InjuryDefective product injury
Defective product injury claims in Arizona
If a product that was defectively made or designed, or sold without an adequate warning, injured you in Arizona, you may have a claim against its manufacturer and, often, the seller. Arizona recognizes strict product liability, and its statutes (A.R.S. § 12-681 et seq.) define the parties and the defenses: the question is whether the product was unreasonably dangerous, not whether the company was careless. A claim generally must be filed within two years under A.R.S. § 12-542, running from when you knew or should have known of the injury and its cause. Under pure comparative fault (A.R.S. § 12-2505) your own share of blame reduces a recovery rather than ending it. The product is the central evidence. Keep it, unrepaired and unreturned, with the packaging and the receipt.
What Blueshoe does
The groundwork, in order, before you decide anything.
- 01
Secure the product
The product itself, unrepaired and unreturned, with its packaging, manual, model and lot number, and the receipt or order history. Where the product sits in someone else's hands, a repair shop, an insurer, a landlord, a preservation letter goes out at once.
- 02
Identify the defect and the chain
Manufacturing, design, or warning, and who made, imported, distributed, and sold the unit. A.R.S. § 12-681 reaches both manufacturers and sellers, and the indemnity rule in A.R.S. § 12-684 shapes who ends up paying.
- 03
Map the defenses and the deadlines
State of the art, alteration, and misuse under A.R.S. § 12-683; the two-year limit and discovery-rule accrual under A.R.S. § 12-542; and the twelve-year provision in A.R.S. § 12-551, calendared from the date of first sale and the date you connected the injury to the product.
- 04
An attorney can take it forward
A licensed Arizona attorney can review the file, retain the engineering or medical expert the defect requires, present the claim to the manufacturer's and seller's insurers, and file suit, on terms stated in writing first, including how expert costs are handled.
What the law says
What the law says about defective products in Arizona
What counts as a defective product under Arizona law?
Three kinds of defect support a claim: a manufacturing defect, where the unit departed from its own design; a design defect, where the product was unreasonably dangerous as designed; and a warning defect, where the warnings failed to disclose a danger the maker knew or should have known of. A.R.S. § 12-681 defines the action and the parties.
Do I have to prove the manufacturer was careless?
No. Arizona recognizes strict product liability: a claim can rest on the product itself, if it was defective and unreasonably dangerous when it left the seller's hands and the defect caused the injury. Negligence and breach of warranty claims can run alongside it. A.R.S. § 12-681 defines a product liability action to include each of these theories.
Who can be sued, the manufacturer or the store?
Both may be named. Arizona's statutes define a product liability action against the manufacturer or the seller, and A.R.S. § 12-684 generally entitles a seller that did not make or alter the product to indemnity from the manufacturer. In practice the retailer can be in the case while the manufacturer, often out of state, bears the loss.
What defenses will the manufacturer raise?
A.R.S. § 12-683 sets out three: the product conformed to the state of the art when made; it was altered after leaving the seller and the alteration caused the injury; or it was used contrary to express and adequate warnings the user knew or should have known of. Comparative fault under A.R.S. § 12-2505 reduces what remains.
Each defense is answered from the product. Whether it was altered, how it was used, and what the label actually said are questions the unit itself resolves, which is why a product that has been repaired, returned, or thrown away becomes a defense argument.
How long do I have, and does it matter how old the product is?
Generally two years under A.R.S. § 12-542, running from when you knew or reasonably should have known of the injury and its cause. A.R.S. § 12-551 adds a twelve-year provision measured from the product's first sale, with exceptions for claims based on negligence or an express warranty, and Arizona courts have limited its reach. Have the dates evaluated.
If a city, county, or state entity made, sold, or operated the product, A.R.S. § 12-821.01 requires a notice of claim within 180 days. That is unusual in product cases, but it is the shortest clock when it applies.
What it costs
No fee unless you recover.
Asking costs nothing. If you engage Blueshoe on a contingency basis, the fee is a percentage of what is recovered, stated in a written engagement agreement, and nothing is owed if there is no recovery. Case costs, such as filing fees and records, are set out in the same agreement, including whether they come out before or after the fee is calculated.
- Free to ask
- Written assessment before any fee
- Engagement terms in writing
- No billable hours
Questions people ask
No, though it helps. A recall is evidence that the maker or a regulator identified a hazard, and it can establish what the company knew and when. The claim still has to show that the defect caused your injury and that the unit you used had it. A recall does not by itself start or stop the deadline.
More under Injury
- Drug & device injuriesInjured by a prescription drug, an over-the-counter medication, or an implanted device? Arizona product liability under A.R.S.Read more
- Brain & spinal injuriesA traumatic brain injury or a spinal cord injury changes what a claim has to prove.Read more
- Wrongful deathArizona's wrongful death statutes (A.R.S.Read more
Legally reviewed by Catherine O’Grady, State Bar of Arizona No. 011647
Managing partner & chief compliance officer · 30+ years in practice · Reviewed 2026-10-08 · Full bio →