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Product Liability
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May 20, 2013
Carnival Wants Suits Over Deadly Cruise Wreck Sent To Italy
Two Florida judges are weighing whether to keep putative class actions filed by survivors of the wrecked cruise ship Costa Concordia in their court or dismiss them for refiling in Italy, which Carnival Corp. argued Monday would be a more appropriate venue.
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May 20, 2013
Ex-BP Exec Gets Obstruction Charge Thrown Out
A Louisiana federal judge on Monday dropped an obstruction charge from the indictment of the former BP PLC executive who was second-in-command during the Deepwater Horizon disaster, finding the government didn’t allege he knew of the congressional investigation he was charged with obstructing.
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May 20, 2013
Specialty Products Judge Pegs $1.1B For Asbestos Liability
A bankruptcy judge on Monday estimated Specialty Products Holding Corp.'s current and future liability for asbestos-related mesothelioma claims at $1.1 billion, a valuation that tops the debtors' various projections by hundreds of millions of dollars.
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May 20, 2013
Fighting Agencies May Be Tougher After High Court Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court's Monday ruling in favor of the Federal Communications Commission, which held that courts should apply a deferential standard of review when federal agencies interpret the limits of their own authority, may make it tougher for regulated businesses to fight agency actions, attorneys say.
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May 20, 2013
High Court's Atty Fee Ruling May Spur More Vaccine Claims
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that attorneys can still recover fees and costs for vaccine injury claims that a government compensation program determines to be time-barred, a decision that will make lawyers more likely to take calculated gambles on cases with timeliness concerns.
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May 20, 2013
Plan B Ruling Shouldn't Be Stayed, 2nd Circ. Told
Reproductive health advocates on Monday urged the Second Circuit not to delay a court order that Plan B and other emergency birth control pills be made available over the counter without age restrictions, saying a New York federal judge acted reasonably to address political obstructionism.
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May 20, 2013
Airlines May Launch 'Act Of War' Defense At 9/11 WTC Trial
The owner of the World Trade Center failed Monday to persuade a New York federal judge to prevent American Airlines Inc. and United Airlines Inc. from arguing that the 9/11 attacks were an "act of war" that they could not be held responsible for.
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May 20, 2013
FDA Airs Safety Concerns About Merck Insomnia Drug
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday released a clinical study of Merck & Co. Inc. insomnia drug suvorexant revealing some troubling side effects, including suicidal behavior and impaired driving performance.
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May 20, 2013
BMW Facing Class Action Over Water Damage Safety Risk
BMW of North America LLC was hit with a putative class action in California federal court Friday asserting that it concealed design defects in its X5, X3 and 5 series vehicles that allegedly cause trunk leaks and make electrical components highly susceptible to water damage, creating safety risks.
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May 20, 2013
FDA, Groups Can't Reach Consensus On Food Safety Rules
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and two consumer groups asked a California federal judge on Friday for more time to create new deadlines for the release of highly anticipated food safety rules, with the groups asserting that the agency is disregarding the judge's instructions.
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May 20, 2013
Agencies Deserve Deference On Jurisdiction, Justices Say
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that courts should apply a deferential standard of review toward a federal agency's definition of its own jurisdiction, siding with the Federal Communications Commission in a fight with local government agencies over zoning rules for wireless facilities.
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May 20, 2013
Conrail Faces 2 New Suits Over NJ Derailment, Spill
The deluge of litigation against Consolidated Rail Corp. and others over a November train derailment and resulting vinyl chloride spill in Paulsboro, N.J., continued Friday, when more than 120 individuals, including six first responders, filed two separate suits in Pennsylvania state court.
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May 20, 2013
Transocean Seeks Delay Of Spill Doc Deadline Amid Appeal
Transocean Ltd. on Monday urged a Texas federal judge to postpone a Wednesday deadline to turn over information related to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill to the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, arguing the deadline would render moot its appeal of the order to cough up the materials.
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May 20, 2013
Omnicare Gets FCA Off-Label Prescription Action Trimmed
A Georgia federal judge on Friday trimmed several claims from a False Claims Act suit accusing Omnicare Inc. of charging Medicare for thousands of anti-psychotic drug prescriptions for off-label uses, ruling they weren't backed by evidence or were improperly added to an amended complaint.
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May 20, 2013
Alaska Village's Climate Suit Hits High Court Dead End
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up an Alaskan village's public nuisance lawsuit blaming Exxon Mobil Corp. and other energy companies for making the area uninhabitable by releasing greenhouse gas emissions that have contributed to global warming.
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May 17, 2013
Donziger Attys Free To Exit Chevron Racketeering Suit
Attorneys for Steven Donziger, the lawyer seeking to enforce a $19 billion pollution judgment against Chevron Corp. over drilling activities in Ecuador, got the green light on Friday to withdraw from the oil giant's racketeering suit against Donziger.
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May 17, 2013
OSHA Backs Fired Nuke Plant Engineer In Whistleblower Case
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Wednesday ordered Enercon Services Inc. to reinstate an engineer who alleged he was fired after complaining about hazardous conditions at a Kansas nuclear plant.
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May 17, 2013
MLB Suit Over Performance Boosters Falls Flat, Clinic Says
A Florida health clinic asked a state judge Wednesday to toss a suit filed against it by Major League Baseball alleging it provided performance-enhancing drugs to Alex Rodriguez and other players, saying the league failed to properly state its claim and include all the necessary parties.
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May 17, 2013
NYC Ferry Owner Hit With Injury Claims Over January Crash
The owner of a high-speed commuter ferry that crashed in January while docking near Wall Street in lower Manhattan has been hit with 45 claims from passengers and commuters seeking more than $75 million in damages in New Jersey federal court.
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May 17, 2013
Texas Joins Other Gulf States, Hits BP With Deepwater Suit
Texas became the fifth state to take BP PLC to court over the massive Deepwater Horizon oil spill, lodging an enforcement action against the company Friday demanding civil penalties and economic damages caused by the estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil released into the Gulf of Mexico.
Expert Analysis
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An Opportunity To Limit Prop 65 Abuse
The long-awaited proposed reforms to California's Proposition 65 are welcome and needed as they would greatly reduce the number of frivolous Prop. 65 lawsuits and alleviate the defense costs for manufacturers, says Mark Johnson of Alston & Bird LLP.
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Ill.'s Unclear Endorsement For Asbestos-Injury Losses
The Illinois appellate court decision in John Crane Inc. v. Admiral Insurance Co. on joint and several liability of excess insurers covering asbestos-related injury claims left several questions unanswered — most importantly, regarding separate injury triggers and the "all sums with stacking" approach, say attorneys with Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP.
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Rise Of The Machines — Predictive Coding Goes Mainstream
The pros of using predictive coding far outweigh the cons. Given the heavy pressure on law firms and in-house counsel to reduce discovery costs, as well as the Justice Department's recent stance on the subject, it appears predictive coding will continue to emerge from the obscure world of legal technology to the mainstream of legal practice, say Michael Moscato and Myles Bartley of Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle LLP.
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The Growing Problem Of Fishy Labeling
As evidenced by a recent study conducted by Oceana, mislabeled seafood appears to be a widespread problem that can adversely affect both the public interest and individual consumers’ wallets, health and socially responsible purchasing precepts, say attorneys with Arnold & Porter LLP.
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Not Subject To Ill. Court Jurisdiction? Think Again
The Illinois Supreme Court's ruling in Russell v. SNFA is troubling to part manufacturers as it suggests that an Illinois court can now find a part supplier bound to the marketing and distribution systems of its clients, regardless of where the end product is marketed, and find personal jurisdiction over the supplier, say attorneys with Locke Lord LLP.
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Get Ready For Stricter RMP Enforcement
The recent $4 million settlement by Tyson Foods Inc. represents one of the largest penalties for a stand-alone risk management program enforcement case since the provision was added to the Clean Air Act in 1990. This case also exemplifies the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s increasing focus on RMP compliance and its intention to seek ever-larger penalties for RMP violations, say attorneys with Kilpatrick Townsend Stockton LLP.
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Calif. To Draw The Lines In Disparagement Liability
The California Supreme Court's upcoming decision in Hartford Casualty Insurance Co. v. Swift Distribution Inc. will resolve a hot debate about the scope of implied disparagement liability under California law, likely determining whether insurers must defend lawsuits involving allegations of intellectual property infringement, unfair competition and false advertising, says Tyler Gerking of Farella Braun & Martel LLP.
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Calif. Chemical Safety Rules Push Constitutional Envelope
Impatience with the pace of Toxic Substances Control Act reform at the federal level is understandable, but substituting individual state action for a perceived lack of federal action may be the classic example of a cure which is worse than the disease. Many think California’s Safer Consumer Product Regulations now prove that, says Ward Benshoof of Alston & Bird LLP.
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Dissecting The Rules Of Generic Drug User Fee Amendments
The Generic Drug User Fee Amendments, a part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act, have changed the practice of generic drug sponsors in a multitude of ways. These requirements should be top of mind for abbreviated new drug application filers because they may ultimately impact a generic applicant’s eligibility for the coveted six-month marketing exclusivity, says Suchira Ghosh of Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider LLP.
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E-Discovery In The Cloud: Who Can Get Your Data?
Many lawyers are asking whether placing electronically stored information in the cloud could inadvertently waive the attorney-client privilege and whether the government or a civil litigant could obtain ESI directly from a cloud service provider. In answering these questions, there are a number of aspects of the cloud worth considering, say Timothy Broas and Matthew Saxon of Winston & Strawn LLP.