Defective Product Lawyers for Unsafe and Dangerous Toys

In Texas, You Often Don't Have to Prove Negligence

Most people assume a product liability case works like a car accident case — prove the other side was careless, then prove it caused the injury. Defective toy claims usually work differently. Under Chapter 82 of the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code, most toy defect claims proceed under strict liability: you don't have to show the manufacturer was careless or cut corners on purpose. You have to show the toy was defective and that the toy defect caused your child's injury. That's it.

Texas law recognizes three kinds of defects that can trigger liability:

• Design defects — the toy is dangerous by its very design. High-powered magnet sets that separate into pieces small enough to swallow, and toys with poorly secured button or coin battery compartments, are two of the most common examples driving injuries and recalls right now.
• Manufacturing defects — the toy's design was fine, but something went wrong in production, like a batch with lead paint or a choking hazard that slipped past quality control.
• Marketing defects — the toy itself might be reasonably safe, but the company failed to warn about a real risk, like a missing age recommendation or absent choking hazard label on small parts.

Button battery injuries in particular have gotten federal attention. In 2022, Congress passed Reese's Law — named for Reese Hamsmith, an 18-month-old from Lubbock, Texas, who died after swallowing a battery from a toy remote — requiring child-resistant battery compartments and clear warning labels on qualifying products. Notably, toys are currently held to a separate, weaker standard than other consumer products under this law, a gap child-safety advocates, including Reese's own family, have publicly pushed to close. A toy that doesn't meet even that lower bar can support a strong marketing or design defect claim.

For design defect claims specifically, Texas law also requires showing there was a safer alternative design available at the time — one that would have prevented or reduced the risk without ruining what the toy was supposed to do, and that was actually feasible to build. That's a technical requirement, and it's usually where expert testimony matters most.

Who Can Be Held Responsible

Texas law generally limits liability for retailers who didn't manufacture the toy — a store or online seller usually isn't on the hook just for stocking a defective product. But that protection has real exceptions, set out by statute: if the seller helped design the toy, modified it, knew about the defect and sold it anyway, or gave you an express warranty that turned out to be false, they can still be liable alongside the manufacturer. We sort out who actually belongs in the case, rather than assuming it stops at whoever's name was on the box.

What to Do If a Toy Injures Your Child

Get your child medical attention first, and keep every record from that visit. Don't throw the toy away — keep it exactly as it was when the injury happened, packaging, instructions, warning labels and all, since that's often the single most important piece of evidence in the case. Photograph your child's injuries and the toy itself, and check whether it's part of a CPSC recall, since a recalled product with a documented defect can make liability much more straightforward to establish.

Report what happened to the manufacturer or retailer, but talk to a defective product attorney before you give a statement to their insurer or agree to anything — that conversation is free.

What Compensation Can Cover

What your family can recover depends on the injury and what you can document. That typically starts with medical costs — emergency treatment, follow-up care, ongoing therapy if it's needed — and can extend to the pain and emotional toll on your child, and in more serious cases, how the injury affects their development and quality of life going forward.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is decided on its own facts.

How Ali Law Group Investigates These Cases

As attorneys for defective products, we gather what actually proves a defect exists: product testing and engineering reports, whether the toy met ASTM F963, the federal toy safety standard, prior complaints or CPSC recall history for the same product, medical records connecting the injury to the toy, and expert analysis where the defect isn't obvious on its face. In design defect cases, that often includes finding out whether a safer design was available and economically feasible — which usually requires an engineering expert, not just an attorney's opinion.

Ali Law Group represents families across Texas from its San Antonio and Houston offices.