Kansas Defective Product Attorneys

Statute of Limitations

2 years

2 years from injury (K.S.A. § 60-513); the discovery rule applies to latent harm.

Statute of Repose

10-year "useful

10-year "useful safe life" presumption (K.S.A. § 60-3303), rebuttable only by clear and convincing evidence; GARA imposes an 18-year repose for general aviation parts.

Strict Liability Standard

Product Liability

Kansas Product Liability Act (K.S.A. § 60-3301 et seq.) — codifies § 402A strict liability with consumer-expectation and risk-utility tests.

Comparative Fault Rule

50%

Modified comparative fault with a 50% bar (K.S.A. § 60-258a) — at 50% fault or more, you recover nothing.

Products Liability Statute

Product Liability

Kansas Product Liability Act, K.S.A. § 60-3301 to § 60-3307, including seller protections under § 60-3306.

Typical attorney fee

33%

33%–40% contingency — no fee unless you win

The Kansas Product Liability Act (K.S.A. § 60-3301 et seq.), on the books since 1981, codifies strict liability along § 402A lines, using both consumer-expectation and risk-utility tests. But the KPLA gives defendants real structural advantages. The useful-safe-life presumption in § 60-3303 puts the burden on you for older products. Section 60-3306 shields non-manufacturer sellers in many situations, so the case typically has to be made against the manufacturer itself. And Kansas's modified comparative fault rule (K.S.A. § 60-258a) bars recovery entirely once your share of fault hits 50% — which turns every misuse allegation into an existential threat to the claim. The filing window is short, too: 2 years under K.S.A. § 60-513, softened only by the discovery rule. One more Kansas quirk worth knowing — the state is the Air Capital of the World, and aviation cases out of Wichita's Cessna, Learjet, and Spirit AeroSystems plants run into GARA, the federal 18-year repose for general aviation. None of this is the kind of terrain a generalist navigates well.