The Consumer Product Safety Act of 2008 has spurred countless legal cases and debacles between businesses and consumers. No matter what the case is, a lawyer is needed to intervene in such cases. A lawyer can be the key to finding a resolution that is fair and equitable to both sides.

The Consumer Product Safety Act of 2008 was created after various recalls went into effect for businesses. The Act was intended to make businesses more conscious of the products they were creating, in order to avoid putting harmful products into the public marketplace. In particular, the Act was created after toys were being created with lead and children were suffering harm due to such toys.

Basically, this Act limited that amount of certain substances manufacturers can place into products that come into the United States. In particular, the Act is intended to limit the amount of lead placed into toys that children play with on a daily basis. The Act also attempts to limit the amount of phthalates put into products that come into the United States.

The problem with this act is that sometimes its intended purpose can go astray, when consumers seek to take advantage of the Act. Businesses can become vulnerable and susceptible to consumers that try to use the Act in order to merely fill their pockets with millions of dollars. A good lawyer is needed to defend a business against claims from consumers that are unwarranted and unsubstantiated.

Fines for a violation of the Consumer Product Safety Act of 2008 are often quite hefty in nature. Prior to the Act, a business would only pay $8,000 for a single violation of the act. Now, under the revised version of the Act, a business will need to pay $100,000 for a single violation of the act. This means that a business may become bankrupt simply due to a single claim or two from consumers.

In addition, businesses that have multiple claims filed against them which violate the Consumer Product Safety Act of 2008 will have to pay even greater fees. A business with multiple claims filed against it will have to pay a maximum of $1,825,000. This is quite a large sum of money for any business to come up with in only a moment’s notice. In some cases, violators of this Act will have to face up to 5 years in prison. These are harsh penalties for any business to pay that may have unknowingly distributed a product which contained such materials.

Under this new Act, it is specifically stated that a business does not have to be aware that its products are causing harm to consumers in order to be held liable. In some cases, a retailer will market a toy and have no idea it contains traces of lead. Even in this sort of situation, consumers can try to hold retailers liable for distributing a toy with lead in it, even if the lead amounts are miniscule in nature. Because a business faces such liability, it is important for any business to have a good lawyer on its team.

A lawyer is critical for any business that may potentially face consumer product safety claims. A good lawyer can fight off such claims and protect a business from losing millions of dollars to unsubstantiated claims.