Product Liability

  • August 26, 2024

    Parents Sue Kratom Cos. Over Adult Daughter's Death

    The parents of a woman who died allegedly due to a kratom overdose are suing manufacturers and retailer sellers of the supplement, saying the companies should have known their product was "unreasonably dangerous" for humans to eat, according to a Colorado state lawsuit.

  • August 26, 2024

    Insurer Says Others Owe Payment In Asbestos Injury Rows

    An insurer that said it exceeded its coverage obligations for underlying asbestos injury litigation by millions of dollars has asked a Michigan federal court to determine how much other entities must pay in connection with the underlying suits.

  • August 26, 2024

    Sig Sauer Can't Depose Wife Again In $30M Pistol Defect Suit

    Sig Sauer won't get a second chance at deposing the wife of a man who's suing the firearm maker after his pistol allegedly discharged without warning, a North Carolina federal judge has ruled, saying the spouse is out of his jurisdiction.

  • August 26, 2024

    Federal Lawmakers Demand USDA Fix Tribal Food Backlog

    A bipartisan group of U.S. senators is demanding that the U.S. Department of Agriculture take immediate action to restore food deliveries to tribal communities impacted by an unfolding crisis that they say has left some with expired or no food at all for months.

  • August 26, 2024

    CLE Co. Accused Of Sharing Subscriber Data With Facebook

    A proposed class of legal professionals has hit Lawline with a putative class action in New York federal court, accusing the continuing legal education company of violating the Video Privacy Protection Act by sharing subscribers' information, including services and video viewing history, with third parties such as Facebook for targeted advertising purposes.

  • August 26, 2024

    Grubhub Can't Escape Suit Over Judge Killed By Driver

    Grubhub must face a lawsuit brought by the family of a Phoenix-area judge who died after being struck by one of the food delivery service's drivers since the app that allegedly distracted the driver could be considered a "product," an Arizona state court judge has ruled.

  • August 26, 2024

    JPMorgan Cash Sweep 'Shortchanged' Customers, Suit Says

    JPMorgan Chase has been hit with a proposed class action in New York federal court alleging its securities branch "shortchanged" customers by automatically "sweeping" their uninvested cash balances into deposit accounts at its affiliate, Chase Bank.

  • August 23, 2024

    Biotech Co. In Wrongful Death Suit Over Destroyed Embryo

    A manufacturer of oil used in the in vitro fertilization process has been hit with a number of federal lawsuits filed by couples who claim defects in the oil destroyed their embryos, with the most recent suit seeking wrongful death damages and asserting that "the right to life" begins at "fertilization."

  • August 23, 2024

    McKinsey Opioid Suits Sent Back To NY, Illinois State Courts

    A California federal judge has remanded, to their respective state courts, cases brought by dozens of New York municipalities and two Illinois counties against McKinsey & Co. over its alleged role in the opioid crisis, saying the consulting firm's "tortured interpretations of state law" don't give the Golden State jurisdiction.

  • August 23, 2024

    Starbucks Sued By Woman Burned By Spilled Hot Coffee

    A Los Angeles woman has hit Starbucks Corp. with a suit alleging she was burned in a drive-through when the faulty lid of her coffee cup came off as she was being served, and the excessively hot coffee spilled out and scalded her.

  • August 23, 2024

    The Biggest Product Liability Cases Of 2024: A Midyear Report

    A U.S. Supreme Court ruling that formally ended judges' decades-long deference to federal agencies' understanding of the law, as well as multibillion-dollar settlements over so-called forever chemicals, made Law360's list of top product liability developments so far this year.

  • August 23, 2024

    737 Max Families Spurn DOJ, Boeing's 'Cozy' Plea Deal

    Families of victims of the 737 Max 8 crashes told a Texas federal judge on Friday that the U.S. Department of Justice's "cozy" plea agreement with Boeing must be rejected because it's based on misleading facts and shoddy math that overlook the tragic deaths of 346 people.

  • August 23, 2024

    Class Wants $2.1M In Fees In Home Depot Hose Fight

    A class suing Home Depot Corp. and Reliance Worldwide Corp. asked a Georgia federal judge to award them $2.1 million in attorney fees, more than $160,000 in expenses and $35,000 for class representative service awards in connection with a settlement that was preliminarily approved in March.

  • August 23, 2024

    The Biggest Enviro Policy Moves Of 2024: Midyear Report

    As the Biden administration hurtles toward the end of its term, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been hustling important final rules out its doors, including regulations for power plant greenhouse gas emissions, chemicals and automobiles.

  • August 23, 2024

    Georgia Cases To Watch In The Last Half Of 2024

    The prosecutions of former President Donald Trump and his election interference case codefendants, along with Atlanta rapper Young Thug's bid to have the judge overseeing his racketeering trial removed from the case, will take center stage in Georgia's courts as we enter the second half of 2024.

  • August 23, 2024

    Grocery Chain Wants 'Scandalous' Claims Out Of Allergy Suit

    The estate of a professional dancer who died after eating a mislabeled cookie that contained peanuts should revise its Connecticut state court complaint against a grocery chain and several of its employees to remove "scandalous" and "immaterial" allegations, the defendants said in a new filing.

  • August 22, 2024

    PBMs Can't Yet Duck Municipalities' Claims In Opioid MDL

    The Ohio federal judge overseeing multidistrict opioid litigation on Thursday refused, for now, to throw out claims against pharmacy benefit managers Express Scripts Inc. and OptumRX Inc., finding that the PBMs' arguments were brought too early and a more robust record is needed.

  • August 22, 2024

    Texas Appeals Knocks $1M Hernia Mesh Fee Ask Down To $135K

    A Texas appeals court on Wednesday upheld an arbitration award of $135,000 in attorney's fees in a decadeslong hernia mesh litigation dispute while denying the firm's request for $1 million.

  • August 22, 2024

    9th Circ. Revives Suit Over App-Maker's Anti-Bullying Pledge

    The Ninth Circuit on Thursday revived a lawsuit against anonymous messaging app-maker Yolo Technologies over claims it didn't enforce its commitment to reveal and ban users who harass and bully others, finding Yolo repeatedly promised to do so, but never did, "and may have never intended to."

  • August 22, 2024

    Zantac Cases Must Remain In State Court, Conn. Judge Rules

    Two groups of patients can continue their lawsuits in Connecticut state court against GlaxoSmithKline LLC, Pfizer Inc. and Sanofi-Aventis US LLC, a judge has ruled, refusing to immediately truncate novel tort claims that seek to connect generic versions of Zantac with cancer.

  • August 22, 2024

    Takata Airbag Victim's Family Sues Dealer, Victims' Trust Fund

    The family of a woman killed by an exploding airbag made by the now-defunct Takata Corp. is suing the Honda dealership that sold the car and a trust fund formed to compensate people injured or killed by the defective airbags.

  • August 22, 2024

    Consumer Rebuffs Reynolds' Bid To Nix 'Made In The USA' Case

    A woman challenging Reynolds Consumers Products LLC's aluminum foil's "Made in the U.S.A." labeling urged a New York federal court against freeing the company from her lawsuit, arguing that she had sufficiently shown how the label could harm consumers.

  • August 22, 2024

    California Fires Back At Red State Attacks On Climate Torts

    California and a contingent of blue states told the U.S. Supreme Court that their climate change torts against fossil fuel companies are on solid legal ground and that an effort by Alabama and other red states to undercut them must be rejected.

  • August 22, 2024

    Memorabilia Biz Sues Atlanta Braves For Maligning Reputation

    Auctioneer Heritage Vintage Sports has accused the Atlanta Braves in a defamation lawsuit of purposely maligning its image by leaking to the press that it did not have the right to sell certain items, including memorabilia connected to Hank Aaron.

  • August 22, 2024

    Calif. Atty Can't Beat Sanctions In Geragos Malpractice Suit

    A California state appeals court on Wednesday affirmed $23,000 in sanctions for discovery violations on the part of a lawyer representing clients in a malpractice case against Hollywood litigator Mark Geragos.

Expert Analysis

  • Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent

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    As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.

  • How Cannabis Rescheduling May Alter Paraphernalia Imports

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    The Biden administration's recent proposal to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana use raises questions about how U.S. Customs and Border Protection enforcement policies may shift when it comes to enforcing a separate federal ban on marijuana accessory imports, says R. Kevin Williams at Clark Hill.

  • Boeing Saga Underscores Need For Ethical Corporate Culture

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    In the wake of recent allegations about Boeing’s safety culture, and amid the U.S. Department of Justice’s new whistleblower incentives, business leaders should reinvigorate their emphasis on compliance by making clear that long-term profitability requires ethical business practices, says Maxwell Carr-Howard at Dentons.

  • Why Jurors Balk At 'I Don't Recall' — And How To Respond

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    Jurors often react negatively to a witness who responds “I don’t remember” because they tend to hold erroneous beliefs about the nature of human memory, but attorneys can adopt a few strategies to mitigate the impact of these biases, say Steve Wood and Ava Hernández at Courtroom Sciences.

  • Opinion

    Bankruptcy Judges Can Justly Resolve Mass Tort Cases

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    Johnson & Johnson’s recent announcement of a prepackaged reorganization plan for its talc unit highlights that Chapter 11 is a continually evolving living statute that can address new types of problems with reorganization, value and job preservation, and just treatment for creditors, says Kenneth Rosen at Ken Rosen Advisors PC.

  • How Federal And State Microfiber Pollution Policy Is Evolving

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    Growing efforts to address synthetic microfiber pollution may create compliance and litigation issues for businesses in the textile and apparel industries, so companies should track developing federal and state legislation and regulation in this space, and should consider associated greenwashing risks, says Arie Feltman-Frank at Jenner & Block.

  • An Insurance Coverage Checklist For PFAS Defendants

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    With PFAS liability exposures attracting increased media attention, now is a good time for companies that could be exposed to liability related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances to review existing and past insurance policies, and consider taking proactive steps to maximize their likelihood of coverage, say attorneys at Nossaman.

  • Series

    Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge​​​​​​​ at Robinson Bradshaw.

  • 10 Tips To Build Trust With Your Witness During Trial Prep

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    Preparing a witness for deposition or trial requires more than just legal skills — lawyers must also work to cultivate trust with the witness, using strategies ranging from wearing a hat when conducting mock cross-examination to offering them a ride to court before they testify, say Faye Paul Teller and Sara McDermott at Munger Tolles.

  • Opinion

    It's Time To Defuse The Ticking Time Bomb Of US Landfills

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    After recent fires at landfills in Alabama and California sent toxic fumes into surrounding communities, it is clear that existing penalties for landfill mismanagement are insufficient — so policymakers must enact major changes to the way we dispose of solid waste, says Vineet Dubey at Custodio & Dubey.

  • A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence

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    The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.

  • To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef

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    To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • EPA Heavy-Duty Vehicle GHG Rules Face Bumpy Road Ahead

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for owners and operators of heavy-duty vehicles are facing opposition from both states and the transportation industry, and their arguments will mirror two pending cases challenging the EPA's authority, says Grant Laizer at Adams and Reese.

  • Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?

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    Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.

  • 3 Recent Decisions To Note As Climate Litigation Heats Up

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    Three recent rulings on climate-related issues — from a New York federal court, a New York state court and an international tribunal, respectively — demonstrate both regulators' concern about climate change and the complexity of conflicting regulations in different jurisdictions, say J. Michael Showalter and Robert Middleton at ArentFox Schiff.

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