab Way
- We know federal court. 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 build cases for trial. Our attorneys have spent more than 4,000 hours in the courtroom.
- We protect verdicts. The Boland Aarab appellate record reaches back to 1977.
- We are part of the trial bar. Both attorneys belong to AAJ and MTLA, and Samir Aarab is a member of Public Justice.
We also handle burn injury cases in Kalispell and boating accident cases in Kalispell. See our Kalispell personal injury page.
Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I sue the Kalispell store that sold me the product? Sometimes. Montana lets a non-manufacturing seller be dismissed unless an exception applies, such as the seller altering the product or the manufacturer being bankrupt or beyond the court’s reach.
Our cabin heater caused carbon monoxide poisoning. Is that a product case? It may be, if the heater, its shutoff or its warnings were defective. An installer or propane supplier may also share responsibility. Keep the heater and any service records.
My snowmobile is more than 10 years old. Is it too late? Not necessarily. The 10-year repose rule has exceptions, including knowing concealment and certain government-mandated recalls. Have it reviewed quickly.
Will my case be heard in Kalispell or Missoula? It can start in Flathead County District Court, but out-of-state manufacturers often move product cases to federal court in Missoula.
What should I do with the product right now? Keep it exactly as it is, with the packaging and receipts. Do not give it to the manufacturer or an insurer without an agreed inspection plan.
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.
