Product Liability

  • February 19, 2026

    Travelers Must Defend Ag Co.'s Herbicide Suit, With Limits

    A Delaware state judge has found that Travelers Casualty and Surety Co. must fund the defense of an agricultural chemical company in six suits alleging that a chemical made by its predecessors gave users Parkinson's and kidney failure but that its defense can be limited under some of the policies at issue.

  • February 19, 2026

    AstraZeneca Prevails In Whistleblower Suit 9th Circ. Revived

    An Oregon federal judge tossed a former AstraZeneca sales manager's whistleblower claims that she was fired for accusing a colleague of promoting off-label drugs, in a case that took a trip to the Ninth Circuit and back.

  • February 19, 2026

    'Sealed Container' Defense Sinks Exploding Battery Suit

    A North Carolina appeals panel won't revive a man's suit against a retailer and distributor alleging he was sold a defective lithium-ion battery that exploded in his pocket, saying all his claims are blocked by the sealed container defense.

  • February 19, 2026

    Trump Orders Weedkiller Glyphosate Production Hike

    President Donald Trump issued an executive order late Wednesday aimed at ramping up the production of glyphosate, the active ingredient in the weedkiller Roundup that has been accused of causing cancer in scores of lawsuits, including one on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • February 19, 2026

    BakerHostetler Adds Contaminants Pro From DLA Piper

    BakerHostetler announced on Thursday that it has brought a San Francisco-based attorney from DLA Piper onto its product liability and toxic tort and environmental teams, calling him "one of the country's leading emerging contaminants litigators."

  • February 18, 2026

    Zuckerberg Testifies That Social Media Doesn't Harm Teens

    Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stand Wednesday in a landmark California bellwether trial on claims his company and Google's YouTube harm children's mental health, saying the current scientific literature shows no causal link between social media and teens' mental health.

  • February 18, 2026

    Blue Shield Of Calif. Says 'Ghost Network' Action Falls Flat

    Trouble finding a mental health care therapist is unfortunate but not something that an entire class action can be based on, argued Blue Shield of California, urging a federal judge to dismiss a suit accusing the company of maintaining a "ghost network" directory of providers who don't exist or don't accept new patients.

  • February 18, 2026

    Halfday's 'Gut Healthy' Teas Aren't That Gut Healthy, Suit Says

    Halfday was hit with a proposed class action in New York federal court on Tuesday, alleging it deceptively advertises its iced teas as having "prebiotic benefits" despite the fact that they only contain six grams of soluble fiber, which is unlikely to have any meaningful effect on consumers' gut health.

  • February 18, 2026

    Canada's Olympic Body Joins NHL, CHL Antitrust Defense

    Canadian hockey officials asked the Ninth Circuit to reject an appeal from junior players who sued the National Hockey League and its pipeline organizations over alleged antitrust violations, arguing certain rules actually benefit the community and foster competition.

  • February 18, 2026

    GM Sued Over Alleged Defect In Brake System

    GM on Wednesday was hit with a proposed class action in Michigan federal court alleging that for years the automaker has failed to warn that the brake system in certain models can fail suddenly, making it almost impossible for drivers to depress the brake pedal in emergencies.

  • February 18, 2026

    DTE Energy Hit With $100M Fine In Clean Air Act Action

    Energy company DTE Energy Co. and its subsidiaries were hit with a $100 million civil penalty and ordered to fund a $20 million air quality program after a Michigan federal judge found they violated the Clean Air Act by illegally modifying a steel-manufacturing-related facility, resulting in higher levels of pollution.

  • February 18, 2026

    Social Media Cos. Can't Nix Experts In Schools' Health Trial

    The California federal judge overseeing multidistrict litigation claiming social media harms kids' mental health denied bids by Meta, TikTok, Google and SnapChat to block six experts' testimony on the alleged disruption and costs to school districts from a June bellwether trial over a Kentucky school district's claims.

  • February 18, 2026

    Talc Lawsuits Force Mining Co. Into Ch. 11 With Sale Plan

    Vanderbilt Minerals, which mines and processes clay and other materials, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing an increase in lawsuits over alleged cancer-causing asbestos in its products.

  • February 18, 2026

    FDA Changes Mind, Will Review Moderna MRNA Flu Vaccine

    Moderna on Wednesday said that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has decided to review its application for its influenza vaccine, a week after the agency refused to consider the application for the new experimental vaccine.

  • February 18, 2026

    Talc Claimants Tell 2nd Circ. Revlon Must Allow Late Claims

    A group of talc liability claimants on Wednesday asked the Second Circuit to find reorganized cosmetics company Revlon has to pay out for their injury claims despite those claims being filed past the deadline in the company's Chapter 11 case.

  • February 18, 2026

    Nicotine Pouch Co. Says FDA Unfairly Applies Tobacco Regs

    A nicotine oral pouch maker is suing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in D.C. federal court, saying the agency is arbitrarily requiring it to perform the same health studies for premarket authorization as tobacco products, despite acknowledging that its products have fewer health risks than cigarettes or other tobacco products.

  • February 17, 2026

    Uber Wins 'Partial' Atty Fees Reimbursement In Assault MDL

    Uber can get $30,000 from an opposing attorney as "partial reimbursement" for the ride-hailing company's attorney fees in multidistrict litigation over sexual assault liability, a California federal judge ruled Tuesday, ordering the payment as a sanction against the attorney for disclosing confidential Uber information in other lawsuits.

  • February 17, 2026

    Buffalo Wild Wings Can Sell Breast Meat As 'Boneless Wings'

    A Buffalo Wild Wings customer who claims he was deceived by the restaurant's "boneless wings" found his lawsuit in the deep fryer Tuesday, after an Illinois federal judge determined no reasonable consumer would believe the product is actually deboned chicken wings that are "reconstituted into some sort of Franken-wing."

  • February 17, 2026

    Unilever's Deal Over Benzene Allegations Hits Speed Bump

    A Connecticut federal judge on Tuesday declined to grant preliminary approval to a proposed $3.6 million class action settlement with Unilever to end claims that certain aerosol dry shampoo propellants contained benzene, saying the settlement class is too broad and that the covered time period goes back too far. 

  • February 17, 2026

    Walgreens Can't Ditch 'Dishwasher Safe' Cutlery Dispute

    An Illinois federal judge largely rejected a bid from Walgreen Co. and other companies to ditch a proposed class consumer suit targeting plastic cutlery that melted in a dishwasher, saying the customer has plausibly alleged that the utensils' front packaging label features a misleading claim that they are "dishwasher safe."

  • February 17, 2026

    Atty Can't Both Lead And Rep Class In Lawsuit, NJ Court Says

    An attorney can't be both the lead plaintiff and class counsel in a class action, a New Jersey appeals court ruled Tuesday, leaning on a more than 40-year-old state supreme court decision in denying class certification in a lawsuit accusing an electric bike maker of selling defective products.

  • February 17, 2026

    Boeing, Ex-CEO Escape Fund's 737 Max Fraud Suit

    An Illinois federal judge on Tuesday tossed a securities fraud suit accusing Boeing of misrepresenting the safety of its 737 Max 8 jets after two deadly crashes overseas, saying a Massachusetts-based investment fund cannot pursue claims purportedly assigned to it by a defunct assignor.

  • February 17, 2026

    Cohen Milstein To Rep Perrigo Investors In Formula Biz Suit

    Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC will represent a proposed class of Perrigo Company PLC investors who allege the company failed to disclose critical issues with infant formula operations that it purchased from Nestlé and caused stock prices to drop as the issues came to light. 

  • February 17, 2026

    Kids Cup Brand Says Testing Co. Missed High Lead Levels

    A Massachusetts testing firm failed to identify higher-than-allowed lead levels in a line of stainless steel tumblers marketed for children, leading to a recall of about 400,000 cups, the brand's owner alleged in a state court complaint docketed Tuesday.

  • February 17, 2026

    J&J Fights Beasley Allen's Bid To Pause Talc DQ Ruling

    A New Jersey state court lacks standing to block an appellate panel's removal of Beasley Allen from representing hundreds of women with ovarian cancer pursuing claims against Johnson & Johnson over talcum powder, the pharmaceutical company has argued in an opposition brief.

Expert Analysis

  • AI Litigation Tools Can Enhance Case Assessment, Strategy

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    Civil litigators can use artificial intelligence tools to strengthen case assessment and aid in early strategy development, as long as they address the risks and ethical considerations that accompany these uses, say attorneys at Barnes & Thornburg.

  • Attys Beware: Generative AI Can Also Hallucinate Metadata

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    In addition to the well-known problem of AI-generated hallucinations in legal documents, AI tools can also hallucinate metadata — threatening the integrity of discovery, the reliability of evidence and the ability to definitively identify the provenance of electronic documents, say attorneys at Law & Forensics.

  • When Atty Ethics Violations Give Rise To Causes Of Action

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    Though the Model Rules of Professional Conduct make clear that a violation of the rules does not automatically create a cause of action, attorneys should beware of a few scenarios in which they could face lawsuits for ethical lapses, says Brian Faughnan at Faughnan Law.

  • Justices' LabCorp Punt Leaves Deeper Class Cert. Circuit Split

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    In its ruling in LabCorp v. Davis, the U.S. Supreme Court left unresolved a standing-related class certification issue that has plagued class action jurisprudence for years — and subsequent conflicting decisions among federal circuit courts have left district courts and litigants struggling with conflicting and uncertain standards, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • 10 Quick Tips To Elevate Your Evidence Presentation At Trial

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    A strong piece of evidence, whether in the form of testimony or exhibit, is wasted if not presented effectively, so attorneys must prepare with precision to help fact-finders both retain the information and internalize its significance, says Allison Rocker at Baker McKenzie.

  • Series

    Practicing Stoicism Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Practicing Stoicism, by applying reason to ignore my emotions and govern my decisions, has enabled me to approach challenging situations in a structured way, ultimately providing advice singularly devoted to a client's interest, says John Baranello at Moses & Singer.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Texas, One Year In

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    A year after the Texas Business Court's first decision, it's clear that Texas didn't just copy Delaware and instead built something uniquely its own, combining specialization with constitutional accountability and creating a model that looks forward without losing touch with the state's democratic and statutory roots, says Chris Bankler at Jackson Walker.

  • AI Product Safety Insights May Expand Foreseeability

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    Product liability law has long held that companies are responsible for risks they knew about or should have known about — and with AI systems now able to assess and predict hazards during the design process, companies should expect that courts will likely treat such hazards as foreseeable, says Donald Fountain at Clark Fountain.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Educating Your Community

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    Nearly two decades prosecuting scammers and elder fraud taught me that proactively educating the public about the risks they face and the rights they possess is essential to building trust within our communities, empowering otherwise vulnerable citizens and preventing wrongdoers from gaining a foothold, says Roger Handberg at GrayRobinson.

  • How A 9th Circ. False Ad Ruling Could Shift Class Certification

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    The Ninth Circuit's July decision in Noohi v. Johnson & Johnson, holding that unexecuted damages models may suffice for purposes of class certification, has the potential to create judicial inefficiencies and crippling uncertainties for class action defendants, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • 5 Crisis Lawyering Skills For An Age Of Uncertainty

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    As attorneys increasingly face unprecedented and pervasive situations — from prosecutions of law enforcement officials to executive orders targeting law firms — they must develop several essential competencies of effective crisis lawyering, says Ray Brescia at Albany Law School.

  • Compliance Tips Amid Rising FTC Scrutiny Of Minors' Privacy

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    The Federal Trade Commission has recently rolled out multiple enforcement actions related to children's privacy, highlighting a renewed focus on federal regulation of minors' personal information and the evolving challenges of establishing effective, privacy-protective age assurance solutions, say attorneys at Nelson Mullins.

  • Insights From Recent Cases On Navigating Snap Removal

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    Snap removal, which allows defendants to transfer state court cases to federal court before a forum defendant is properly joined and served, is viewed differently across federal circuits — but keys to making it work can be drawn from recent decisions critiquing the practice, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For The Judiciary To Fix Its Cybersecurity Problem

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    After recent reports that hackers have once again infiltrated federal courts’ electronic case management systems, the judiciary should strengthen its cybersecurity practices in line with executive branch standards, outlining clear roles and responsibilities for execution, says Ilona Cohen at HackerOne.

  • Tips For Cos. Crafting Enforceable Online Arbitration Clauses

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    Recent rulings from the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California indicate that courts are carefully examining the enforceability of online arbitration clauses, so businesses should review the design of their websites and consider specific language next to the "purchase" button, say attorneys at DTO Law.

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