Product Liability

Expert Analysis

• Series

  Notes From A Law Firm Chief Privacy Officer: New Demands

  

  For outside counsel, oftentimes efficiency and responsiveness collide with security measures as clients are increasingly requiring their law firms to comply with third-party risk management programs. To meet these challenges, law firms are focusing more on the roles of chief privacy officer and chief information security officer, says Phyllis Sumner, chief privacy officer for King & Spalding LLP.

• The Great Class Action Ascertainability Debate

  

  In recent years, courts have divided sharply over whether or not Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure creates an implicit requirement that a class must be ascertainable in order to be certified. Amanda Lawrence and Michael Rome of Buckley Sandler LLP discuss the circuit split over whether and to what extent ascertainability is required, and implications of the circuit split for class action litigants.

• EPA Report Offers Glimpse Into Future Of Superfund

  

  Some of the recommendations in a report recently released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency represent a significant change of direction from the way the EPA has traditionally handled the Superfund program. These changes will be helpful for EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s goal of moving sites to completion faster than they have in the past, say Darrin Munoz and Delmar Ehrich of Faegre Baker Daniels.

• Opinion

  It's Time To Improve Voir Dire In Federal Court

  

  During the jury selection process, many times parties submit proposed voir dire questions, but the court ultimately chooses the questions to be asked and does all of the questioning of the jury panel. While this approach is judicially efficient, rarely do we learn anything meaningful from the panel members, say Lisa Blue of Baron and Blue and Robert Hirschhorn of Cathy E. Bennett & Associates.

• Series

  Notes From A Law Firm Chief Privacy Officer: Insider Risks

  

  As law firms hold sensitive information not only related to the firm but to the firm’s clients, an insider threat — whether it's a "bad actor employee" or inadvertent activity — poses a particular concern. There are steps that privacy officers can initiate to help minimize these threats, says Patricia Wagner, chief privacy officer for Epstein Becker Green.

• Calif. Could See Increase In Drinking Water Litigation

  

  California recently adopted a regulation setting the country’s strictest permissible level in drinking water for a chemical compound called 1,2,3-Trichloropropane, or TCP. The adoption of this regulation in the midst of the Flint, Michigan, water crisis and growing public distrust about the safety of drinking water will likely usher in a wave of media attention and potential litigation, say attorneys with Gordon & Rees LLP.

• Series

  Notes From A Law Firm Chief Privacy Officer: Balancing Act

  

  As the role of law firm chief privacy officer becomes more prevalent and expansive, many CPOs are finding themselves in the midst of a delicate balancing act — weighing compliance with government regulations and client requirements on one side with the needs of firm business on the other, says Kristin Jones, chief privacy officer for Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young LLP.

• 'Made In America' — What You Need To Know Now

  

  The Trump administration has announced its intention to defend American-made products by certifying legitimate U.S. goods and aggressively going after imported products that unfairly sport the “Made in America” label. Companies must review both federal and state laws and regulations in this area to ensure compliance, say Daniel Herling and Richard Maidman of Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC.

• How The IPad Can Be A Litigator's Best Friend

  

  New mobile computing tools — both hardware and applications — are changing the technology paradigm for legal practitioners. In particular, the combination of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, the Apple Pencil and the LiquidText annotation app can revolutionize both trial preparation and courtroom litigating, says attorney Paul Kiesel, in his latest review of tech trends.

• Series

  Notes From A Law Firm Chief Privacy Officer: CPO Vs. CISO

  

  To understand the role of the law firm chief privacy officer — and why that person ought to be a lawyer — it’s important to distinguish the role they fill from that of the chief information security officer, says Mark McCreary, chief privacy officer for Fox Rothschild LLP.