New Jersey Defective Product Attorneys

Statute of Limitations

2 years

2 years from injury or discovery (N.J.S.A. § 2A:14-2); discovery rule applies.

Statute of Repose

No repose

No general products statute of repose; 10-year repose for improvements to real property (N.J.S.A. § 2A:14-1.1).

Strict Liability Standard

Products Liability

New Jersey Products Liability Act (N.J.S.A. § 2A:58C-1 et seq.) — codifies risk-utility test for design defects; consumer-expectation no longer applies.

Comparative Fault Rule

51%

Modified comparative fault, 51% bar (N.J.S.A. § 2A:15-5.1).

Products Liability Statute

Products Liability

New Jersey Products Liability Act, N.J.S.A. § 2A:58C-1 to -11 — EXCLUSIVE remedy for product-related claims; subsumes common-law strict liability and warranty claims for personal injury.

Typical attorney fee

33%

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

New Jersey enacted the New Jersey Products Liability Act (NJPLA) in 1987 at N.J.S.A. § 2A:58C-1 to -11 — one of the most sophisticated products codes in the country. The NJPLA codifies risk-utility analysis for design defects (replacing the prior dual consumer-expectation/risk-utility test from Beshada v. Johns-Manville) and is the EXCLUSIVE remedy for product-related personal injury, property damage, or death. New Jersey adopted modified comparative fault with a 51% bar under N.J.S.A. § 2A:15-5.1. The 2-year statute of limitations runs under N.J.S.A. § 2A:14-2. New Jersey has no general products statute of repose. The state hosts essentially every major pharma defendant — J&J (New Brunswick), Bayer (Whippany), Sanofi, BMS, Merck, Novartis — making the Middlesex and Atlantic County Multicounty Litigation (MCL) program one of the most active mass-tort dockets in the country, alongside Cook County and California JCCPs.