Practice Areas
Product Liability
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January 27, 2012
PG&E Fined $17M For Neglecting Pipeline Leak Surveys
California utility regulators on Friday fined Pacific Gas & Electric Co. $16.8 million for failing to perform natural gas pipeline surveys required by a new enforcement program created in the wake of a deadly September 2010 explosion of a PG&E pipeline in San Bruno, Calif.
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January 27, 2012
AIG Avoids $7M Claims Over Utah Mine Coverage
A Utah federal judge on Friday dismissed a $7 million suit against American International Group Inc. over coverage for the 2007 Crandall Canyon Mine collapse that killed six miners, finding the court did not have jurisdiction over AIG.
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January 27, 2012
Judge Trims Class Action Over Volvo Engines
A North Carolina federal judge on Friday tossed a fraud claim and a large chunk of two other allegations in a proposed class action accusing two Volvo Group units of hiding an engine defect from consumers.
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January 27, 2012
Teva Unit Recalls Cancer Drug Treanda Over Glass Fragments
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. unit Cephalon Inc. will voluntarily recall a batch of its leukemia drug Treanda after glass fragments were found in one of its vials, Teva said Friday.
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January 27, 2012
Judge Picks Wild Card Bellwether In Toyota Defect Cases
A California judge on Thursday picked the first bellwether case in consolidated state court litigation over sudden unintended acceleration in Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles, taking the rare step of choosing a case proposed by neither the plaintiffs' steering committee nor Toyota's attorneys.
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January 27, 2012
Calif. Atty Can't Dodge Memory Supplement Defamation Suit
A California appeals court ruled Thursday that a Ropers Majeski Kohn Bentley PC attorney who released a YouTube video trashing a memory supplement cannot use a state statute designed to protect against meritless and harassing litigation to dismiss a defamation case, affirming a lower court's ruling.
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January 27, 2012
FDA Finds Banned Fungicide Again In Orange Juice Imports
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday announced that samples in 11 orange juice shipments from Brazil and Canada tested positive for traces of the banned fungicide carbendazim, a week after a first round of tests came back negative.
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January 27, 2012
Chevron Defends Brazil Cleanup As Spill Charges Loom
Chevron Corp. said Friday that it had fully complied with Brazilian laws after an oil spill off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, responding to reports that Chevron and its managers were facing criminal charges in addition to an $11 billion civil suit.
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January 27, 2012
FDA Reopens Comments On Drug Ad Rule In New Study's Wake
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday reopened the comment period for its proposed amendments to its regulations on direct-to-consumer TV and radio ads for prescription drugs, citing the entry of a new consumer perception study into the discussion.
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January 27, 2012
HP Faces Class Action Over Computer Power Supplies
Hewlett-Packard Co. on Thursday removed to California federal court a putative class action alleging that various models of the company's lines of Slimline and Pavilion computers were deceptively marketed and sold with inadequate power supplies.
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January 27, 2012
Judge Strikes Honeywell Defense In Bulletproof Vest Fight
A Washington federal judge on Wednesday jettisoned one of Honeywell International Inc.'s defenses in a False Claims Act suit, rejecting arguments that the U.S. could not sue because it tacitly approved of the company selling it defective material for bulletproof vests.
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January 27, 2012
Deutsche Wins Longer Notice Period In 9/11 Coverage Row
A Delaware state judge on Wednesday extended the acceptable period for several Deutsche Bank AG units to provide notice to their insurers in suits seeking coverage for the claims of workers injured during cleanup of Deutsche Bank buildings damaged in the 9/11 attacks.
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January 27, 2012
Costa Concordia Crewman Hits Carnival With Class Action
A crew member from the Costa Concordia cruise ship hit Carnival Corp. with a putative class action in Illinois on Thursday, claiming the company didn’t evacuate the 4,200 passengers and crew quickly enough when the ship ran aground off the coast of Italy.
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January 26, 2012
Chartis Affiliate Dealt Setback In Drywall Coverage Suit
A Colorado state magistrate judge dealt a blow to a Chartis Inc. affiliate last week by ruling that Massachusetts, rather than Florida, law applies to the policy it issued to a building materials company pursuing coverage of defective Chinese drywall claims.
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January 26, 2012
BP On Hook For Some Deepwater Claims Against Transocean
The federal judge handling multidistrict litigation over the Deepwater Horizon disaster ruled Thursday that BP PLC must cover some oil-spill-related compensatory damages against Transocean Ltd., even if they involved negligence or strict liability on Transocean’s part.
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January 26, 2012
Insurers Fail To Pare Construction Defect Coverage Suit
American International Specialty Lines Insurance Co. and Lexington Insurance Co. lost their attempt Wednesday to partially shut down a suit seeking coverage for allegedly faulty work performed by subcontractors and suppliers for two home construction companies.
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January 26, 2012
Pfizer Faces ERISA Stock-Drop Suit By Puerto Rico Workers
Pfizer Inc. on Wednesday was sued in Puerto Rico by a putative class of employees who say the drugmaker channeled their retirement investments into company stock while hiding the inevitable losses that would occur when the harmful effects of their arthritis drugs came to light.
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January 26, 2012
9th Circ. Should Block EPA's Nanosilver Approval: NRDC
The National Resources Defense Council asked the Ninth Circuit on Thursday to block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's approval of use of nanosilver in textiles, saying the agency doesn't yet have the legally required data about its potentially harmful effects on humans and wildlife.
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January 26, 2012
Airbus To Repair Cracks Inside A380 Wings
Airbus has begun an inspection and repair process after Europe's Aviation Safety Agency issued an airworthiness directive citing cracks inside the wings of 20 of the Paris-based aviation giant's super-jumbo A380 aircraft, the company said Wednesday.
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January 26, 2012
Scientists Pressed To Lowball Deepwater Spill Rate: Enviros
The White House pressured scientists to downplay the oil spill rate after the BP PLC Deepwater Horizon disaster and conceal key data, an advocacy group alleged Monday in a scientific integrity complaint filed with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Expert Analysis
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BPA Class Certification: Denied
A Missouri federal court has denied the class certification motion of consumers suing defendants in the multidistrict litigation over the use of bisphenol A in baby bottles and sippy cups. The court offered a number of reasons for the denial, including the fact that plaintiffs’ proof of what defendants failed to disclose would not be common for all class members, says Sean Wajert of Dechert LLP.
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The Sentry That Guards Against The Tyranny Of Experts
In Samaan v. St. Joseph Hospital, the First Circuit cited Daubert in its delivery of an opinion about the duty borne by trial courts to keep out flawed analyses by credentialed experts that is as keen in its reasoning as it is sharp in its prose, says David Oliver of Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease LLP.
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Substantial Guidance For The FDA's 510(k) Program
The new standards set forth in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's updated draft guidance on the 510(k) program could have meaningful impact on discrete aspects of the substantial equivalence process and, ultimately, on the availability of the 510(k) pathway for a fair number of devices that would otherwise not have raised any questions under existing guidance and practice, say attorneys with Hogan Lovells.
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Labels Matter In Calif. 'All Natural' Claims
Given the expectation that costly "all natural" class action litigation will continue in California in 2012, companies should review their products and labeling for synthetic preservatives or artificial ingredients included in or added to the food, so that product labeling is accurate and conforms to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's policy, say Thomas Woods and Melissa Jones of Stoel Rives LLP.
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Clarifying The Impact Of Nicastro
Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in McIntyre Machinery v. Nicastro, courts have continued to grapple with the meaning of the decision, with most recognizing that merely depositing goods in the stream of commerce is not enough to satisfy the minimum contacts standard for personal jurisdiction. The Fifth Circuit will now have the opportunity to assess Nicastro's reach in Ainsworth v. Cargotec USA, says Sean Wajert of Dechert LLP.
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Putting The Brakes On Class Certification Under Dukes
The recent Michigan federal court decision in OnStar Contract Litigation is the first multidistrict litigation ruling to apply the more stringent class certification scrutiny determined in Wal-Mart v. Dukes. This case highlights the importance of defendants’ attention to the discovery of plaintiffs and to expert discovery in preparing to challenge class certification, say Neal Walters and Darryl May of Ballard Spahr LLP.
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2012 Predictions For TSCA Reform And EPA Initiatives
Environmental issues are often used to make clear distinctions between the two major political parties in the U.S., and that is especially true during a presidential election year. We offer our thoughts on what may be headed our way in 2012 with regard to reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act and chemical management initiatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, say Lynn Bergeson, James Aidala and Charles Auer of Bergeson & Campbell PC.
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Limiting Liability For Replacement Parts
The Washington and California Supreme Court decisions in Braaten v. Sagerhagen Holdings and O’Neil v. Crane Co. contribute to a growing body of precedent defining the limits of tort liability for product manufacturers and distributors and limiting their liability for later-added replacement parts manufactured and distributed by others, say Lauren Michals and Ross Petty of Nixon Peabody LLP.
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The FDA Crackdown On Health Care Provider Ads
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned several state-licensed health care practitioners that the agency believes their advertising violates federal law. This and other recent actions indicate the agency continues to seek to expand its authority over the practice of medicine and pharmacy, say attorneys with Holland & Knight LLP.
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The 10 Worst Drug/Medical Device Decisions Of 2011
At the end of every year, we look back over the past 12 months, the highs and the lows, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. We're doing that, and handing out lumps of coal in the process, specifically to the 10 worst prescription medical product liability decisions of 2011, says James Beck of Dechert LLP.