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Product Liability
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April 17, 2024
J&J Tells Jurors To Look To Evidence And Science In Talc Trial
Johnson & Johnson's attorney urged a Florida jury Wednesday to look beyond the emotion in the case of a longtime baby powder user who died from cancer and to the science and the evidence, which he said fail to show a causal link between talcum powder and ovarian cancer.
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April 17, 2024
Hawaii AG Releases Timeline Of Deadly Lahaina Wildfire
Hawaii's attorney general on Wednesday released findings from the first report of a three-part investigation into how state and county governments responded to the wildfires that ignited on the island of Maui last year, decimating the historic town of Lahaina and leaving more than 100 people dead.
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April 17, 2024
Cinemark Shorted Thirsty Moviegoers By 2 Ounces, Suit Says
Movie theater chain Cinemark USA Inc. is ripping off customers by lying about its purported 24-ounce drink sizes when in reality, the plastic containers can only hold 22 ounces of liquid, according to a proposed class action filed in Texas federal court.
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April 17, 2024
Tinder, Hinge Seek Arb. In 'Preposterous' Addictive Apps Suit
Allegations that the Tinder and Hinge dating apps are addictive and lead to compulsive use are "preposterous," Match Group told a California federal judge, arguing that not only are the claims baseless, but the consumers bringing them all signed arbitration agreements when they signed up for accounts.
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April 17, 2024
Jury To Decide Fault Of Driver In Spray-Huffing DUI Death
A Minnesota federal judge on Wednesday said it's up to a jury to decide whether a driver acted intentionally or negligently when he allegedly huffed a compressed gas spray and killed a woman in a collision, in a trial against the spray's manufacturer over the death.
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April 17, 2024
FDA's Foot-Dragging On Menthol Ban Sparks Frustration
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's yearslong delay to ban menthol has left public health groups frustrated over why the agency has failed to act on what the groups see as an obvious way to improve public health and prevent needless deaths, prompting a second lawsuit over taking menthol off store shelves.
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April 17, 2024
FDA Denies Marketing For 65 MNGO Disposable E-Cigarettes
The latest action by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on e-cigarettes was to tell a Chinese company to take its range of 65 e-cigarette products in a variety of flavors from menthol to pink lemonade and watermelon off the market.
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April 17, 2024
FDA Tells Justices It Has A Better Vape Case In Mind
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has told the U.S. Supreme Court that if it wants to address the agency's decision not to approve applications for flavored e-cigarettes, there is a better case in the pipeline than the appeal lodged by Lotus Vaping Technologies that the justices should choose instead.
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April 17, 2024
Reps. Want To Exempt Water Utilities From PFAS Liability
A bipartisan duo of congressional lawmakers is pushing a bill that would exempt some public water systems, municipalities and other entities from liability for violations of federal "forever chemical" regulations.
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April 17, 2024
Contractor Blamed For $4.4M Damage To Wind Turbine
A Massachusetts company under contract to maintain wind turbines at a wastewater treatment facility in Boston Harbor failed to property shut down one of them after a mechanical problem, leading to further "catastrophic" damage that will cost nearly $4.4 million to address, according to a lawsuit filed in state court.
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April 17, 2024
Feds, Tribe Say Settlement Talks Failed In Water Pipeline Row
The Tonawanda Seneca Nation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service asked a New York federal court to opt out of mediation talks after the tribe said the agency refused its settlement offer in litigation challenging a right-of-way permit for a wastewater pipeline.
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April 16, 2024
Split 5th Circ. Won't Rehear Case Over Agency Protections
A divided Fifth Circuit on Tuesday denied en banc rehearing of a panel decision that likely sets up a U.S. Supreme Court challenge of long-standing limits to the president's power to fire executive branch subordinates.
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April 16, 2024
Cooperation Helped Cable Co. Avoid Prosecution, Feds Say
The U.S. Department of Justice's fraud section has indicated it won't prosecute Proterial Cable America for allegedly fraudulently misrepresenting the safety standards compliance of its motorcycle brake hose assemblies because of the company's timely self-disclosure, cooperation and remediation, among other things.
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April 16, 2024
Cashed Check Kills VW Emissions Deal Appeal, 9th Circ. Says
The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday threw out an attempt to unravel an $80 million deal resolving consolidated consumer litigation alleging Volkswagen and Porsche manipulated emissions and fuel-economy tests for nearly 500,000 gas-powered vehicles, saying the objector has already cashed his portion of the settlement.
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April 16, 2024
'Wide As The Ocean': Apple Judge Pans Investor Deal Release
A California federal judge declined Monday to preliminarily approve Apple's nonmonetary settlement in a derivative-shareholder suit over claims it secretly slowed iPhones, criticizing the deal's release of claims that "relate" to the case as overbroad and noting that, "in practice, lawyers argue that 'relate' is as wide as the ocean."
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April 16, 2024
Mercedes Rusty Subframe Suit Is Too Vague, Judge Is Told
Mercedes-Benz argued in court Tuesday that a proposed class action over a claimed subframe defect should be dismissed as an improper shotgun pleading as it directs allegations at "Mercedes" without specifying whether the German parent company or its Atlanta subsidiary are supposedly to blame.
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April 16, 2024
Feds, PPG Reach $22.8M Deal To Clean Up NJ Superfund Site
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency unveiled a settlement with PPG Industries Inc. on Tuesday under which the company has agreed to cough up more than $22.8 million to cover the estimated future cleanup costs and maintenance at the Riverside Industrial Park Superfund Site in Newark, New Jersey.
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April 16, 2024
Absent Proof Of Direct Effect, Pa. Sen. Loses Wastewater Row
A Pennsylvania state senator lacks individual standing to stop the state Department of Environmental Protection from allowing wastewater discharges into a tributary of the Susquehanna River because she hasn't given enough evidence that potential pollution would directly affect her, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday.
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April 16, 2024
Colo. Shooting Case Could Return To State Court, Judge Hints
A federal judge in Connecticut hinted Tuesday that he might send cases by Colorado mass shooting victims against gunmaker Sturm Ruger & Co. back to state court, noting that only rarely may district court judges hear core state law claims when federal law provides an ingredient in the analysis.
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April 16, 2024
Appeals Court Won't Block 3M 'Fishing Expedition' Deposition
A state appeals court on Tuesday declined to halt a presuit deposition requested by 3M Co. against a Texas attorney to investigate claims that the lawyer was aware of false statements his co-counsel made in a coal-related lung disease suit out of Kentucky.
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April 16, 2024
Zuckerberg Dodges Liability In Meta Addiction MDL, For Now
A California federal judge has tossed certain fraud-by-omission claims seeking to hold Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally liable in sprawling multidistrict litigation over social media platforms' allegedly addictive design, but she allowed the plaintiffs to amend their allegations to assert a new theory of corporate officer liability against Zuckerberg.
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April 16, 2024
Sikorsky Calls Chopper Crash Suit 'Beyond' US Court's Power
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. is pushing a Pennsylvania federal judge to toss liability claims brought by the families of six Canadian military personnel who died in one of its helicopters, arguing that the witnesses and evidence for the case are in Canada, "beyond the compulsory process of this court."
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April 16, 2024
DOL Finalizes Rule To Curb Miners' Exposure To Silica Dust
A U.S. Department of Labor agency released final regulations Tuesday that tighten limits on miners' exposure to workplace silica dust, a toxic substance that increases the risk of death and chronic health conditions.
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April 15, 2024
EPA Says Legacy Asbestos Poses Unreasonable Risk
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released on Monday its long-awaited draft for the second part of its asbestos risk evaluation, which determined handling asbestos associated with legacy uses presents undue human health risks.
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April 15, 2024
Calif. Cannabis Co. Stiiizy Sued Over Delta-8 Products
California cannabis giant Stiiizy has been accused of selling products which were touted as federally compliant hemp wares but purportedly had high enough levels of psychoactive THC to qualify as marijuana products, according to a proposed class action in Illinois federal court.
Expert Analysis
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Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.
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3 Litigation Strategies To Combat 'Safetyism'
Amid the rise of safetyism — the idea that every person should be free from the risk of harm or discomfort — among jurors and even judges, defense counsel can mount several tactics from the very start of litigation to counteract these views and blunt the potential for jackpot damages, says Ann Marie Duffy at Hollingsworth.
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Risks Of Nonmutual Offensive Collateral Estoppel In MDLs
After the Supreme Court declined to review the Sixth Circuit's ruling in the E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. personal injury litigation, nonmutual offensive collateral estoppel could show up in more MDLs, and transform the loss of a single MDL bellwether trial into a de facto classwide decision that binds thousands of other MDL cases, say Chantale Fiebig and Luke Sullivan at Weil Gotshal.
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What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks
Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.
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5 Things Trial Attorneys Can Learn From Good Teachers
Jennifer Cuculich at IMS Legal Strategies recounts lessons she learned during her time as a math teacher that can help trial attorneys connect with jurors, from the importance of framing core issues to the incorporation of different learning styles.
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Legal Considerations For Circular Economy Strategies
As circular economy goals — generating revenue at multiple points in a product's life cycle — become nearly ubiquitous in corporate sustainability practices, companies should reassess existing strategies by focusing on government incentives, regulations, and reporting and disclosure requirements, say Rachel Saltzman and Erin Grisby at Hunton.
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Opinion
Insurance Industry Asbestos Reserve Estimates Are Unreliable
Insurance regulators rely on industry self-reporting in approving insurance company reorganizations, but AM Best data reveals that actuarial and audit estimates have been setting perniciously low levels of loss reserves for asbestos liabilities and thus should be treated with deep skepticism, says Jonathan Terrell at KCIC.
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Preempting Bottled Water Microplastics Fraud Claims
Food products like bottled water are increasingly likely to be targets of consumer fraud complaints due to alleged microplastics contamination — but depending on the labeling or advertising at issue, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act can provide a powerful preemption defense, say Tariq Naeem and Brenda Sweet at Tucker Ellis.
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Business Litigators Have A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment
As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.
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5 Ways To Hone Deposition Skills And Improve Results
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Depositions must never be taken for granted in the preparations needed to win a dispositive motion or a trial, and five best practices, including knowing when to hire a videographer, can significantly improve outcomes, says James Argionis at Cozen O'Connor.
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The Challenges Of Measuring Harm In Slack-Fill Cases
A recent California federal court partial class certification ruling was a rare victory for plaintiffs in a case over slack-fill empty space in packaged products, indicating that damages arguments may be important at the certification stage, say Sushrut Jain and Valentina Bernasconi at Edgeworth Economics.
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Series
Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.
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Opinion
High Court Should Endorse Insurer Standing In Bankruptcy
In Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Gypsum, the U.S. Supreme Court will examine bankruptcy standing doctrine as applied to insurers in mass tort cases, and should use the opportunity to eliminate spurious standing roadblocks to resolving insurer objections on their merits, says Frank Perch at White and Williams.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC
The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts
Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.