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Product Liability
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January 27, 2025
Pool Co. To Face Rival's Contempt Bid Over $16M Judgment
A Chinese pool parts supplier will have to appear for a show cause hearing to address whether it should be held in contempt for allegedly funneling money out of the country to avoid paying a $16 million judgment, a North Carolina federal judge said Monday.
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January 27, 2025
Justices Turn Away Venue Row In Zantac Carcinogen Claims
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review the Second Circuit's split decision that Connecticut state court is the right venue for consolidated claims brought against multiple pharmaceutical companies over alleged carcinogens in heartburn medication Zantac.
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January 24, 2025
Fla. Judge Splits Trial In Case Over DJ's Elevator Injuries
A Florida federal judge Friday bifurcated a trial between two insurance carriers and an elevator company that settled a Miami D.J.'s $5.5 million injury lawsuit, ruling that excess coverage claims will be tried first, with bad faith claims being tried after.
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January 24, 2025
Syngenta, Chevron Headed For October Paraquat Bellwether
An Illinois federal judge has set an October date for Syngenta and Chevron's first trial in a multidistrict litigation alleging that the pesticide paraquat causes Parkinson's disease, after the previous dismissal of trial-selected plaintiffs and the disqualification of an expert.
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January 24, 2025
Justices To Clarify Article III Standing For Certified Classes
The U.S. Supreme Court granted LabCorp's request on Friday to clarify federal law regarding whether district courts can certify class actions when some members of the proposed class may lack a cognizable injury in fact.
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January 24, 2025
Ill. Justices OK Workers' Injury Suits Over Dormant Diseases
The Illinois Supreme Court answered the Seventh Circuit's call on Friday to clarify the state's Workers' Occupational Diseases Act in a widow's wrongful death lawsuit against Goodrich Corp., finding the statute can apply to claims for asbestos-related cancer and other diseases that manifest belatedly despite the statute's other temporal restrictions.
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January 24, 2025
IVF Patients Want CooperSurgical Embryo Loss Suits Joined
Four product liability lawsuits targeting the maker of recalled culture media for in vitro fertilization should be consolidated and sent to the Connecticut Superior Court's complex litigation docket, the parties have agreed, but defendant CooperSurgical Inc. wants them kept out of Stamford.
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January 24, 2025
Ford Fails To Block Evidence Of Other Crashes In Death Trial
A Georgia federal judge refused to block evidence of similar crashes from being presented at a trial over the deaths of a couple in a rollover wreck of their Ford Motor Co. vehicle, but he limited the number of incidents that the plaintiffs can present from the 110 that the plaintiffs proposed to 50.
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January 24, 2025
Chemical Co. Says Insurer Owed Defense For Birth Defect Suit
A chemical supplier said a Liberty Mutual unit unreasonably denied coverage for an underlying suit brought by workers at a Seattle-area Boeing facility who blame their son's birth defects on chemicals they were exposed to on the job, according to a suit removed to Washington federal court.
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January 24, 2025
FDA's Premium Cigar Regulations Overturned By DC Circ.
A D.C. Circuit panel ruled on Friday that the Food and Drug Administration acted arbitrarily when subjecting premium, hand-rolled cigars to the same regulations as other tobacco products, saying the agency was wrong to overlook two studies about infrequent premium cigar use.
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January 24, 2025
Philip Morris Settles Tobacco Liability Trial After Openings
Philip Morris and a supermarket chain have reached a settlement with the family of a Massachusetts woman who died of lung cancer in 2022 after decades of smoking the company's Marlboro cigarettes, ending the case a day after trial began.
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January 23, 2025
Fitbit To Pay $12M Fine For Ionic Smartwatch Burns
Fitbit has agreed to pay a $12.25 million fine to resolve the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's allegations it failed to immediately report that its Ionic smartwatches were overheating and leaving some consumers with second- and third-degree burns, the consumer safety agency announced Thursday.
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January 23, 2025
Atty Hit With TCPA Class Action Over Camp Lejeune Calls
A North Carolina plaintiffs firm was hit with a proposed class action accusing it of making unsolicited calls to a number on the National Do Not Call Registry in an effort to secure a client in the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune toxic drinking water case — at least the fourth firm to face similar claims.
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January 23, 2025
Marlboro Smoker Was Target Of Deception, Jury Hears
Philip Morris targeted a Massachusetts preteen as a "replacement" customer for others who were dying of lung disease, a Springfield jury heard Thursday, though the company's lawyer said the woman had free will and knew enough to stop smoking.
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January 23, 2025
Conn. High Court Snapshot: Atty's Bonus, Burn Verdict
In its next term starting Monday, the Connecticut Supreme Court will hear an appeal from an acupuncturist who doesn't want to share liability for a judgment paid to a burn victim, and consider whether to reverse a seven-figure verdict for a private equity management firm's founder, who claims other members improperly cut him out.
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January 23, 2025
Vape Maker Seeks Exit From Suit Over Delta-9 THC Levels
An Illinois-based vape maker urged a federal judge to toss a lawsuit accusing it of fraudulently passing off illicit Delta-9 products as legal Delta-8 ones, saying the suit lacks fundamental details, such as which products were purchased and what laboratory tested them.
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January 23, 2025
NJ Town Loses Bid To Join NYC Congestion Pricing Suit
A federal judge on Thursday rebuffed a bid from the mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey, to be heard in the ongoing litigation surrounding this month's implementation of the congestion pricing toll program in Manhattan.
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January 23, 2025
Calif. Kids' Privacy Law Ignores 1st Amendment, Judge Says
A California federal judge appeared open Thursday to preliminarily blocking for the second time a landmark California law requiring tech giants to bolster privacy protections for children, telling the state's counsel that nothing shows the Legislature "cared one whit about the Constitution," and "now you're trying to reverse engineer it."
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January 23, 2025
Suncor Says Enviro Groups' Suit Duplicates Gov't Enforcement
Suncor USA Inc. told a Colorado federal judge that environmentalists suing it for allegedly violating emissions standards have improperly tied their claims to events that are already resolved or are being investigated by federal and state governments.
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January 23, 2025
Federal Agencies Must Order Full Return To Office By Friday
Federal agencies will order employees to return to the office by Friday at 5 p.m. to end the "national embarrassment" that remote work policies have fueled, the Office of Personnel Management said, following President Donald Trump's executive order.
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January 23, 2025
Meta Wants Mass. Justices To Intervene In AG's Suit
Meta Platforms has urged Massachusetts' highest court to take up its challenge to a pending lawsuit brought by the state attorney general's office, which accused the social media company of intentionally designing Instagram to be addictive to children and teenagers.
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January 23, 2025
15 States Reach $7.4B Settlement With Sackler Family
A bipartisan coalition of states on Thursday announced a $7.4 billion settlement in principle with the Sackler family and their company Purdue Pharma Inc., representing the largest settlement to date with the family accused of contributing significantly to the opioid epidemic.
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January 22, 2025
J&J Seeks To Defeat $30M Punitive Bid After Conn. Talc Trial
Johnson & Johnson has blasted a bid requesting that it pay $30 million in punitive damages on top of a $15 million jury award to a real estate developer who allegedly contracted mesothelioma from the company's talc, telling a Connecticut state court that, "at most," it should pay $5 million.
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January 22, 2025
Apple Sued Over Alleged PFAS In Smartwatch Wristbands
Apple Inc. is at least the second smartwatch maker to be hit with a proposed class action lawsuit accusing it of knowingly using toxic forever chemicals in manufacturing the devices' wristbands, according to a complaint filed in California federal court.
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January 22, 2025
Boeing Rips Investors' Class Cert Bid In 737 Max Blowout Suit
Boeing told a Virginia federal judge that pension funds cannot reverse-engineer sweeping securities fraud claims based on last year's Alaska Airlines midair blowout incident, saying their bid to certify a class of investors who were purportedly misled by Boeing's assurances of the 737 Max jets' safety must be rejected.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Group Running Makes Me A Better Lawyer
The combination of physical fitness and community connection derived from running with a group of business leaders has, among other things, helped me to stay grounded, improve my communication skills, and develop a deeper empathy for clients and colleagues, says Jessica Shpall Rosen at Greenwald Doherty.
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Cos. Must Brace For New PFAS Regulations And Litigation
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently proposed adding over 100 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances to the Toxic Release Inventory — and with increasing scrutiny of PFAS from the states and the plaintiffs bar as well, companies should take steps to reduce risks in this area, say attorneys at Dechert.
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Opinion
6 Changes I Would Make If I Ran A Law School
Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner identifies several key issues plaguing law schools and discusses potential solutions, such as opting out of the rankings game and mandating courses in basic writing skills.
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Firms Still Have The Edge In Lateral Hiring, But Buyer Beware
Partner mobility data suggests that the third quarter of this year continued to be a buyer’s market, with the average candidate demanding less compensation for a larger book of business — but moving into the fourth quarter, firms should slow down their hiring process to minimize risks, say officers at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.
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AV Compliance Is Still A State-By-State Slog — For Now
While the incoming Trump administration has hinted at new federal regulations governing autonomous vehicles, for now, AV manufacturers must take a state-by-state approach to compliance with safety requirements — paying particular attention to states that require express authorization for AV operation, say attorneys at Frost Brown.
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Teaching Your Witness To Beat The Freeze/Appease Response
In addition to fight-or-flight, witnesses may experience the freeze/appease response at trial or deposition — where they become a deer in headlights, agreeing with opposing counsel’s questions and damaging their credibility in the process — but certain strategies can help, says Bill Kanasky at Courtroom Sciences.
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Think Like A Lawyer: 1 Type Of Case Complexity Stands Out
In contrast to some cases that appear complex due to voluminous evidence or esoteric subject matter, a different kind of complexity involves tangled legal and factual questions, each with a range of possible outcomes, which require a “sliding scale” approach instead of syllogistic reasoning, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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What Bisphenol S Prop 65 Listing Will Mean For Industry
The imminent addition of bisphenol S — a chemical used in millions of products — to California's Proposition 65 list will have sweeping compliance and litigation implications for companies in the retail, food and beverage, paper, manufacturing and personal care product industries, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Note 3 Simple Types Of Legal Complexity
Cases can appear complex for several reasons — due to the number of issues, the volume of factual and evidentiary sources, and the sophistication of those sources — but the same basic technique can help lawyers tame their arguments into a simple and persuasive message, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Series
Gardening Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Beyond its practical and therapeutic benefits, gardening has bolstered important attributes that also apply to my litigation practice, including persistence, patience, grit and authenticity, says Christopher Viceconte at Gibbons.
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And Now A Word From The Panel: Ballpark Lessons For MDLs
The baseball offseason has provided some time to ponder how multidistrict litigation life resembles the national pastime, including with respect to home-field advantage, major television markets and setting records, says Alan Rothman at Sidley.
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Litigation Inspiration: Reframing Document Review
For attorneys — new ones especially — there is much fulfillment to find in document review by reflecting on how important, interesting and pleasant it can be, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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The Fashion Industry Should Prep Now For State PFAS Bans
New York and California have each passed legislation regulating PFAS in apparel and other textiles, so retailers should consult with manufacturers and suppliers and obtain the requisite certification documents as soon as possible to avoid disruptions in supply chains, say attorneys at Venable.
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Service Providers Must Mitigate 'Secondary Target' Risks
A lawsuit recently filed in an Illinois federal court against marketing agency Publicis over its work for opioid manufacturers highlights an uptick in litigation against professional service providers hired by clients that engaged in alleged misconduct — so potential targets of such suits should be sure to conduct proper risk analysis and mitigation, say attorneys at Dechert.
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Series
Flying Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Achieving my childhood dream of flying airplanes made me a better lawyer — and a better person — because it taught me I can conquer difficult goals when I leave my comfort zone, focus on the demands of the moment and commit to honing my skills, says Ivy Cadle at Baker Donelson.