Product Liability

Expert Analysis

• Inside The New GMO Labeling Disclosure Proposal

  

  Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released its highly anticipated rule for labeling foods that contain genetically modified organisms, or “GMOs.” The proposal suggests a sweeping national disclosure requirement and, given the variety of consumer perceptions of bioengineered foods, could generate debate over certain label ideas, say Robert Hibbert and Ryan Fournier of Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP.

• New Era Of Falling Space Debris, Old Treaties On Liability

  

  With the steady increase in space activity by both the public and private sectors comes an increased chance that a failed launch or obsolete space objects will fall back to Earth and cause damage to people and property. It may be time to re-examine where the responsibility lies for such damage, say Tod Northman and Christine Snyder of Tucker Ellis LLP.

• Practical Considerations For Litigating Proportionality

  

  By incorporating an explicit requirement that discovery must be “proportional to the needs of the case,” the 2015 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure garnered much speculation as to their impact on courts’ decision-making processes. Now that the rules have been implemented for over two years, several themes have emerged, say attorneys with Buckley Sandler LLP.

• When Must Manufacturers Anticipate Product Misuse?

  

  Not all injuries arising from the abuse or misuse of a product may lead to manufacturer liability. If the misuse was not reasonably foreseeable, the law does not hold manufacturers responsible in tort. But it can be difficult to determine which misuses are reasonably foreseeable and which are not, say Stephen Copenhaver and Sarah Schiferl of Schiff Hardin LLP.

• CPSC Reaction To Consumer Misuse May Cost Companies

  

  Product liability suits and regulatory product defect enforcement actions associated with foreseeable and unforeseeable consumer misuse have become the norm. But the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's recent attempt to address human factors in the design process may present extraordinary costs and undue burdens on product designers and manufacturers, say Cheryl Falvey and Stephanie Crawford of Crowell & Moring LLP.

• Supporting Nontraditional Data Types In E-Discovery

  

  The advancement in connected technologies and software has created an explosion of nontraditional data sources that present challenges to e-discovery practitioners. Many tools and techniques used to process traditional data may not be practical for these new data types, say Jason Paroff and Sagi Sam of Epiq.

• A Key Rhode Island Ruling On Take-Home Asbestos Exposure

  

  Last month a Rhode Island court addressed for the first time whether an entity has a duty of care to protect nonemployees from exposure to the asbestos-tainted work clothes of the entity’s employee. The decision reveals a willingness of the court to extend an employer’s duty to household members of employees, says Thaddeus Lenkiewicz of Manning Gross & Massenburg LLP.

• After Trump’s Policy Purges, Who Speaks For The Victims?

  

  Under President Donald Trump, federal agencies have killed or delayed key regulations and imposed drastically fewer penalties against corporate wrongdoers — thus enabling cheaters, victimizing consumers and compromising well-behaving companies. It falls to state attorneys general, as well as the private bar — plaintiffs and defense attorneys together — to pick up the slack, says Daniel Karon of Karon LLC.

• Don’t Sleep On The Dormant Commerce Clause

  

  The Fourth Circuit recently held that a Maryland statute, which prohibited drugmakers and distributors from charging an "unconscionable" price even on sales that occurred outside the state, was a violation of the dormant commerce clause. We cannot read this case without daydreaming about how its logic might apply to other cases, says Stephen McConnell of Reed Smith LLP.

• The Fastest Federal Civil Court For A Decade

  

  Out of 94 district courts nationwide, the Eastern District of Virginia has the fastest civil trial docket in the country, now for at least the 10th straight year. The modern EDVA bench clearly takes pride in efficiently dispensing justice, and this dedication to efficiency has continued even in the face of increased filings, says Bob Tata of Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP.