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Product Liability
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March 18, 2024
EPA Bans Most Common Asbestos In 'Cancer Moonshot' Rule
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday finalized a ban on the most prevalent variety of asbestos, the first asbestos risk management rule issued since the Toxic Substances Control Act was amended in 2016.
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March 18, 2024
Chicago Can Keep $26M Willis Tower Suit In Federal Court
A federal judge in Illinois has declined to send a $26 million lawsuit against the City of Chicago over rain damage at Willis Tower back to state court, finding the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago acts under federal authority in maintaining the minimum water levels dictated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
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March 16, 2024
Up Next At High Court: Gov't Jawboning & Retaliatory Arrests
The U.S. Supreme Court has a packed oral arguments calendar this week that includes disputes over the Biden administration's work with social media companies to combat misinformation, the appropriate evidence standard for bringing retaliatory arrest claims and whether the federal government can object to a consent decree entered into by three states.
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March 15, 2024
Awning Maker Can't Shade Itself From CPSC Defect Lawsuit
Awning maker SunSetter can't evade claims it concealed an allegedly deadly defect by arguing that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is unconstitutional, a Massachusetts federal judge ruled, leaning on a Fifth Circuit ruling that may not be long for this world.
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March 15, 2024
Chiquita MDL Experts Aren't Reliable, Parties Say
A Florida federal judge overseeing the multidistrict litigation against Chiquita Brands weighed arguments Friday on what evidence should be excluded in two upcoming bellwether trials, with each side insisting the other's experts should be disqualified from testifying about claims that the company funded a deadly right-wing Colombian paramilitary group.
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March 15, 2024
Aircraft Co. Says Charter Co. Shifting Blame For Fatal Crash
A Washington judge has consolidated five lawsuits linked to a 2022 seaplane accident that killed 10 people, rejecting opposition from De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Ltd., which said a co-defendant flight company is trying to pin the blame on the plane manufacturer.
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March 15, 2024
Boeing Supplier Sued Over 737 Max Door Plug's Missing Bolts
A new lawsuit in Washington state court over a Boeing 737 blowout that endangered an Alaska Airlines flight takes aim at Spirit AeroSystems, the manufacturer of the door plug that ruptured from the fuselage, for allegedly not installing necessary bolts and fittings.
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March 15, 2024
Enfamil Maker Hit With $60M Jury Verdict In Infant Death Suit
An Illinois jury has awarded $60 million to the mother of an infant who died after using Mead Johnson's Enfamil formula, a loss for the company in the first of hundreds of suits to go to trial alleging certain cow's milk-based formulas cause a fatal illness in premature infants.
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March 15, 2024
SEC, VW Reach $48.7M Deal To End 'Clean Diesel' Fraud Suit
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Volkswagen Group of America Finance told a California federal court on Friday that they have reached a $48.7 million settlement to end claims that the automaker defrauded U.S. investors in its scheme to cheat emissions standards in its vehicles.
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March 15, 2024
Conservative Law Group Asks Justices To Hear FDA Vape Suit
A free-market advocacy group and a vape industry association are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to upend the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's decision denying a manufacturer permission to sell flavored vapes, arguing that the FDA is "moving the goalposts" when it comes to what kind of data is needed when applying.
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March 15, 2024
Dykema Hires MehaffyWeber Shareholder In Houston
Dykema Gossett PLLC has added a product liability attorney from MehaffyWeber who spent almost six years with the firm working on toxic torts, commercial litigation and a range of other liability issues, Dykema announced Thursday.
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March 14, 2024
DOJ, FTC Tell Copyright Office To Expand Right To Repair
Federal law enforcement and trade officials said Thursday that the U.S. Copyright Office should not only retain a policy that gives consumers more leeway to fix things like cars, it should also expand those protections to things like industrial equipment.
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March 14, 2024
PE Firm Riverspan Agrees To Pay $32M For Barretts' Assets
Barretts Minerals Inc. told a Texas bankruptcy court Thursday that a unit of private equity firm Riverspan Partners had won an auction for its assets with a $32 million cash offer, money that the talc-mining company intends to use to fund a settlement trust for alleged victims of asbestos exposure.
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March 14, 2024
FTC Says Consolidation Endangering Infant-Formula Market
The Federal Trade Commission has found the country's small number of baby formula manufacturers and the effects of a federal nutrition program contributed to shortages in 2022 and are still making the supply chain vulnerable to disruption.
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March 14, 2024
Norfolk Southern Must Face Most Derailment Suit Claims
Norfolk Southern must face the bulk of the claims in consolidated suits brought over a train derailment and subsequent chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio, a federal judge ruled in a spate of opinions that also kept intact most of the rail giant's third-party claims against a chemical company and two railcar leasing firms.
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March 14, 2024
Mont. Youths Urge State High Court To Uphold Climate Ruling
A group of youth plaintiffs on Wednesday urged the Montana Supreme Court to uphold a state court's ruling that invalidated laws barring the consideration of greenhouse gas emissions in permitting decisions.
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March 14, 2024
Ford Slammed For Bid To 'Sidestep' Faulty Axle-Bolt Suit
Two Washington SUV owners suing Ford for allegedly slacking on safety in newer Explorer models have accused the vehicle maker of trying to "sidestep liability" in their proposed class action by pointing to two recalls that didn't address the design flaw at issue.
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March 14, 2024
Fla. High Court Denies Atty Reinstatement After Bar Objection
Florida's high court on Thursday denied the reinstatement of a Jacksonville-area attorney who was suspended after filing numerous unauthorized tobacco-related claims, saying he failed to produce "clear and convincing evidence" that he was rehabilitated after selling his firm to a longtime acquaintance under whom he was to be supervised.
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March 14, 2024
Sidley Product Liability Ace Jumps To Shook Hardy In LA
Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP has brought on a longtime Sidley Austin LLP partner and practice co-chair with expertise in large, high-stakes class action litigation and product liability around pharmaceuticals, medical devices and more to its product liability practice group in Los Angeles.
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March 14, 2024
NJ Law Firm Avoids Malpractice Suit Over Texas Kratom Death
A Lone Star State appeals court let the New Jersey-based Oshman Firm LLC off the hook on jurisdictional grounds Thursday in a malpractice lawsuit filed by a Texas father who faulted the firm for not filing a wrongful death lawsuit before the statute of limitations expired.
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March 14, 2024
In 3rd Win, Sig Sauer Beats ICE Agent's Defective-Gun Suit
Sig Sauer has defeated a third product liability lawsuit from a user who claimed its P320 pistol spontaneously discharged, injuring him without the trigger being touched, convincing another federal judge that the plaintiff's expert witness testimony should be disqualified.
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March 14, 2024
Feds Seek 20 Mos. For Aegerion Fraud 'Puppet Master'
A pharmaceutical sales representative who gloated about being a "puppet master" for false insurance claims for Aegerion's cholesterol drug should serve 20 months in prison, the U.S. government has told a Boston federal judge.
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March 14, 2024
Whirlpool Can't Toss Defect Suit Over Ice Buildup In Fridges
A California federal judge has declined to throw out a putative class action claiming Whirlpool hid a defect in its refrigerators that led to cooling failures due to frost buildup, finding the suit sufficiently alleged Whirlpool knew of the problem since it issued technical service pointers noting customers could possibly experience buildup.
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March 14, 2024
EPA Slashes Ethylene Oxide Emissions Levels For Sterilizers
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday finalized new Clean Air Act standards that it said will reduce emissions of ethylene oxide from commercial sterilization facilities by 90%, an action the agency said is necessary to help reduce the impact of the carcinogen on communities.
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March 13, 2024
Netflix Doesn't Want 'Hatchet Wielding' Killer In Suit Either
While Netflix disputes that it defamed a Kentucky man for his appearance in its true-crime documentary titled "The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker," the streaming giant does agree with the plaintiff in the case that the real hatchet-wielding hitchhiker doesn't belong in the lawsuit.
Expert Analysis
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Perspectives
A Judge's Pitch To Revive The Jury Trial
Ohio state Judge Pierre Bergeron explains how the decline of the jury trial threatens public confidence in the judiciary and even democracy as a whole, and he offers ideas to restore this sacred right.
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How To Recognize And Recover From Lawyer Loneliness
Law can be one of the loneliest professions, but there are practical steps that attorneys and their managers can take to help themselves and their peers improve their emotional health, strengthen their social bonds and protect their performance, says psychologist and attorney Traci Cipriano.
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Opinion
Litigation Funding Disclosure Should Be Mandatory
Despite the Appellate Rules Committee's recent deferral of the issue of requiring third-party litigation funding disclosure, such a mandate is necessary to ensure the even-handed administration of justice across all cases, says David Levitt at Hinshaw.
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Recalling USWNT's Legal PR Playbook Amid World Cup Bid
As the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team strives to take home another World Cup trophy, their 2022 pay equity settlement with the U.S. Soccer Federation serves as a good reminder that winning in the court of public opinion can be more powerful than a victory inside the courtroom, says Hector Valle at Vianovo.
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What Companies Must Know About Product Recalls
Recent recalls of asthma inhalers and Baby Shark toys provide an ideal opportunity to review the most essential steps companies should take when planning and conducting their own product recalls — from notifying government agencies and retaining experts to properly communicating with the public, say Kelly Jones Howell and Judi Abbott Curry at Harris Beach.
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Prepping For PFAS Approval Under EPA's New Framework
Under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recently announced framework for addressing new per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and new uses of PFAS, entities should prepare for increased scrutiny and develop the necessary data prior to submitting premanufacture or significant new use notices, say David Edelstein and Charles Dennen at Archer & Greiner.
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Operant Conditioning: Techniques To Prepare Your Witness
Attorneys can apply operant conditioning principles, such as positive and negative reinforcement, during witness preparation sessions to enhance the quality of witnesses’ deposition and trial testimony and counter the potential influence of opposing counsel, say Bill Kanasky and Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.
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Regulatory Questions Loom As Lab-Grown Meat Hits Market
As cell-cultured meat gains popularity and moves quickly to market, food-labeling questions will be a test of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's ability to seamlessly coordinate efforts to ensure safety, says Laurie Beyranevand at Vermont Law School.
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California's PFAS Bans May Have National Ripple Effects
As California moves to phase out per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances from many categories of consumer products, other states may soon follow — so manufacturers would be well advised take action now, or risk losing substantial market share, says Vineet Dubey at Custodio & Dubey.
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Operant Conditioning: Tactics That Can Derail Your Witness
There are many ways opposing counsel may use operant conditioning principles, including rewards and punishments, to obtain damaging testimony from your witnesses, so understanding this psychological theory is key, say Steve Wood and Bill Kanasky at Courtroom Sciences.
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Perspectives
Mallory Gives Plaintiffs A Better Shot At Justice
Critics of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern claim it opens the door to litigation tourism, but the ruling simply gives plaintiffs more options — enabling them to seek justice against major corporations in the best possible court, say Rayna Kessler and Ethan Seidenberg at Robins Kaplan.
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And Now A Word From The Panel: 55 Years Of The JPML
As the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation marks its 55th birthday, Alan Rothman at Sidley looks back at its history and finds that, while some features of MDL jurisprudence have changed over the decades, the most remarkable aspect of the panel's practice has been its consistency.
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Cannabis Cos. Must Heed PFAS Risks In Products, Packaging
Cannabis businesses and ancillary service providers will have to grapple with evolving PFAS enforcement, litigation and regulations – most recently enacted in Minnesota – and take steps to mitigate risks posed by forever chemicals in their products and packaging, say Malina Dumas and Amy Rubenstein at Dentons.
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Insurance Insights From 5th Circ. Blue Bell Coverage Ruling
The Fifth Circuit's recent ruling that denied Blue Bell insurance coverage for the defense costs incurred from a shareholder lawsuit underscores the importance of coordination of different coverages and policies across programs, and the potential perils of seeking recovery for losses under nontraditional policies, say Geoffrey Fehling and Casey Coffey at Hunton.
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Courts Can Overturn Deficient State Regulations, Too
While suits challenging federal regulations have become commonplace, such cases against state agencies are virtually nonexistent, but many states have provisions that allow litigants to bring suit for regulations with inadequate cost-benefit analyses, says Reeve Bull at the Virginia Office of Regulatory Management.