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Product Liability
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April 22, 2024
Social Media MDL Attys Ordered To Sort Out Confidentiality
A California federal judge presiding over discovery in multidistrict litigation over whether social media platforms' design is addictive warned parties at a hearing Monday not to ask him to resolve disputes over confidentiality designations, asking repeatedly, "Why do they matter?" and saying, "These are the kinds of things that lawyers should work out."
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April 22, 2024
9th Circ. Backs Class Cert. In Pet Supplement False Ad Suit
The Ninth Circuit on Monday upheld certification of a consumer class accusing health supplement company Nutramax of falsely marketing Cosequin as promoting healthy joints in dogs, saying an economics expert could use a generic and "otherwise reliable" damages model without applying it specifically to the class at this stage.
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April 22, 2024
USW Says EPA Asbestos Ban Doesn't Protect Workers Enough
The United Steelworkers and the nonprofit Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization called on the D.C. Circuit to review the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent ban on the most prevalent variety of asbestos, with the union arguing the ban falls short by failing to provide certain interim protections.
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April 22, 2024
Father Asks Texas High Court To Take Up Gun Suicide Case
The father of a woman who died by suicide has asked the Texas Supreme Court to review the dismissal of his suit against a gun company, saying there were clear signs that his daughter was experiencing mental health problems and should not have been sold a weapon.
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April 22, 2024
J&J Hit With $45M Talc Verdict In Illinois Cancer Trial
An Illinois state jury has awarded $45 million to the estate of a woman who died from mesothelioma after using Johnson & Johnson's talc-based baby powder for years, finding that her exposure to asbestos fibers in the powder led to her cancer.
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April 22, 2024
Opioid Marketer Completes $1.5M Damages Settlement With Del.
Delaware's chancellor signed off Monday on a $1.5 million payment to the state by a company that helped Purdue Pharmaceuticals market its opioid products, the latest step in a $358 million, 50-state damages settlement reached with Publicis Health LLC.
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April 22, 2024
3M Urges Mich. Justices To Ditch PFAS Water Rule Challenge
Manufacturing giant 3M has urged the Michigan Supreme Court to reinforce an invalidation of the state's new limits on so-called forever chemicals in drinking water, telling justices that regulators illegally failed to estimate the full cost of its new restrictions on businesses.
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April 22, 2024
Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court
Last week, Delaware's Chancery Court news included a Tesla announcement about moving to Texas, a midcase appeal of Tripadvisor's move to Nevada, and United Airlines' escape from a stockholder suit. Disputes about board entrenchment, squeeze-out mergers, co-founder fallouts and deadly ice cream moved ahead.
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April 22, 2024
Hyundai, Kia Drivers Want $13M Fees In Car Theft Defect Deal
A consumer class of Hyundai and Kia drivers who claimed that the companies knowingly sold them cars with defects that made them easy to steal asked a California federal judge for final approval of their $145 million deal, with $13.4 million in fees, after an objector said the deal wasn't enough.
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April 22, 2024
Supreme Court Will Hear Feds' Ghost Guns Ban Appeal
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal from the federal government seeking to block an injunction excluding two companies from a rule classifying so-called ghost gun kits as firearms.
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April 19, 2024
Meta Faces Uphill Fight To Nix AG Claims In Addiction MDL
A California judge expressed skepticism Friday over Meta's bid to ax the claims of 34 state attorneys general from multidistrict litigation over social media platforms' allegedly addictive design, saying Meta and its co-defendants haven't been transparent about how their platforms work, and it's plausible the states can obtain psychiatric treatment receipts to show economic injuries.
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April 19, 2024
Flint Class Urges Approval Of $25M Water Firm Settlement
A proposed class of 45,000 Flint, Michigan, property owners, businesses and adult residents on Friday urged a Michigan federal court to give the go-ahead to a $25 million settlement with Veolia North America, the last remaining engineering defendant in sprawling litigation over the city's water crisis.
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April 19, 2024
Walgreens Inks $110M Deal To End Philly Opioid Crisis Suit
Walgreens will pay the city of Philadelphia $110 million over the next five years to settle claims that it contributed to the opioid epidemic by ignoring suspicious prescriptions for addictive opioid painkillers, city officials announced Friday.
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April 19, 2024
Shampoo-Maker Can't Wash Away 'Natural' False Ad Suit
An Illinois federal judge on Thursday trimmed but refused to toss a proposed class action alleging Dr. Squatch LLC deceptively labels its shampoo as "natural" even though it contains multiple artificial ingredients, saying the consumers had sufficiently alleged consumer fraud and unjust enrichment.
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April 19, 2024
Defense Firms Say 'Political Question' Dooms Yemeni War Suit
Three defense contractors warned a D.C. federal court that it would be improperly meddling with the executive branch's national security decisions if it didn't toss a lawsuit accusing the companies of supplying weapons used in Yemen's deadly civil war.
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April 19, 2024
J&J Unit Sued Over Defective Knee Replacements
A woman is suing Johnson & Johnson unit DePuy Orthopaedics in New Jersey federal court, alleging it marketed and sold a faulty knee replacement system that's prone to failing, requiring additional surgery to fix the issue.
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April 19, 2024
Nevada Justices Stop Block On State's Ghost Gun Ban
The Nevada Supreme Court has reversed an order blocking enforcement of state laws blocking the sale of so-called ghost gun kits, saying the lower court was wrong in finding the laws were unconstitutionally vague.
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April 19, 2024
Arnold & Porter Atty Returns To Greenberg Traurig In Calif.
Greenberg Traurig LLP has rehired a former associate from Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP whose practice focuses on a range of environmental litigation dealing with cancer-causing chemicals, plastic pollutants and the laws surrounding their regulation.
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April 19, 2024
Pennsylvania Chocolate Factory Sued Over Fatal Explosion
The estate representing another victim of a 2023 fatal explosion at a Pennsylvania R.M. Palmer chocolate factory has filed suit in state court, claiming the candy company, the gas company and the maker of the plastic gas line all contributed to the catastrophe.
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April 19, 2024
EPA Says 2 'Forever Chemicals' Are Hazardous Substances
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday officially declared two "forever chemicals" to be hazardous materials under federal law, which could bring a host of consequences for Superfund site cleanups and development projects.
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April 18, 2024
LG Chem Wants NC Man's Exploding Battery Suit Tossed
LG Chem Ltd. is urging a North Carolina federal court to throw out a man's suit alleging that he was injured when one of the company's lithium batteries exploded in his pocket, saying the court doesn't have jurisdiction over the South Korean company.
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April 18, 2024
NY Fertility Clinic Must Face Lost, Damaged Embryos Suit
A New York appellate panel issued a published opinion Thursday reviving a suit over the loss or damage of embryos due to a fertility clinic's alleged negligence, saying the routine storage and maintenance of frozen embryos can be considered ordinary negligence rather than medical malpractice.
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April 18, 2024
Chancery OKs Case Lead For Blue Bell Creameries Suit
A Delaware vice chancellor on Thursday restored a Blue Bell Creameries Inc. stockholder's widow as lead plaintiff in a derivative suit seeking to hold directors and officers of the ice cream company accountable for deadly food-safety oversight failures in 2015.
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April 18, 2024
Gov't Urges Redo Of Opt-Out Ruling In Camp Lejeune Suits
The federal government has asked the North Carolina federal court overseeing the litigation over contaminated water at the Camp Lejeune base to rethink its decision from two months ago to allow some plaintiffs to opt out of discovery pre-trial.
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April 18, 2024
J&J Notches Win In Fla. Talcum Powder Trial
A Florida state jury returned a verdict for Johnson & Johnson on Thursday, finding the company's talcum-based baby powder had not been shown to cause the ovarian cancer of a longtime user of the product.
Expert Analysis
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Balancing Justice And Accountability In Opioid Bankruptcies
As Rite Aid joins other pharmaceutical companies in pursuing bankruptcy following the onslaught of state and federal litigation related to the opioid epidemic, courts and the country will have to reconcile the ideals of economic justice and accountability against the U.S. Constitution’s promise of a fresh start through bankruptcy, says Monique Hayes at DGIM Law.
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Opinion
Newman Suspension Shows Need For Judicial Reform
The recent suspension of U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman following her alleged refusal to participate in a disability inquiry reveals the need for judicial misconduct reforms to ensure that judges step down when they can no longer serve effectively, says Aliza Shatzman at The Legal Accountability Project.
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Lessons From Verizon's Cybersecurity FCA Self-Disclosure
A Verizon unit’s recent agreement to settle allegations of cyber-related False Claims Act violations illustrates the interplay between the government's prioritization of cybersecurity enforcement and the potential benefits of voluntarily disclosing cybersecurity failures, says Denise Barnes at Honigman.
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EPA's Final PFAS Rule Greatly Expands Cos.' Reporting Duties
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recently released final regulation requiring reporting by entities that have manufactured or imported products containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances will require considerable time and attention from affected companies — including many that have not previously faced such obligations, say Lawrence Culleen and Judah Prero at Arnold & Porter.
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How And Why Your Firm Should Implement Fixed-Fee Billing
Amid rising burnout in the legal industry and client efforts to curtail spending, pivoting to a fixed-fee billing model may improve client-attorney relationships and offer lawyers financial, logistical and stress relief — while still maintaining profit margins, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.
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New Calif. Hemp, CBD Rules Affect Nationwide Compliance
Because of its huge market share, it is imperative that operators in every state understand the nuances of California's hemp and CBD regulatory regime, including policies refined over the past year and pending legislation that would allow cannabis licensees to sell, manufacture and distribute hemp and CBD products, say Alexis Lazzeri and Meital Manzuri at Manzuri Law.
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Opinion
Judicial Independence Needs Defense Amid Political Threats
Amid recent and historic challenges to the judiciary from political forces, safeguarding judicial independence and maintaining the integrity of the legal system is increasingly urgent, says Robert Peck at the Center for Constitutional Litigation.
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How Law Firms Can Use Account-Based Marketing Strategies
Amid several evolving legal industry trends, account-based marketing can help law firms uncover additional revenue-generating opportunities with existing clients, with key considerations ranging from data analytics to relationship building, say Jennifer Ramsey at stage LLC and consultant Gina Sponzilli.
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Opinion
Science On Human Health Effects Of PFAS Is Still Inconsistent
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances have soared to the top of environmental regulatory agendas, and dominated environmental news headlines — but scientific research into causal relationships between PFAS exposure and adverse human health effects is still unclear and inconsistent, say Jeffrey Dintzer and Samantha Van Winter at Alston & Bird.
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Navigating Over-The-Counter Product Ads After FTC Warning
Attorneys at Hunton examine advertising substantiation requirements under both the Federal Trade Commission Act and Lanham Act, following recent FTC letters informing hundreds of companies that over-the-counter product marketing claims must be corroborated by scientific evidence.
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AGs' Distaste For Food Bill May Signal Other State Issues
States' recent opposition to a proposed federal law that would block them from regulating out-of-state agricultural production could affect issues beyond this narrow debate, such as the balance of state and federal regulatory power, reproductive rights post-Dobbs, and energy production and water use, say Christopher Allen and Stephen Cobb at Cozen O'Connor.
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Strategic Succession Planning At Law Firms Is Crucial
Senior partners' reluctance to retire, the rise of the nonequity partner tier and generational differences in expectations are all contributing to an increasing number of departures from BigLaw, making it imperative for firms to encourage retirement among senior ranks and provide clearer leadership pathways to junior attorneys, says Laura Leopard at Leopard Solutions.
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FDA's Lab-Developed Test Rule Faces High Hurdles
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recently announced plans to explicitly regulate lab-developed tests will likely face resistance from industry stakeholders and congressional actions, and lead to significant litigation, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.
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Justices Could Use Purdue To Resolve Related Circuit Split
The U.S. Supreme Court will soon hear Harrington v. Purdue Pharma to determine the validity of nonconsensual third-party releases in bankruptcy, but justices should also take the opportunity to resolve a related circuit split over the constitutional authority of bankruptcy judges to issue final rulings on such releases, says Benjamin Feder at Kelley Drye.
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Cases Linking Baby Food, Autism Pose Causation Challenges
Major baby food producers are now in the crosshairs of regulators, consumer advocates and plaintiffs attorneys over allegations their products contain heavy metals that harm children's development — but it will be difficult for plaintiffs to establish causation, as shown by the lengthy court battles over tobacco and talc, says Vineet Dubey at Custodio & Dubey.