Product Liability

  • March 06, 2024

    NTSB Chief Says Boeing Isn't Sharing Info In Blowout Probe

    The National Transportation Safety Board's chief told a Senate panel Wednesday that The Boeing Co. still hasn't provided information about the door plug that blew off a 737 Max 9 jet two months ago, fueling troubling new questions as Boeing faces multiple probes into its safety culture and quality control.

  • March 06, 2024

    NY Gets $7.8M Default Win Against Seller Of 'Ghost Gun' Kits

    A New York federal judge on Monday awarded the state $7.8 million in a default judgment against Indie Guns LLC, which was accused of selling "ghost guns," noting the company has been without an attorney for a year.

  • March 06, 2024

    Fla. Law Blocks Punitive Damages In Smoker Death Suit

    A Florida appeals panel on Wednesday denied a woman's bid for punitive damages against Philip Morris USA Inc. in a wrongful death suit, saying the trial court properly found that a state law blocks the damages.

  • March 06, 2024

    PacifiCorp Must Pay $42.4M To Oregon Fire Victims, Jury Says

    A Portland jury said Tuesday that electric power company PacifiCorp must pay $42.4 million to compensate another 10 victims of devastating Labor Day fires that burned in Oregon in 2020, with thousands more class members awaiting potential trials.

  • March 06, 2024

    Otterbourg Formalizes Bankruptcy, Mass Torts Practice Group

    As many BigLaw firms continue chasing bankruptcy talent, Otterbourg PC announced the formalization of a cross-departmental mass tort bankruptcy practice group under the leadership of a recently hired restructuring attorney and a longtime Otterbourg litigator.

  • March 06, 2024

    Power Co. Can't Escape Explosion Fraud Claim

    An infrastructure supply company can't toss a fraud claim brought by an industrial company's insurers in a suit seeking to recoup $18.7 million in damages for a manufacturing facility explosion, an Ohio federal court ruled, finding that the carriers can bring both a breach of contract claim and a fraud claim.

  • March 05, 2024

    Poland Springs Sued Over Microplastics In 'Natural' Water

    Poland Springs is being falsely marketed as "100% natural spring water," a description that isn't accurate thanks to the "dangerous levels of microplastics" found in the bottled water, according to a proposed class action filed Tuesday in New York federal court.

  • March 05, 2024

    Tank Car Cos. Can Inspect Derailed Train Parts, Judge Says

    An Ohio federal magistrate judge said Tuesday that the National Transportation Safety Board must allow rail tank car owners facing claims in sprawling consolidated litigation to inspect crucial components from the Norfolk Southern train that derailed in East Palestine last year.

  • March 05, 2024

    Gibson Dunn AI Leader On Weathering The AI Policy Blizzard

    Like a mountaineer leading a team through a snowstorm, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP's artificial intelligence co-chair Cassandra L. Gaedt-Sheckter is guiding companies developing and using artificial intelligence through a blizzard of new laws and regulations coming online in Europe and the U.S., saying that assessing AI risks is the North Star to mitigating them.

  • March 05, 2024

    Pharmacist Takes Deal In Mich. Over Fatal Meningitis Outbreak

    The founder of a Massachusetts drug compounding center that was the source of a deadly meningitis outbreak has pled no contest to 11 counts of manslaughter brought by Michigan state prosecutors, the latter state's Department of Attorney General announced Tuesday.

  • March 05, 2024

    Texas Court Clears Gun Dealer In Suit Over Woman's Suicide

    A suit accusing sporting goods giant Academy Sports + Outdoor of negligently selling a handgun to a woman who used it to kill herself was properly dismissed, a Texas appeals court ruled Tuesday, saying that because the company's sale was lawful it can't be blamed for her death.

  • March 05, 2024

    FTC Chair Decries PE's Healthcare Impacts As Probe Starts

    Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan on Tuesday lamented what she deemed the "financialization" of healthcare resulting from private equity buyouts, in remarks coinciding with the launch of a multijurisdictional request for public comment on PE and other companies' growing control over the healthcare system.

  • March 05, 2024

    Social Media Created Public Nuisance, Schools Say

    School districts on Monday urged a California federal judge not to toss their suits in multidistrict litigation alleging that social media giants like Meta Platforms Inc. and Snap Inc. purposefully addict minors, saying that their deliberate targeting of students during the school day created a public nuisance.

  • March 05, 2024

    Meta Tells Chancery It Didn't 'Utterly Fail' To Stop Exploitation

    Shareholders accusing Meta's leaders of "utterly failing" to eliminate pedophilia, human trafficking and child sexual exploitation on its social media platforms didn't ask enough about the company's efforts and haven't shown any "corporate trauma," an attorney for Meta's board told Delaware's Court of Chancery on Tuesday.

  • March 05, 2024

    Ohio Pot Facility Explosion Sparks Suit Against Lighting Co.

    An Ohio cannabis grower and its insurer accused a lighting products company of failing to warn them about the dangers of its merchandise after one of its lamps allegedly exploded in a growth facility, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage.

  • March 05, 2024

    FDA Rejection Of Fosamax's Label Fix Not Final, 3rd Circ. Told

    Counsel for patients suing Merck over its osteoporosis drug Fosamax's alleged risk of causing painful bone fractures told a Third Circuit panel Tuesday that a Food and Drug Administration letter denying changes to the drug's label does not count as a final agency action triggering federal preemption of state law failure to warn claims.

  • March 05, 2024

    Cheese Producer Cops To Selling Listeria-Tainted Products

    A former New York raw milk cheese manufacturer and his company pled guilty Tuesday to introducing cheese into the market that was linked to a deadly outbreak of listeriosis.

  • March 05, 2024

    Monsanto Nabs 1st Win In Philly's Roundup Trial Blitz

    A Philadelphia jury on Tuesday cleared Monsanto of liability in a Pennsylvania cancer patient's suit alleging he developed his illness after using the weed killer Roundup, handing the company its first win in the venue where plaintiffs have won more than $2.5 billion in damages on tort claims over the Bayer AG unit's signature product.

  • March 05, 2024

    J&J Trial Over Doctor's Cancer Death Ends In Hung Jury

    A Florida state judge declared a mistrial Tuesday after jurors said they were "hopelessly deadlocked" over whether Johnson & Johnson's baby powder caused the cancer that killed a Miami anesthesiologist.

  • March 05, 2024

    Hemp Cos. Say NY Regulations Will Sink Industry In State

    A group of hemp product makers, distributors and sellers are suing the New York State Cannabis Control Board and Office of Cannabis Management in federal court, saying newly adopted regulations will hamstring the industry and cost the businesses millions.

  • March 04, 2024

    Nestle Misbranded Perrier As Natural Mineral Water, Suit Says

    Nestle USA Inc. was hit with a proposed class action Monday claiming that the multinational food and beverage conglomerate misled consumers as to the purity of its Perrier mineral water because the water actually comes from a contaminated spring that requires filtration and treatment.

  • March 04, 2024

    Apple Inks Deal To End Derivative Suit Over Slow IPhones

    Apple investors are urging a California federal judge to approve a noncash settlement of their derivative shareholder suit claiming the tech giant's top brass secretly slowed older iPhones, saying the deal will bring needed board committee reforms and notify consumers about battery options when their phones' performance degrades.

  • March 04, 2024

    Tobacco Cos. Urge DC Circ. To Ax Broad Health Warning Order

    Tobacco giants R.J. Reynolds and ITG Brands have backed a bid to overturn a D.C. district court order classifying Philip Morris USA's electronic tobacco devices, called HeatSticks, as "cigarettes," thereby subjecting them to the same marketing requirements that warn consumers of the negative health effects of smoking.

  • March 04, 2024

    Pot User Cites Bruen In Bid To Escape Gun Charge Indictment

    A man who police say fired a shotgun at his neighbor's front door is looking to evade criminal charges related to having and transferring a gun while using marijuana, filing a dismissal bid to the same judge who declared identical charges levied on the defendant's wife unconstitutional.

  • March 04, 2024

    Camp Lejeune Plaintiffs Say Specific Illness Link Is Not Required

    Litigants in the Camp Lejeune contaminated-water litigation on Sunday told a North Carolina federal court that Congress set a unique standard to show that their illnesses were caused by exposure to the water at the Marine base, given that it's been decades since some veterans were first exposed.

Expert Analysis

  • And Now A Word From The Panel: 55 Years Of The JPML

    Author Photo

    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.

  • Cannabis Cos. Must Heed PFAS Risks In Products, Packaging

    Author Photo

    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.

  • Insurance Insights From 5th Circ. Blue Bell Coverage Ruling

    Author Photo

    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.

  • Courts Can Overturn Deficient State Regulations, Too

    Author Photo

    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.

  • Micromobility Can Lead To Macro Liability For Cities, Cos.

    Author Photo

    E-bike and scooter manufacturers and rental operators, as well as the cities that host such services, must be aware of the major litigation risk associated with the growing number of serious accidents and injuries involving such micromobility devices — and should track emerging regulations in this area, says Arturo Aviles at Segal McCambridge.

  • Tales From The Trenches Of Remote Depositions

    Author Photo

    As practitioners continue to conduct depositions remotely in the post-pandemic world, these virtual environments are rife with opportunities for improper behavior such as witness coaching, scripted testimony and a general lack of civility — but there are methods to prevent and combat these behaviors, say Jennifer Gibbs and Bennett Moss at Zelle.

  • Time For Courts, Attorneys To Use Amended Evidence Rule

    Author Photo

    Though recent amendments to Federal Rule of Evidence 702, clarifying courts’ gatekeeping role in admitting expert witness testimony, will not formally go into effect until Dec. 1, practitioners should use the amendments now to weed out flawed jurisprudence of the past and prevent it moving forward, say Eric Lasker at Hollingsworth and Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation.

  • Tide May Be Turning On Texas Two-Step Bankruptcy Strategy

    Author Photo

    Recent developments in several high-profile bankruptcy cases suggest that the use of the Texas Two-Step to shield solvent companies from tort claims may be falling out of favor, but until the U.S. Supreme Court hears one of these cases the strategy will remain divisive and the subject of increased scrutiny, say attorneys at Rivkin Radler.

  • Level Up Lawyers' Business Development With Gamification

    Author Photo

    With employee engagement at a 10-year low in the U.S., there are several gamification techniques marketing and business development teams at law firms can use to make generating new clients and matters more appealing to lawyers, says Heather McCullough at Society 54.

  • Mallory Ruling Leaves Personal Jurisdiction Deeply Unsettled

    Author Photo

    In Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway, a closely divided U.S. Supreme Court recently rolled back key aspects of its 2017 opinion in Daimler AG v. Bauman that limited personal jurisdiction, leaving as many questions for businesses as it answers, say John Cerreta and James Rotondo at Day Pitney.

  • Handling Hostile Depositions: Keep Calm And Make A Record

    Author Photo

    When depositions turn contentious, attorneys should, among other strategies, maintain a professional demeanor and note any objectionable conduct on the record, thereby increasing chances of a favorable outcome for the client while preserving the integrity of the legal process, say attorneys at Steptoe & Johnson.

  • EPA Draft Plastic Pollution Plan Offers Opportunities For Cos.

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recently released draft national strategy to prevent plastic pollution, if implemented as is, will have serious implications for waste collection and processing businesses, but also highlights growth opportunities for companies seeking to capitalize on the emerging circular economy, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • Using Counterfactuals To Shift Jurors' Hindsight Bias

    Author Photo

    Counterfactuals can reduce or increase jurors’ hindsight bias by helping them imagine how events could have unfolded differently, but before attorneys make use of this key tool at trial, they should keep several important principles in mind, say Merrie Jo Pitera and David Metz at IMS Consulting, and John Ursu at Faegre Drinker.

  • 5 Ways Firms Can Rethink Office Design In A Hybrid World

    Author Photo

    As workplaces across the country adapt to flexible work, law firms must prioritize individuality, amenities and technology in office design, says Kristin Cerutti at Nelson Worldwide.

  • Opinion

    Bar Score Is Best Hiring Metric Post-Affirmative Action

    Author Photo

    After the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling striking down affirmative action admissions policies, law firms looking to foster diversity in hiring should view an applicant's Multistate Bar Examination score as the best metric of legal ability — over law school name or GPA, says attorney Alice Griffin.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Product Liability archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!