Product Liability

  • May 02, 2024

    Chiquita Paid Militants To Save Lives, Ex-Ops Chief Testifies

    Chiquita's former head of Colombia operations testified in Florida federal court Thursday on payments he approved to militant groups in the country during a period of intense warfare in the 1990s, saying his company was left with little choice but to make the payments because workers' "lives were at stake."

  • May 02, 2024

    Camp Lejeune Litigants Ask Court Who Can Represent Family

    Family members of former residents of Camp Lejeune who died, allegedly after being exposed to contaminated drinking water, asked the North Carolina federal court overseeing the litigation on Wednesday to clarify who can qualify to act as a legal representative for out-of-state decedents.

  • May 02, 2024

    Pharma. Co. Wants Ex-Director To Stop Poaching Customers

    A pharmaceutical company has doubled down on its bid to stop a former director from soliciting customers for a rival drugmaker, saying he's trying to twist words in his contract and make up excuses for allegedly stealing trade secrets following his termination.

  • May 02, 2024

    Biden Admin Must Reopen Gun Show Loophole, Texas Says

    Texas and several other Republican-led states sued the Biden administration to reopen the so-called gun show loophole, asking the courts to stop the ATF from enforcing a new rule that makes many more firearm sellers register federally and perform background checks when selling a gun.

  • May 02, 2024

    Kind Keeps Win At 2nd Circ. In MDL Over 'All Natural' Labeling

    The Second Circuit on Thursday affirmed a summary judgment for Kind LLC against a group of buyers who said the company misled consumers by labeling products as "all natural," saying the plaintiffs failed to establish through evidence how a reasonable buyer would understand the term.

  • May 02, 2024

    Biden Announces $3B To Fund Lead Pipe Replacement

    The Biden administration is distributing $3 billion to states so they can replace lead water pipes that pose a health risk to those who rely on them for drinking water, as part of the larger goal to remove all lead service lines nationwide.

  • May 02, 2024

    Calif. Justices To Review Gilead's HIV Drug Negligence Fight

    The California Supreme Court has granted Gilead Sciences Inc.'s request to review an appellate court's holding that the drugmaker must face claims it held back a safer HIV drug to maximize profits on an older medication.

  • May 02, 2024

    4th Circ. Revives Workers' Suit Over SC Plant Explosion

    The Fourth Circuit on Thursday revived claims from three workers burned in an explosion at a plastic recycling plant, saying the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Law can't deprive the federal courts of diversity jurisdiction in a case where they would otherwise have it.

  • May 02, 2024

    Plaintiff To Share 'Horrific' Story In First Zantac Cancer Trial

    The first trial in sprawling state and federal litigation over whether a chemical in Zantac heartburn medication and its generic counterparts causes cancer began Thursday in a packed Chicago courtroom, with counsel for an 89-year-old Illinois woman telling jurors her colorectal cancer diagnosis and the suffering it's caused can be attributed to her 20-year use of the drug.

  • May 01, 2024

    Monsanto Gets $185 Million Wash. PCB Verdict Overturned

    A Washington state appeals court sided with Monsanto on Wednesday, undoing a $185 million jury verdict for three teachers who claimed they were sickened by PCBs at a Washington school site and ruling the case could be limited by the Evergreen state's 12-year statute of repose for product liability claims.

  • May 01, 2024

    Senate Revs Up For FAA Funding Fight

    The U.S. Senate on Wednesday inched toward advancing multiyear legislation reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration's safety and airport improvement programs, accelerating debate on a package that would hire more air traffic controllers and enhance passenger protections amid high-profile aviation industry mishaps.

  • May 01, 2024

    Senate Dems Reintroduce Bill To Tax And Regulate Cannabis

    Senate Democrats on Wednesday reintroduced a cannabis legalization bill that would remove the drug entirely from the ambit of the Controlled Substances Act and impose a tax-and-regulate scheme akin to what is currently in place for alcohol and tobacco.

  • May 01, 2024

    Ex-Cybersecurity Firm CEO Settles SEC Fraud Claims

    A former executive for a cybersecurity firm has agreed to settle regulators' allegations that he lied to investors about the firm's success in selling a new product and that he fabricated aspects of his background and experience, according to filings in Texas federal court.

  • May 01, 2024

    Mitsubishi's Trial Loss Over Defective Seat Belt Upped To $1B

    A Philadelphia judge has bumped up a $980 million verdict for a Mitsubishi driver left paralyzed following a rollover crash, which was blamed on a defective seat belt, to over $1 billion on Monday, after granting the driver's motion to tack on an additional $33 million in delay damages.

  • May 01, 2024

    Carnival Fails To Ditch 'Far From Perfect' Hot-Soup Suit

    Carnival Cruise Lines can't escape a lawsuit seeking to hold it liable for second- and third-degree burns that a passenger suffered when hot soup spilled on her legs, a Florida federal judge has ruled, saying the complaint — "while not perfect" — gets the job done and can survive at this stage of litigation.

  • May 01, 2024

    Activision, Microsoft Accused Of Addicting Georgia Gamer, 16

    The mother of a Georgia teen has accused major gaming companies, including Activision Blizzard Inc. and Microsoft Corp., of deliberately engineering addictive experiences intended to get users to play longer and spend more on in-game purchases.

  • May 01, 2024

    Microsoft Details How It Addresses AI Risks In New Report

    Microsoft Corp., the leading investor in ChatGPT creator OpenAI, detailed Wednesday in its first-ever artificial intelligence transparency report how the tech giant is working to keep its ballooning stable of AI tools from causing harm in the U.S. and abroad.

  • May 01, 2024

    Tribe Fires Back At Feds' Brief In Enbridge Pipeline Row

    The Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians has called on the Seventh Circuit to reject in part the federal government's position in an appeal over the future of Enbridge Energy's controversial Line 5 oil pipeline.

  • May 01, 2024

    Textron Aviation Must Face Questions In Conn. Death Suits

    A Connecticut state court judge says a Kansas-based aircraft manufacturer must answer a series of questions about its connections to the Constitution State after being sued over a 2021 plane crash, disagreeing with most of Textron Aviation Inc.'s personal jurisdiction arguments that it need not face additional interrogatories.

  • May 01, 2024

    Attys Say $5M Fee In Acella Settlement A Modest Proposal

    Plaintiffs' attorneys who recently reached a $46.5 million class action settlement with Acella Pharmaceuticals LLC over faulty thyroid medication asked a Georgia federal judge Tuesday to sign off on their $5 million cut of the deal as a "presumptively reasonable" proposal.

  • May 01, 2024

    Vape Wholesaler Can't Escape Suit Over Exploding Battery

    A Washington federal judge has refused to let e-cigarette wholesaler Vapor Beast LLC out of a suit by a man alleging he was injured by an exploding lithium-ion battery, saying there isn't enough evidence for the court to determine whether his claims were filed on time.

  • May 01, 2024

    J&J Proposes $6.5B Deal To End Ovarian Cancer Claims

    Johnson & Johnson said Wednesday it is proposing a prepackaged reorganization plan for its talc unit that will pay out $6.5 billion to resolve claims that its talc-based baby powder caused ovarian cancer, if a supermajority of claimants agree to the plan.

  • April 30, 2024

    Chiquita Capitalized On Colombian War, Victims' Families Say

    Attorneys representing the families of 10 men killed during Colombia's civil war told a Florida federal jury Tuesday that the Chiquita banana company is liable for their deaths, saying it knowingly funded a right-wing narcoterrorist group that committed atrocities against its workers as the fruit corporation expanded its business.

  • April 30, 2024

    'Hatchet-Wielding' Killer Can't Join Netflix Suit, Judge Rules

    Convicted killer "Kai the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker" can't get in on a defamation suit involving a Netflix documentary about the murderer's life, a Texas federal judge ruled Monday, saying that his claims don't have a sufficient basis to warrant intervention in the lawsuit.

  • April 30, 2024

    Drug Company Can't Escape Texas Counties' Opioid MDL

     A Texas appeals court on Tuesday declined to cut loose a New Jersey-based pharmaceutical manufacturer from Texas multidistrict litigation over opioid addiction in the state, finding that the counties of Dallas and Bexar have demonstrated that it's made deliberate moves toward the Texas market.

Expert Analysis

  • The Case For Post-Bar Clerk Training Programs At Law Firms

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    In today's competitive legal hiring market, an intentionally designed training program for law school graduates awaiting bar admission can be an effective way of creating a pipeline of qualified candidates, says Brent Daub at Gilson Daub.

  • Attorneys Have An Ethical Duty To Protect The Judiciary

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    The tenor of public disagreement and debate has become increasingly hostile against judges, and though the legislative branch is trying to ameliorate this safety gap, lawyers have a moral imperative and professional requirement to stand with judges in defusing attacks against them and their rulings, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.

  • AI Can Help Lawyers Overcome The Programming Barrier

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    Legal professionals without programming expertise can use generative artificial intelligence to harness the power of automation and other technology solutions to streamline their work, without the steep learning curve traditionally associated with coding, says George Zalepa at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Transparency And Explainability Are Critical To AI Compliance

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    Although there is not yet a comprehensive law governing artificial intelligence, regulators have tools to hold businesses accountable, and companies need to focus on ensuring that consumers and key stakeholders understand how their AI systems operate and make decisions, say Chanley Howell and Lauren Hudon at Foley & Lardner.

  • Preparing Law Students For A New, AI-Assisted Legal World

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    As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms the legal landscape, law schools must integrate technology and curricula that address AI’s innate challenges — from ethics to data security — to help students stay ahead of the curve, say Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics, Ryan Abbott at JAMS and Karen Silverman at Cantellus Group.

  • How Social Media Can Affect Trial Outcomes

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    With social media’s ability to seize upon an issue and spin it into a specifically designed narrative, it is more critical than ever that a litigation communications strategy be part of trial planning to manage the impact of legal action on a company's reputation, say Sean Murphy and Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.

  • General Counsel Need Data Literacy To Keep Up With AI

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    With the rise of accessible and powerful generative artificial intelligence solutions, it is imperative for general counsel to understand the use and application of data for myriad important activities, from evaluating the e-discovery process to monitoring compliance analytics and more, says Colin Levy at Malbek.

  • Opinion

    Civil Litigation Against Gun Businesses Can Reduce Violence

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    With mass shootings skyrocketing, and gun control legislation blocked by powerful interest groups, civil litigation can help obtain justice for victims by targeting parties responsible beyond the immediate perpetrator — including gun manufacturers, dealers and retailers, says Tom D'Amore at D'Amore Law Group.

  • Navigating Discovery Of Generative AI Information

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    As generative artificial intelligence tools become increasingly ubiquitous, companies must make sure to preserve generative AI data when there is reasonable expectation of litigation, and to include transcripts in litigation hold notices, as they may be relevant to discovery requests, say Nick Peterson and Corey Hauser at Wiley.

  • Finding Focus: Strategies For Attorneys With ADHD

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    Given the prevalence of ADHD among attorneys, it is imperative that the legal community gain a better understanding of how ADHD affects well-being, and that resources and strategies exist for attorneys with this disability to manage their symptoms and achieve success, say Casey Dixon at Dixon Life Coaching and Krista Larson at Stinson.

  • Opinion

    Time To Ban Deferred Prosecution For Fatal Corporate Crime

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    As illustrated by prosecutors’ deals with Boeing and other companies, deferred prosecution agreements have strayed far from their original purpose, and Congress must ban the use of this tool in cases where corporate misconduct has led to fatalities, says Peter Reilly at Texas A&M University School of Law.

  • Why Hemp-Synthesized Intoxicants Need Uniform Regs

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    State laws regulating hemp-synthesized intoxicants are a patchwork with little consistency between any given state, and without the adoption of a uniform regulatory framework, producers and consumers alike will need to be very cautious, say Dylan Anderson and Seth Goldberg at Duane Morris.

  • Attorneys, Law Schools Must Adapt To New Era Of Evidence

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    Technological advancements mean more direct evidence is being created than ever before, and attorneys as well as law schools must modify their methods to account for new challenges in how this evidence is collected and used to try cases, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Analyzing The Legal Ripples Of The EPA's PFAS Regulation

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    As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency makes major moves on its pledge to regulate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, the developing body of PFAS regulation will lead to an increase in litigation, and personal injury and product liability claims, say attorneys at Gordon & Rees.

  • Boeing Opinion Strikes Blow Against Overpayment Theory

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    The Fifth Circuit's decision in Earl v. Boeing Co. casts doubt on consumers' standing to bring claims of overpayment for products later revealed to have defects — and suggests that it's more likely that those products would have been removed from the market, driving up the price of alternatives, say attorneys at Bush Seyferth.

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