Product Liability

  • April 08, 2026

    Fiat Chrysler Loses 'Absurd' Arb. Bid In Defect Suit At 9th Circ.

    A Ninth Circuit panel has rejected Fiat Chrysler's request to send a certified class action over allegedly defective Jeep and Dodge headrests to arbitration, finding that FCA's theory would lead to "absurd" results in which third parties with "no connection whatsoever to the underlying arbitration agreement" could force arbitration.

  • April 08, 2026

    VW Beats 'Clean Diesel' NY Shareholder Derivative Suit

    A New York state trial court has thrown out a shareholder derivative suit seeking to hold current and former Volkswagen AG supervisory board members and executives in Germany liable for perpetrating the 2015 emissions cheating scandal, saying the dispute doesn't belong in the Empire State.

  • April 08, 2026

    Abbott Urges Ill. Jury To Reject Claims Formula Led To NEC

    Counsel for Abbott Laboratories told an Illinois jury Wednesday that four infants, whose mothers allege the company's preterm baby formula caused their serious intestinal illness, would have developed the disease "even without a drop of formula" given other risk factors and that the absence of other feeding options at the time of the babies' births dooms their parents' claims.

  • April 08, 2026

    MatchaBar Sold Lower-Grade Tea As 'Ceremonial,' Suit Says

    A matcha powder by MatchaBar Inc. is falsely marketed as "ceremonial grade" worthy of a Japanese tea ceremony despite independent testing by an expert showing the product actually exhibits "bitterness and astringency in taste," making it unlikely for formal ceremonies, according to a proposed class action by two consumers.

  • April 08, 2026

    Appeals Court Wipes Out PacifiCorp Wildfire Liability Verdict

    A verdict that made power utility PacifiCorp liable to a class of property owners around Oregon from Labor Day 2020 wildfires must be overturned because of a faulty jury instruction, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday.

  • April 08, 2026

    Ind. Panel Finds NCAA Had No Duty To 1960s Football Player

    An Indiana appeals court won't revive a suit from the estate of a former football player alleging the NCAA failed to protect him from concussions, saying the trial court correctly determined that the NCAA did not owe the player a duty to protect him from the long-term risks of repeated head trauma.

  • April 07, 2026

    NY Fertility Clinic Agrees To Settle Suit Over Destroyed Eggs

    Less than a month ahead of trial, a New York fertility clinic has agreed to resolve a suit accusing it of negligently allowing a woman's eggs to be destroyed due to alleged mishandling, according to documents filed in New York federal court.

  • April 07, 2026

    Wash. Panel Nixes Insurer's Gordon Rees Malpractice Claims

    A Washington Court of Appeals panel said a Great American insurance unit can't inherit an equipment manufacturer's legal malpractice claims against Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP and Sinars Slowikowski LLC because of "potential conflict" between the insurer and manufacturer in the underlying dispute over a climber's fall.

  • April 07, 2026

    Recalled Wagner Steamers Still Pose Burn Risk, Suit Says

    A recalled Wagner power steamer still poses serious burn risks because the repair kit sent to consumers is "a literal band-aid" that conceals the defect that prompted last month's recall of 700,000 units after users got scalded with hot water, according to a proposed class action filed in Minnesota federal court.

  • April 07, 2026

    $58M Verdict Against Givaudan Upheld In Toxic Exposure Suit

    A Missouri appeals court on Tuesday refused to throw out a $58 million judgment against Givaudan Flavors Corp. in a suit from a worker who alleged that exposure to its chemicals gave him an incurable lung disease, rejecting the company's argument that his experts were wrongly allowed to testify.

  • April 07, 2026

    Law Profs Back Boeing In 7th Circ. Bid To Void 737 Max Class

    Law professors have told the Seventh Circuit that an Illinois district court improperly certified a class of investors alleging Boeing misrepresented the 737 Max 8 jets' safety after two deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019, saying there's been a "troubling" pattern of courts blessing classwide damages theories backed by zero evidence.

  • April 07, 2026

    John Deere Inks $99M Deal In Farmers' Right-To-Repair Suit

    John Deere has agreed to pay $99 million to a putative class of farmers to resolve claims that it limits competition for farm equipment repairs by preventing unaffiliated shops from acquiring the necessary tools, and will also provide injunctive relief that would allow those independent repair providers to be able to diagnose and fix John Deere-brand agricultural equipment.

  • April 07, 2026

    Fishermen, Seafood Sellers Sue LOOP Over La. Oil Spill

    A group of fishermen and seafood companies is suing the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, or LOOP LLC, over a February oil spill that saw 31,500 gallons of heavy Venezuelan crude oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico, saying LOOP's slow-walking of cleanup puts their livelihoods and the local ecosystem in danger.

  • April 07, 2026

    Mercedes Says Shatter-Prone Sunroof Claims Lack Evidence

    Mercedes-Benz customers offered no evidence that vehicles were sold with defects that caused sunroofs to spontaneously shatter, the automaker told a Georgia federal court, arguing it should be granted an early win in the customers' suit.

  • April 07, 2026

    Uber Says Atty Ads To Rider Admissible In NC Bellwether Trial

    Uber wants to introduce evidence at an upcoming bellwether trial in multidistrict litigation for alleged passenger sexual assaults that a North Carolina plaintiff was exposed to advertisements from attorneys before she sued, saying the evidence goes to her credibility.

  • April 07, 2026

    Vape Cos. Tell NC Justices To Keep 'Sealed Container' Win

    A vape distributor and seller are urging the North Carolina Supreme Court not to disturb an appeals court ruling in their favor in a suit over an exploding battery, saying the appeals court rightly applied the "sealed container" defense.

  • April 06, 2026

    Google, YouTube Want Out Of Disney Kids Data Privacy Suit

    Google and YouTube moved Friday to exit a consolidated class action against them and Disney alleging they allowed advertisers to illegally collect minors' personal information, saying the entire case is based on the Federal Trade Commission's action against Disney that "made no accusations" against their companies "and for good reason."

  • April 06, 2026

    Stanley Bottle Maker Beats Renewed Class Action Over Lead

    A Seattle federal judge dismissed a consumer lawsuit accusing the maker of Stanley tumblers of concealing its use of lead in drinkware products, ruling Friday that shoppers failed to show "a specific and plausible risk of harm" from lead-containing pellets used to seal the insulated containers.

  • April 06, 2026

    Ayahuasca Church Urges Judge To Halt DEA Enforcement

    A Florida church that has used a federally prohibited psychedelic as part of its rites is asking a federal court to block raids on it after filing suit against the government in February over claims that law enforcement ransacked its Orlando-area sanctuary and detained its members in violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

  • April 06, 2026

    NC Utility Turns To CERCLA For DuPont PFAS Suit

    A North Carolina water utility filed a second lawsuit accusing Dupont, Chemours and Corteva of polluting its systems with forever chemicals, this time under the "polluter pays" framework of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.

  • April 06, 2026

    Interior Dept. Will Reunite Offshore Permitting, Safety Arms

    The U.S. Department of the Interior plans to reunite its offshore energy permitting and offshore energy safety agencies, 15 years after they were split apart in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

  • April 06, 2026

    Splenda Loses Bid To End Scientist's Libel Counterclaim

    The maker of Splenda lost its bid for a pretrial win on a scientist's counterclaims for libel after a North Carolina federal judge on Monday ruled they weren't filed too late because the counterclaims are directly linked to the company's defamation suit challenging her statements linking Splenda to cancer-causing chemicals.

  • April 06, 2026

    Widow Sues UPS, Boeing, GE Over Fiery Ky. Plane Crash

    A woman is suing UPS, General Electric, Boeing and an aircraft maintenance company, saying they owned, built or maintained a cargo plane before its November crash into an industrial complex, which injured her and killed her husband.

  • April 06, 2026

    Justices Urged To Curb Post-Mallory Forum Shopping

    Rail industry and legal advocates contend the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 Mallory ruling unleashed a wave of forum-shopping by plaintiffs lawyers using states' business-registration laws to sue out-of-state companies, and the justices must intervene and stop litigants from unconstitutionally interfering with interstate commerce.

  • April 06, 2026

    Reinsurers Say Arbitrator DQ Bid Should Stay In Federal Court

    Reinsurers are urging a New York federal court not to heed a Farmers unit's request to remand its suit seeking disqualification of an arbitrator from an asbestos coverage fight, arguing the insurer wrongly framed the dispute as an attorney ethics matter.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    A Uniform Federal Rule Would Curb Gen AI Missteps In Court

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    To address the patchwork of courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence, curbing abuses and relieving the burden on judges, the federal judiciary should consider amending its civil procedure rules to require litigants to certify they’ve reviewed legal filings for accuracy, say attorneys at Shook Hardy.

  • New Rule Shows NRC Willing To Move Fast To Reform Regs

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    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s decision to forgo public comment and immediately rescind certain rules governing adjudicatory procedures, federal tort claims and disclosure of licensee information signals the agency's intent to accelerate the regulatory streamlining efforts ordered by the president this spring, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Series

    The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Integrating Practice Groups

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    Enacting unified leadership and consistent client service standards ensures law firm practice groups connect and collaborate around shared goals, turning a law firm merger into a platform for growth rather than a period of disruption, says Brian Catlett at Fennemore Craig.

  • Tapping Into Jurors' Moral Intuitions At Trial

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    Many jurors approach trials with foundational beliefs about fairness, harm and responsibility that shape how they view evidence and arguments, so attorneys must understand how to frame a case in a way that appeals to this type of moral reasoning, says Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.

  • Opinion

    Supreme Court Term Limits Would Carry Hidden Risk

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    While proposals for limiting the terms of U.S. Supreme Court justices are popular, a steady stream of relatively young, highly marketable ex-justices with unique knowledge and influence entering the marketplace of law and politics could create new problems, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

  • Suncor Is Justices' Chance To Rule On Climate Nuisance Suits

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    If the U.S. Supreme Court chooses to hear Suncor Energy v. County Commissioners of Boulder County, Colorado, it will have the chance to resolve whether federal law precludes state law nuisance claims targeting interstate and global emissions — and the answer will have major implications for climate litigation nationwide, say attorneys at Liskow & Lewis.

  • Autonomous Vehicle Liability Trends To Watch In 2026

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    With autonomous vehicles increasingly making their own decisions, the liability landscape for AVs has changed over the past year — highlighting a number of important issues that companies and practitioners should keep a close eye on in 2026, says Farid Yaghoubtil at Downtown LA Law Group.

  • Series

    Knitting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Stretching my skills as a knitter makes me a better antitrust attorney by challenging me to recalibrate after wrong turns, not rush outcomes, and trust that I can teach myself the skills to tackle new and difficult projects — even when I don’t have a pattern to work from, says Kara Kuritz at V&E.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Welcome To Miami

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    After nearly 20 years in operation, the Miami Complex Business Litigation Division is a pioneer upon which other jurisdictions in the state have been modeled, adopting many innovations to keep its cases running more efficiently and staffing experienced judges who are accustomed to hearing business disputes, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • Identifying And Resolving Conflicts Among Class Members

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    As the Fifth Circuit's recent decision in Nova Scotia Health Employees' Pension Plan v. McDermott International illustrates, intraclass conflicts can determine the fate of a class action — and such conflicts can be surprisingly difficult to identify, says Andrew Faisman, a clerk at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

  • 6 Ways To Nuke-Proof Litigation As Explosive Verdicts Rise

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    As the increasing number of nuclear verdicts continues to reshape the litigation landscape, counsel must understand how to create a multipronged defense strategy to anticipate juror expectations and mitigate the risk of outsize jury awards, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • How MAHA Is Taking Shape At The State Level

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    The national spotlight on the federal government's Make America Healthy Again movement is bolstering state-level actions regarding potential health impacts of certain food ingredients, increasing the difficulty and importance of maintaining effective compliance programs, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Rule Update May Mean Simpler PFAS Reports, Faster Timeline

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recently proposed revisions to the Toxic Substances Control Act's per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances reporting rule would substantially narrow reporting obligations, but if the rule is finalized, companies will need to prepare for a significantly accelerated timeline for data submissions, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • AI Evidence Rule Tweaks Encourage Judicial Guardrails

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    Recent additions to a committee note on proposed Rule of Evidence 707 — governing evidence generated by artificial intelligence — seek to mitigate potential dangers that may arise once machine outputs are introduced at trial, encouraging judges to perform critical gatekeeping functions, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

  • Series

    The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Getting The Message Across

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    Communications and brand strategy during a law firm merger represent a crucial thread that runs through every stage of a combination and should include clear messaging, leverage modern marketing tools and embrace the chance to evolve, says Ashley Horne at Womble Bond.

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