Product Liability

  • March 12, 2024

    NTSB Slams Order To Allow Hands-On Train Parts Inspection

    The National Transportation Safety Board objected to a federal magistrate judge's order compelling it to let a rail car leasing firm and a chemical company physically inspect parts of the Norfolk Southern train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, last year, arguing its own investigation could be harmed.

  • March 12, 2024

    Paul Weiss' Digital Tech Chair On AI's Promises And Perils

    While generative artificial intelligence promises to increase access to justice and kill the billable hour, we don't know how to prevent it from unleashing misinformation and disinformation on the electorate, says Katherine Forrest, a former Manhattan federal judge who is now chair of Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP's digital technology group.

  • March 12, 2024

    Gold King Mine Contractor Looks To Toss Final Navajo Claims

    An environmental and infrastructure services firm is asking a New Mexico federal judge to dismiss the last three claims the Navajo Nation lodged against it for the Gold King Mine spill in southwest Colorado, which sent several million gallons of hazardous mine waste into area waterways.

  • March 12, 2024

    Customers Drop PFAS Claims Against Conn. Water Co.

    A trio of consumers who accused a Connecticut water company of overcharging them and providing water containing toxic "forever chemicals" withdrew their proposed class action from state court after the company argued it did not get to set its own price rates to begin with.

  • March 11, 2024

    Judge Tells Atty 'Not My Job To Go Research' Baby Food

    A California federal judge on Monday appeared open to granting Plum Organics summary judgment on allegations the baby-food-maker failed to disclose potential toxins in its baby food products, doubting that the consumers have supported their claims with admissible evidence and telling counsel, "It's not my job to go research."

  • March 11, 2024

    Lyft Wants Out Of Rape Survivor's 'Untimely' Negligence Suit

    Lyft Inc. has urged a California federal judge to toss a passenger's suit accusing the ride-hailing service of failing to protect her from a violent predator who raped her and got her pregnant, saying she filed the suit too late under both California and Florida law.

  • March 11, 2024

    Amazon Prime Video-Viewing Data Sparks Privacy Fears

    Amazon is accused of illegally disclosing a virtual "warehouse" of private customer data, including what movies subscribers watch on Prime, without letting consumers opt out, according to a proposed class action filed in Washington federal court.

  • March 11, 2024

    Judge OKs Big-Box Stores' 'Flushable' Wipes Deals

    A South Carolina federal judge has granted his blessing to a deal that ends claims that retailers and consumer products companies sold "flushable" wipes that clogged up sewer systems, despite objections from one Maryland public works that wanted to, but can't, "opt-out" of the settlement.

  • March 11, 2024

    FDA Seeks $7.2B For Fiscal Year 2025

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday said that it is requesting $7.2 billion as part of the Biden administration's proposed budget, an increase of nearly $500 million from fiscal year 2023's funding, with $15 million aimed at protecting food safety and nutrition.

  • March 11, 2024

    3rd Circ. Unsure Of Reasons To Halt Del. Assault Weapon Ban

    A Third Circuit panel seemed to lean toward letting Delaware keep its ban on so-called assault weapons and extended magazines during arguments Monday, with Judge Stephanos Bibas pressing gun rights advocates on their claim the ban should have been blocked solely on the grounds that a Second Amendment violation may have taken place.

  • March 11, 2024

    Souped-Up Mustangs Overheated After 10 Min., Fla. Jury Told

    A group of drivers suing Ford Motor Co. told a Florida federal jury on Monday that the carmaker misled them on the high-performance capabilities of the 2016 Shelby GT350 Mustangs they purchased, saying that the vehicles overheated after about 10 minutes of racing them on a track.

  • March 11, 2024

    Biden DOT Budget Targets Aviation Safety, Private Jet Use

    The Biden administration is seeking to impose new fees on private jet users, boost aviation industry hiring and accelerate transit, highway and other infrastructure projects under a $109.3 billion budget request for the U.S. Department of Transportation that the White House unveiled Monday.

  • March 11, 2024

    Walmart Fails To Sink Feds' Opioid Crisis Lawsuit

    A Delaware federal judge on Monday kept alive a government lawsuit accusing Walmart of fueling the nation's opioid crisis, ruling that the company could be held liable for filling illegitimate prescriptions its compliance officers allegedly failed to flag for unwitting pharmacists.

  • March 11, 2024

    Most Claims Trimmed In Ford Faulty Transmission Suit

    A Massachusetts federal judge has thrown out the bulk of a suit alleging Ford Motor Co. knowingly sold vehicles with a faulty transmission system, while allowing breach of implied warranty, fraudulent concealment and state law claims to proceed.

  • March 11, 2024

    Urologist Seeks Coverage For Defective Penile Implants Suit

    A urologist's medical device company told a California federal court that two insurers must cover it, the doctor and his practice in an underlying class action alleging that a silicone implant invented for penile enlargement, and the procedure that went with it, left patients with permanent damage.

  • March 08, 2024

    Inside The Climactic Clash Over Skyrocketing MDL Caseloads

    A seven-year showdown over the nation's swelling docket of ultra-high-stakes consumer suits is hurtling toward its moment of truth, as a judicial oversight panel weighs impassioned input from big-name attorneys and judges endorsing everything from sweeping overhauls to the tiniest of tweaks.

  • March 08, 2024

    20 States Urge Justices To Block 5th Circ. 'Ghost Gun' Ruling

    The District of Columbia and 20 states are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Fifth Circuit order that allowed two companies to sell so-called ghost guns, which lack serial numbers, saying that without federal regulation, soaring sales of the weapon kits has caused a spike in crime.

  • March 08, 2024

    Consumers Fight Dismissal Bids In Microsoft And OpenAI Suit

    Consumers who say their privacy was violated by Microsoft Corp. and OpenAI LP's products are urging California federal court not to dismiss their complaint, saying it clearly and in detail lays out the basis for their allegations.

  • March 08, 2024

    Feds, Tribes Say Marine Cos., DOT Polluted Duwamish River

    Two companies and Washington's transportation department would collectively pay about $275,000 to settle claims they polluted the Lower Duwamish River and Elliott Bay in Seattle under a proposed consent decree filed by the U.S. government, the Suquamish Indian Tribe of the Port Madison Reservation, the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and Washington state.

  • March 08, 2024

    League Of Legends Maker Facing $1B Suit Over FTX Promos

    League of Legends video-game maker Riot Games has been hit with a potential billion-dollar class action accusing the company of fraud and conspiracy for its alleged role in helping deceive investors of the collapsed FTX cryptocurrency exchange platform.

  • March 08, 2024

    Mass. Justices OK Town's 'Clever' Gradual Tobacco Ban

    A Massachusetts town's admittedly novel bylaw phasing out the sale of tobacco by prohibiting sales to anyone born in this century could become a model for other local communities after the regulation withstood a legal challenge by a group of retailers at the state's highest court Friday.

  • March 08, 2024

    $2M Unilever Suave Deodorant Settlement Gets First OK

    An Illinois federal judge has given the go-ahead to a $2 million settlement to end a class action's claims that Unilever United States Inc. sold Suave antiperspirant products with dangerous amounts of benzene.

  • March 08, 2024

    CSX's Georgia Backroads Bridge Caused Crash, Suit Says

    Railway giant CSX was hit with a lawsuit in Georgia federal court Thursday alleging that lax upkeep of a backroads bridge led to a woman's car crash.

  • March 08, 2024

    Justices Urged To Review Immunity Law In Snapchat Abuse Suit

    A man who alleges that his high school teacher used Snapchat to send him sexually explicit material when he was 15 is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Fifth Circuit decision dismissing his claims, saying it's an ideal vehicle for the justices to fix an overbroad interpretation of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

  • March 07, 2024

    Tesla Can Force Individual Arbitration In EV Mileage Fight

    A California federal judge on Thursday ruled that Tesla can force individual arbitration in two proposed class actions alleging the carmaker falsely advertised inflated mileage ranges for its electric vehicles, but stayed the suit in case an arbitrator determines that certain relief is barred under Tesla's arbitration agreement.

Expert Analysis

  • 10 Legal Subject Matters Popping Up In AI Litigation

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    The past five years have brought judicial opinions addressing artificial intelligence in many different legal areas, so a study of existing case law is an important first step for in-house counsel addressing how to advise on the uncertainty driving many of the AI legal disputes, says Mark Davies at Orrick.

  • Steps To Take On AI Operations Amid FTC's ChatGPT Probe

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    Following the Federal Trade Commission's civil investigative demand for OpenAI, it is foreseeable that many more investigations into artificial intelligence and its impact on consumers are coming, but companies can be prepared, say David Shonka and Benjamin Redgrave at Redgrave.

  • Insurers, Prepare For Large Exposures From PFAS Claims

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    With thousands of lawsuits concerning per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances pending across the country, several large settlements already reached, and both regulators and the plaintiffs bar increasingly focusing on PFAS, it is becoming clear that these "forever chemicals" present major exposures to insurers and their policyholders, say Scott Seaman and Jennifer Arnold at Hinshaw.

  • What's Notable In Connecticut's New Cannabis Laws

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    The Connecticut Legislature recently passed four bills containing cannabis provisions — ranging from applicable tax credits to labor agreement requirements — that may prove to be a mixed bag for state operators, say Sarah Westby and Deanna McWeeney at Shipman & Goodwin.

  • Series

    The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Elrod On 'Jury Duty'

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    Though the mockumentary series “Jury Duty” features purposely outrageous characters, it offers a solemn lesson about the simple but brilliant design of the right to trial by jury, with an unwitting protagonist who even John Adams may have welcomed as an impartial foreperson, says Fifth Circuit Judge Jennifer Elrod.

  • Aviation Watch: Osprey Aircraft May Face Tort Claims

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    A recent U.S. Marine Corps Command report found that the cause of a 2022 Osprey crash was a problem known to the manufacturer and the military for over 10 years — and the aircraft may now be on its way to a day of reckoning in the tort liability arena, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.

  • 4 Business-Building Strategies For Introvert Attorneys

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Introverted lawyers can build client bases to rival their extroverted peers’ by adapting time-tested strategies for business development that can work for any personality — such as claiming a niche, networking for maximum impact, drawing on existing contacts and more, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.

  • FTC's 'Made in USA' Enforcement Goes Beyond Labeling Rule

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    The Federal Trade Commission's recent enforcement action against a group of businesses for falsely claiming that clothing was made domestically demonstrates that even where the agency's "Made in USA" labeling rule is not violated, other kinds of improper claims about products' origins can get companies in trouble, say Wrede Smith and Kali Yallourakis at McGuireWoods.

  • Opinion

    3 Ways Justices' Disclosure Defenses Miss The Ethical Point

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    The rule-bound interpretation of financial disclosures preferred by U.S. Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas — demonstrated in their respective statements defending their failure to disclose gifts from billionaires — show that they do not understand the ethical aspects of the public's concern, says Jim Moliterno at the Washington and Lee University School of Law.

  • Cannabis Plain Packaging Rules: Examples And Opportunities

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    States that have legalized adult-use cannabis in recent years have adopted stringent requirements for product packaging and labeling in an effort to protect minors, and these rules may provide a vehicle for compromise between proponents and opponents of legalization, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Ohio Rulings Are Cautionary Tales For Attorneys In Crisis

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    Two recent decisions from Ohio state courts provide a sobering reminder that a counsel’s personal emergencies will not always suffice to alter court deadlines or excuse procedural missteps, and that prompt communication and documentation are crucial in the Buckeye State and beyond, says L. Bradfield Hughes at Porter Wright.

  • EPA Focus On Lead Could Heighten Private Litigation Risk

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    As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency continues a series of initiatives aimed at reducing lead exposure, including last month's proposal to strengthen removal requirements for lead-based paint, the risks of private suits from citizens groups over lead contamination grow, say Jonathan Brightbill and Madalyn Brown Feiger at Winston & Strawn.

  • Caregiver Flexibility Is Crucial For Atty Engagement, Retention

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    As the battle for top talent continues post-pandemic, many firms are attempting to attract employees with progressive hybrid working environments — and supporting caregivers before, during and after an extended leave is a critically important way to retain top talent, says Manar Morales at The Diversity & Flexibility Alliance.

  • Can Class Actions Guide AI Risk Mitigation Efforts?

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    The speed at which artificial intelligence is developing will likely outpace the legislative response, and two recently filed class actions naming OpenAI as a defendant raise the question of whether existing laws may be used to place some meaningful guardrails on the development of AI, says Thomas Carey at Sunstein.

  • MoCRA Will Give Cosmetics Litigation A Makeover

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    Many provisions of the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act go into effect at the end of this year — so cosmetics companies must understand how the law presents both benefits and challenges, especially with regard to litigation, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

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