Roundup

Product Liability Q1 Regulatory Roundup

By Emily Field

In the first three months of 2026, executive orders and other regulatory actions by the Trump administration have taken on products with "Made in America" labeling, called for the increased manufacture of the herbicide ingredient glyphosate, and addressed what e-cigarette flavors could receive the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval, among others.

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Kimberly-Clark Slips Conn. Town's 'Speculative' PFAS Claims

By Brian Steele

A proposed class action claiming Kimberly-Clark Corp. polluted a Connecticut town's water and soil with toxic "forever chemicals" failed to allege plausible facts tying the contamination or any injuries to the paper goods maker, relying instead on assumptions and guesswork, a federal judge has ruled in dismissing the case.

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Judge Denies Arbitration Bid In Land Rover Brake Defect Case

By Jonathan Capriel

Jaguar Land Rover cannot, for now, push out of court a proposed class action over claims Range Rover brakes have a defect that causes premature wear, a New Jersey federal judge has ruled, possibly giving some credence to the drivers' claims that the arbitration clause was "buried" within the 525-page vehicle handbook.

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GE Fails To Nix Suit Over Stove Fire From Alleged Defect

By Mike Curley

A Pennsylvania federal judge has rejected GE Appliances' request to toss most of a suit alleging that one of its stove ranges was defectively designed and led to a fire when it was accidentally turned on, finding that a jury could reasonably agree with the plaintiff's experts' assessment of events.

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BNSF Says 9th Circ. Opinion Nixes Montana Asbestos Case

By Mike Curley

BNSF Railway Co. asked a Montana federal court Monday to throw out a lawsuit alleging it let dust from asbestos-containing vermiculite accumulate at its rail yard in Libby, Montana, arguing that a recent Ninth Circuit case showed the claims are preempted by federal law and blocked by the common carrier exception.

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Bai Beverage Maker Quenches False Ad Suit Over Sweetener

By Gina Kim

Bai Brands permanently defeated a putative class action alleging it deceived consumers into thinking its beverages contained "no artificial sweeteners" despite being sweetened with erythritol, after a New York federal judge found no evidence of how reasonable consumers would define "artificial." 

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Penn National Needn't Cover $2.2M Lead-Paint Tort Judgment

By Gianna Ferrarin

Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty Insurance Co. has no obligation to cover a $2.2 million judgment won by a man alleging he was exposed to lead-based paint at a Baltimore property where he resided when he was a child, a Maryland federal judge has ruled.

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Brief

Kratom Addictiveness 9th Circ. Appeal Dropped

By Emily Field

A group of consumers told the Ninth Circuit on Friday that they were dropping the appeal of a dismissal of their suit over kratom products that they said were as addictive as opioids.

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Stumptown Coffee Packaging Blamed For Flight Attendant's Burns

By Ben Adlin

Stumptown Coffee Corp.'s failure to address a critical flaw in its product packaging for commercial flights caused an "explosion" of scalding hot coffee on an Alaska Airlines plane that left a pregnant flight attendant with permanent scars on her chest, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in Seattle federal court.

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5th Circ. Seems Open To Reviving Eyemart Class Action

By Spencer Brewer

A Fifth Circuit panel seemed open to reviving a class action accusing glasses retailer Eyemart Express LLC of selling sensitive personal health information to social media giant Meta, asking Monday why dismissal was appropriate given the complexity of the case.

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Nearby Polluters Must Face Gowanus Canal Cleanup Suit

By Gautama Mehta

A New York federal judge on Sunday declined to dismiss a lawsuit brought by National Grid seeking to force 40 other parties accused of polluting Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal to pay their share of the Superfund cleanup costs.

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Judge Tosses ESA Challenge Against Nevada Lithium Mine

By Crystal Owens

A Nevada federal judge says the federal government didn't violate the Endangered Species Act in approving a more than 7,100-acre lithium mining project that conservation groups argue will drive a rare wildflower into extinction, finding the decision was not arbitrary or capricious under recent Supreme Court precedent.

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Expedia Looks To Escape Suit Over Carbon Monoxide Deaths

By Y. Peter Kang

Expedia has sought to escape a suit over the carbon monoxide poisoning deaths of three young women at a Belize resort allegedly due to a poorly installed water heater, telling a Massachusetts federal court it had no duty to warn customers about potential dangers at the hotels listed on its website.

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How Cos. Can Prepare For California's Textile Recovery Act

Staged implementation of California's Responsible Textile Recovery Act, establishing the state's first extended producer responsibility program for apparel and textile articles, has begun — and companies that review their data readiness, contracts and exposure risks now will be best prepared when the act comes into full effect, says Thierry Montoya at FBT Gibbons.

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Opinion

AI Presents A Make-Or-Break Moment For Outside Counsel

The rapid adoption of artificial intelligence by corporate legal departments is forcing a long-overdue reset of the relationship between inside and outside counsel, and introducing a significant opportunity to shed frustrating inefficiencies and strengthen collaboration for firms willing to embrace the shift, says Intel Chief Legal Officer April Miller Boise.

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Feature

Rats, Vapes And Vodka: Strange But True Cases For April Fool's

By Emily Field

A dead rodent in a burrito bowl delivery, a mix-up with vodka seltzer in the wrong cans and the Toys R Us brand taking on a Connecticut vape shop are among Law360's list of strange cases suitable for April Fool's Day.

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Analysis

'Best Judicial System In The World': Alsup Reflects On Career

By Bonnie Eslinger

Before taking inactive status late last year, U.S. District Judge William H. Alsup presided over historic litigation in California's Northern District for 26 years, arriving at his San Francisco chambers every weekday before dawn to prepare for the day's work.

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FTC Backs Florida's Move To Kill ABA's Accreditation Monopoly

By Hailey Konnath

The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday that it supports the Florida Supreme Court's recent decision to end the American Bar Association's longstanding accreditation monopoly, agreeing with the finding that it is "not in Floridians' best interest for the ABA to be the sole gatekeeper" in deciding who sits for the bar exam.

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NC Attys Oppose DOJ Interference In State Ethics Complaints

By Hayley Fowler

A group of North Carolina lawyers is opposing the U.S. Department of Justice's proposed rule allowing the attorney general to review state-level ethics complaints against the department's attorneys, saying such a change would undercut the Tar Heel State's ability to regulate government lawyers.

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Blumenthal Presses DHS Chief To Scrap ICE Warrant Memo

By Courtney Bublé

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, is looking for assurances from the newly installed secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, that he will honor his apparent pledge to rescind a policy that allows immigration agents to enter private property without a judicial warrant.

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Habba, Ex-Firm Get Defense Redo In Suit Over Divorce Advice

By Jake Maher

A New Jersey appeals court gave former acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba another chance to pursue an anti-abusive litigation motion against an attorney suing her for malicious prosecution on Tuesday.

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7th Circ. Scolds Ex-Judge For Citing Fake Cases In Brief

By Celeste Bott

A Seventh Circuit panel admonished an attorney and former chief federal immigration judge for submitting a brief citing two nonexistent cases and a false quotation, saying while such errors can be "tell-tale signs" of AI hallucinations, her denial she used AI is "plausible" and the court won't consider further sanctions.

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'Construction Has To Stop!': Judge Blocks Trump's Ballroom

By Dorothy Atkins

A Washington, D.C., federal judge Tuesday granted a historical preservation nonprofit's request for a preliminary injunction halting President Donald Trump's plans to turn the White House's East Wing into an "enormous" 89,000-square-foot ballroom, saying "unless and until Congress blesses this project through statutory authorization, construction has to stop!"

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Beasley Allen Seeks Stay Of DQ In Federal J&J Talc MDL

By Jake Maher

The Beasley Allen Law Firm asked a New Jersey federal court on Monday to hold off on disqualifying it from talc litigation against Johnson & Johnson while it appeals the disqualification order which it called "unprecedented and incorrect."

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Senate Dems Probe Musk's Alleged Role In CTA Retreat

By Sarah Jarvis

Three Democratic senators have asked U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to provide information on Elon Musk's possible involvement in the rollback of the Corporate Transparency Act, saying the department's moves allow entities tied to the billionaire to operate in obscurity.

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Analysis

Defamation Litigation Roundup: Unilever, Afroman, Musk

By Theresa Schliep

In this month's review of defamation fights, Law360 highlights a new suit against Unilever by an ousted member of a Ben & Jerry's board, as well as Afroman's defeat of a case by Ohio police officers after a raid of the comedic rapper's home.

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FBI Fired Agents Over Trump 2020 Election Inquiry, Suit Says

By Bonnie Eslinger

Former FBI agents who say they were illegally fired for working on the investigation into President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss filed a proposed class action in D.C. federal court Tuesday accusing the government of unconstitutional "political retribution."

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Brief

Moye White, Ex-Landlord Settle $4M Denver Lease Dispute

By Zach Dupont

Days before the start of a bench trial between a Denver landlord and defunct law firm Moye White LLP in state court, the two parties reached a settlement, ending the litigation where the landlord accused the firm of owing almost $4 million.

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