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May 16, 2013
Major Flaws Persist In Oil And Gas Oversight, GAO Finds
The U.S. Government Accountability Office on Thursday criticized the U.S. Department of the Interior's management of federal oil and gas resources, claiming that the agency needs to do a better job training its staff and making sure it is collecting its full share of revenue.
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May 16, 2013
US Can Mention Ex-BP Engineer's Deleted Texts In Spill Trial
The U.S. government will be allowed to reference deleted text messages that it never recovered during the trial of a BP PLC engineer accused of destroying evidence in the frantic first days of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, a Louisiana federal judge ruled Thursday.
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May 16, 2013
Port Authority's Suit Over JFK Crash Coverage Tossed
A New York federal judge Wednesday refused to let the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey pursue defense and indemnity claims against a construction company and its insurer for an underlying airport runway crash lawsuit, ruling that the court does not have jurisdiction.
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May 16, 2013
Honeywell Dodges Enviros' Claims That It Botched Cleanup
A New York federal judge on Wednesday tossed a suit accusing Honeywell International Inc. of exposing upstate residents to dangerous chemicals after botching a government-mandated water pollution cleanup, saying the court can't prevent Honeywell from pumping the polluted sediment to their neighborhood.
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May 16, 2013
NYC Found Liable For Crane Collapse Under Labor Law
In the latest in a string of decisions related to New York's controversial “Scaffold Law,” a supreme court judge ruled Tuesday that the city can't escape liability for damage caused by a 2008 crane collapse on the Upper East Side, despite having transferred ownership of the property to another entity.
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May 16, 2013
LandAmerica Trustee Sues To Erase PE Firm's $10M Claim
Bankrupt title insurer LandAmerica Financial Group asked a Virginia bankruptcy court Wednesday to toss a $10 million claim brought by American Capital Ltd. accusing a company subsidiary of failing to catch defects in two apartment complexes secured by loans in a risky mortgage-backed investment vehicle.
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May 16, 2013
J&J's S. Korean Unit Faces Charges After Tylenol Recall
South Korea’s food and drug regulator on Thursday ordered a halt in production of five products manufactured by Johnson & Johnson unit Janssen Korea Ltd. and announced it will seek criminal charges following a recall sparked by the discovery of unusually high levels of the active ingredient in children’s Tylenol syrup.
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May 15, 2013
Panel Sends Drug-Tracking Bill To House Floor
The House Energy & Commerce Committee on Wednesday approved its version of a drug supply chain tracking system, known as track-and-trace, sending the bill to the House floor and moving the industry-supported legislation a step closer to enactment.
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May 15, 2013
2nd Circ. Asked To Overturn RSUI Win In Crane Collapse Suit
Construction company RCG Group on Wednesday asked the Second Circuit to force insurer RSUI Indemnity to cover claims related to a fatal 2008 crane collapse in Manhattan, arguing that a lower court made a mistake when it let the insurer off the hook.
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May 15, 2013
NHTSA Head Defends Agency's Readiness For Driverless Cars
The head of the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration insisted Wednesday that the agency had the staffing and expertise necessary to regulate driverless cars and other burgeoning automobile technology, after a Democratic lawmaker questioned its readiness.
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May 15, 2013
Obama's 1st Term Rulemaking Rate Soars By Bush's Mark
President Barack Obama has pushed through a significantly higher number of major rules over the last four years than former President George W. Bush did during his own first term, according to a report by the research arm of Congress.
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May 15, 2013
Lawmakers Forge Ahead On Drug Compounder Oversight Bill
A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation Wednesday that would give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration clear authority to regulate certain compounding pharmacies, a measure meant to boost safety in response to a fungal meningitis outbreak last year that claimed more than 50 lives.
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May 15, 2013
Philip Morris, RJ Reynolds Topple Smoking Claims In W.Va.
A West Virginia state court jury returned a verdict Wednesday largely in favor of tobacco industry giants like Philip Morris USA Inc., Lorillard Tobacco Co. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., in consolidated product liability litigation brought by and for hundreds of smokers.
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May 15, 2013
HHS Wins Challenge To Styrene's Listing In Cancer Report
A Washington federal judge Wednesday upheld a decision by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to include styrene on a list of cancer-causing substances, rejecting a challenge by producers of the chemical.
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May 15, 2013
Indian Harbor Wants No Part Of San Diego Gas Leak Suits
The city of San Diego's primary insurer Indian Harbor Insurance Co. lodged a complaint against the municipality’s excess insurer in New York federal court Tuesday, arguing that it has no obligation to defend the city against a trio of underlying sewer pipe gas leak suits.
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May 15, 2013
$1.5M Attys’ Fees Scuttle HP Printer Defect Deal In 9th Circ.
The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday scrapped the settlement of a consumer class action alleging Hewlett-Packard Co. deceptively marketed printer ink cartridges, finding the trial judge's award of $1.5 million in attorneys' fees was incorrectly calculated under the Class Action Fairness Act.
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May 15, 2013
Mass Tort For Tylenol Liver Injuries Requested In NJ
McNeil-PPC Inc. and Johnson & Johnson may have fought the federal consolidation of lawsuits blaming acetaminophen in Tylenol products for severe liver damage, but the companies now want centralized management of similar state court cases in New Jersey, according to a Tuesday court notice.
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May 15, 2013
Dissident Quigley Creditors Now Support Ch. 11 Plan
Defunct Pfizer Inc. unit Quigley Co. Inc. now has a clearer path to exiting its eight-year bankruptcy after a holdout group of creditors moved Monday to reverse their votes and support the reorganization plan designed to resolve the company’s multibillion-dollar asbestos liability.
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May 15, 2013
NFL Goes To NY Appeals Court For Concussion Suit Coverage
The National Football League recently took its sprawling insurance fight over former players' head injury suits to a New York appeals court, challenging a trial court's refusal to toss claims brought by a slew of insurance carriers.
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May 15, 2013
First Responders Sue Conrail In Pa. Over NJ Derailment
The first responders who initiated the emergency cleanup of a November train derailment and resulting vinyl chloride spill in Paulsboro, N.J., sued Consolidated Rail Corp. and two other railroad companies in Pennsylvania state court Monday over their exposure to hazardous chemicals from the incident.
Expert Analysis
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Horses Are Off The Shelves, But Litigation Will Continue
Regulators, food distributors and lawyers are scrambling to determine the legal and reputational consequences of the still-growing horse meat scandal that recently hit Europe. Amid the recalls, finger-pointing and consumer outrage, one thing remains certain: You will have time to bet on many Derby winners before this scandal is fully resolved, say attorneys with Cozen O'Connor.
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Far-Reaching Consequences Of NFL Concussion Litigation
Recently, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania heard oral arguments on the much-publicized In re National Football League Players' Concussion Injury Litigation. Though it is difficult to predict how the court will rule, whatever ruling it makes will have significant impact on the litigation, the law and the broader sports world, say attorneys with Squire Sanders LLP.
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FRCP Changes Will Have Major Impact On 3rd-Party Discovery
The U.S. Supreme Court recently endorsed significant changes to Rule 45 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure that will greatly simplify the third-party subpoena process, but the changes do not go as far as some would have liked in centralizing third-party discovery disputes to the court where the litigation is pending, say Mark Klapow and Ariel Applebaum-Bauch of Crowell & Moring LLP.
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How To Run Team Meetings In Complex Cases — Part 2
Remember that the structure of a meeting guides the team's conduct. There are three types of alternative meeting structures that can and should be utilized by the litigation team, says David Dolkas of McDermott Will & Emery LLP.
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How To Run Team Meetings In Complex Cases — Part 1
Many litigation teams struggle with making good decisions and running effective team meetings for three reasons: compromised decision-making, lack of healthy meeting conflict, and lack of alternative meeting structures, says David Dolkas of McDermott Will & Emery LLP.
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EU's New Package Of Consumer Product Safety Rules
The European Commission has put forward a new set of measures to provide more consistency in European Union legislation on consumer product and market surveillance. It is likely that manufacturers, importers and distributors will find additional obligations relating to labeling, product identification and corrective actions imposed as a result of the new rules, say attorneys with Morrison & Foerster LLP.
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Know Your Codes Before Litigation Blows Up
A recent analysis of Occupational Safety and Health Administration data on boiler incidents at workplaces illustrates the need for manufacturers, designers and operators to be aware of applicable codes and standards. If litigation results from a catastrophic incident, any violations of applicable codes, standards and safety rules will be important evidence, says Jonathan Shoebotham of Thompson & Knight LLP.
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Pa. Makes Its Mark On Chinese Drywall Dispute
Recently, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania held that the shipment of defective drywall from China to the United States constituted one “occurrence” for purposes of insurance coverage. While the case provides rare guidance on the number of occurrences issue in the Chinese drywall context, the impact of the decision is still limited, says Andrea Cortland of Cozen O'Connor.
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It’s My Expert, And I’ll Call Her If I Want To
The recent decision in Washington v. Perez is a useful reminder that defense counsel must remain mindful during opening statement and cross-examination that it may later decide not to call certain experts. Fortunately, this decision clarifies that New Jersey appellate courts recognize that the defense is entitled to change strategy as the case progresses, says Adam Tolin of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP.
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A Look At The FCC's Action On RF Exposure Limits
A recent Federal Communications Commission action consists of technical changes in how radio frequency exposure is evaluated and how compliance with the existing RF exposure limit is demonstrated. Many companies are likely to take an interest in the proceeding given its potential to affect an array of sectors, say attorneys with Mayer Brown LLP.