Texas Tank Explosion Leads To $1.6B Wrongful Death Verdict

By Rae Ann Varona

A Texas jury has awarded more than $1.6 billion in damages to family members of two workers who died after a fatal explosion threw them off a tank at a hazardous chemicals facility owned by Upton Assets LLC, which the jury unanimously found fully liable for the deaths.

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Beasley Allen Pro Hac Vice Revoked In Philly J&J Talc Cases

By Rae Ann Varona

A Pennsylvania state court has booted Beasley Allen Law Firm attorneys from representing consumers in nine cases that link Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder to ovarian cancer, saying their pro hac vice admission was inappropriate given the firm's dealings with an attorney who previously represented the company.

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Jury Finds Uber Driver Committed Battery During NC Ride

By Hayley Fowler

A federal jury in Charlotte, North Carolina, found Monday an Uber driver committed battery against a passenger who accused him of grabbing her leg in 2019, and it awarded her $5,000 in damages, capping off a four-day bellwether trial against the ride-hailing giant.

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High Court Won't Hear 3rd Circ. J&J Class Cert. Appeal

By Jarek Rutz

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said it won't review a class certification challenge in a securities class action over Johnson & Johnson's cancer-related talc products in the latest development in a closely watched dispute over how courts evaluate class certification in shareholder suits.

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Vt. Court Says Monsanto Must Face Trial Over PCBs At School

By Ganesh Setty

A Vermont school district's lawsuit seeking roughly $135 million in damages against Monsanto entities over toxic chemicals at its now-shuttered high school campus must go to trial, a Vermont federal court ruled, denying the Monsanto defendants a quick win.

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High Court Won't Review 'Oil-Free' Suit Against Kenvue

By Mike Curley

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a bid from a Kenvue Inc. unit to review class certification in a suit alleging it falsely advertised its products as being "oil-free."

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Kimberly-Clark Landfill PFAS Suit Sent To Conn. State Court

By Mike Curley

A Connecticut federal judge has sent a suit against Kimberly-Clark Corp. and the town of New Milford back to state court, saying Kimberly-Clark didn't clear the high bar necessary to show that the town and its wetlands commission were fraudulently included as defendants in a suit over PFAS contamination.

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Doctors Fueled Man's Fatal Opioid Addiction, Philly Jury Told

By P.J. D'Annunzio

Counsel for the family of a man who died of an opioid overdose at age 26 told a Philadelphia jury that his doctors were responsible for pushing treatment plans that allowed him to develop an opioid addiction, leading to his untimely death, pointing to both physicians being paid speakers for the pharmaceutical companies whose medications they prescribed.

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PFAS Plaintiffs Say Midcase Appeal Would 'Derail' Litigation

By Chart Riggall

Georgia residents accusing carpet and chemicals manufacturers of contaminating their properties with forever chemicals urged a state court to reject Shaw Industries' bid to appeal the recent nondismissal of their claims, arguing the request is the carpet company's latest "attempt to derail this litigation."

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Section 230 Blocks Woman's Discord Suit Over Sexual Abuse

By Mike Curley

An Ohio federal judge on Monday threw out a woman's suit against Discord Inc. alleging the platform allowed her to be sexually abused by a known sex offender when she was a minor, finding all of her claims are blocked by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

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Utah Says Kratom Law Doesn't Clash With Federal Policy

By Sam Reisman

Utah officials have urged a federal judge not to halt enforcement of a new state law reining in psychoactive products derived from the kratom leaf, saying the policy is necessary for consumer safety and public health and is not preempted by federal law.

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Philip Morris Unfairly Gains From Label Ruling, 11th Circ. Told

By Jonathan Capriel

Philip Morris cannot be the only company allowed to not follow a rule requiring cigarette makers to add graphic warnings to their labels, R.J. Reynolds and a coalition of tobacco businesses have told the Eleventh Circuit, suggesting that consumers might assume its cigarettes are safer than theirs.

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11th Circ. Revives RV Defect Claims, Clarifies Fla. Lemon Law

By Jonathan Capriel

Florida's Lemon Law does not require drivers to prove a specific number of repair attempts or days in the shop to seek a refund for an allegedly faulty vehicle, the Eleventh Circuit ruled in a published opinion, requiring recreational vehicle manufacturer Forest River Inc. to face a buyer's lawsuit.

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Insurer Rips Hyundai's Early Exit Bid In Theft Bellwether Trial

By Linda Chiem

State Automobile Mutual Insurance Co. has told a California federal judge that a jury must hear all its claims in a bellwether trial next month as it seeks to hold Hyundai Motor America liable for allegedly selling theft-prone vehicles that heightened the risk of insurance claims.

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NFT Buyer Says Ex-Software Biz Orchestrated Token Rug Pull

By Emilie Ruscoe

A purported blockchain technology platform faces proposed class action allegations it made millions off a so-called rug pull, introducing a series of nonfungible tokens and teasing a cryptocurrency offering that never materialized, then selling those tokens into the artificial market it created and abandoning the platform.

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National Parks Group Seeks To Block Mojave Mine Restart

By Crystal Owens

The National Parks Conservation Association is asking a California federal district court to block a Department of the Interior decision to renew gold mining within the Mojave National Preserve, arguing the department skirted environmental laws by reversing established policy that prioritized the desert ecosystem and Indigenous cultural area's protection.

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The Role Of Operational Data In Tech Platform Liability Suits

As litigation becomes a de facto substitute for the regulation of major technology platforms, with plaintiffs advancing claims under product liability, public nuisance and consumer protection laws, among others, courts are evaluating how platform systems operate in practice based on large-scale operational data, say attorneys at Brattle.

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Black McDermott Atty Says White Men Favored For Partner

By Lauren Berg

A Black female McDermott Will & Schulte attorney accused the firm of gender, race and pregnancy discrimination in a lawsuit lodged in California state court, saying she has been consistently bypassed for promotion by less-experienced white attorneys and was yanked off casework after taking medical leave following a life-threatening illness during pregnancy.

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'Kind Of Lawyering We Don't Like': Judge Rips Quinn Emanuel

By Bonnie Eslinger

Guardant Health Inc. urged a California federal judge on Monday to make Quinn Emanuel pay nearly $1.3 million on top of $3 million in sanctions already imposed over misrepresentations lawyers made representing its rival Natera Inc., prompting the judge to criticize Quinn Emanuel lawyers for making distinctions so fine they veer into misrepresentation.

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Q&A

She Has A Point: Fish & Richardson's Nitika Gupta Fiorella

By Dani Kass

Fish & Richardson PC principal Nitika Gupta Fiorella is "a no-stone-unturned, always super prepared" lawyer who "epitomizes professionalism and respect," according to Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner LLP partner Cora Holt.

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Fox Lawyer In Dominion Case Confirmed To Texas Bench

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 47-46 Monday evening to confirm Andrew Davis, a partner at Lehotsky Keller Cohn LLP who defended Fox News in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation case, to serve on the bench in the Western District of Texas.

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Justices Won't Consider IP Theft Allegations Against Akin

By Dani Kass

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a former Cornell University graduate student's petition trying to revive his malpractice suit against Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP stemming from patent litigation against Illumina Inc. over DNA sequencing intellectual property.

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DC Ethics Office Says Ex-Interim US Atty Can't Remove Case

By Emily Sawicki

Washington, D.C., ethics officials have asked a federal court to send U.S. Department of Justice official Ed Martin's ethics case back to the D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility, arguing the D.C. federal court lacks jurisdiction over a disciplinary matter, which is neither a civil action nor a criminal prosecution.

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Ex-Newman Clerks, Judges Back High Court Suspension Fight

By Adam Lidgett

A group of former clerks for Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman, as well as former federal judges, have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the challenge to her suspension imposed by her colleagues.

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Insurer Intentionally Avoiding $200M Loan Claim, Court Told

By Hope Patti

A litigation funding firm has accused its insurer of wrongfully refusing to pay out its policy's guaranteed $200 million in coverage for an unpaid loan, saying the insurer buried it in duplicative and burdensome information requests to avoid paying a valid claim.

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Judge Says Ill. Justices Can't Fire Him Over MAGA Op-Ed

By Jack Karp

Illinois Supreme Court justices have no authority to remove a state judge from the bench for alleged misconduct, so their effort to dismiss a retired state trial judge's claims that his removal for penning a political opinion column violated his constitutional rights should be rejected, the retired jurist has said.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court this past week delivered another mix of procedural rulings, fiduciary duty disputes and deal litigation, highlighting both the court's gatekeeping role and its continued focus on stockholder rights and transactional fairness.

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