Product Liability

  • September 13, 2024

    Emergent BioSolutions Pays $40M To Settle COVID Vax Suit

    Emergent BioSolutions has agreed to pay $40 million to settle a consolidated class action alleging it misled investors about how prepared it was to handle two high-profile deals to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines.

  • September 13, 2024

    Makers Of Paragard Say Time Ran Out On Claims In 236 Suits

    Teva Pharmaceuticals and The Cooper Cos. pressed an Atlanta federal judge to pare back multidistrict litigation over alleged defects in the Paragard IUD by dismissing untimely claims across 236 complaints.

  • September 13, 2024

    Nestlé Can't Ax Danone's Whey Protein Patent At EPO

    Danone has rebuffed a bid by food and drink giant Nestlé to scrap its European patent for a whey protein composition, as it proved that using gum arabic as a sugar substitute was a new invention.

  • September 13, 2024

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen a football agent sue Chelsea FC after being cleared of allegations he threatened the club’s former director, an ongoing patent dispute between Amgen and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, and a private school in Edinburgh suing Riverstone Insurance over compensation claims tied to historical abuse allegations made by former pupils. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • September 13, 2024

    SBSB Adds Liability Litigator From Kelley Kronenberg In Fla.

    A former Kelley Kronenberg litigator with a focus on third-party insurance defense is heading to the Boca Raton, Florida, office of SBSB Eastham.

  • September 13, 2024

    FCA Faces Pressure Over Pricey Monthly Insurance Premiums

    A consumer advocacy group urged the British financial regulator on Friday to step in after it found that insurers were still charging up to 45% in interest for consumers who choose monthly payment plans for their annual premiums.

  • September 13, 2024

    Brokers Seek Insurance Tax Cut In Budget For At-Risk Housing

    A trade body for insurance brokers has urged the U.K. government to exempt policyholders in apartment buildings with flammable cladding from a tax on premiums, as it seeks to avoid a jump in the price of cover.

  • September 12, 2024

    DLA Piper Adds Product Liability Pro To Austin Office

    In yet another notable BigLaw litigator lateral move in Texas this week, DLA Piper has added to its Austin office a product liability and mass torts expert from King & Spalding LLP.

  • September 12, 2024

    UK Says Illicit Cigarette Crackdown Halves Tobacco Tax Gap

    HM Revenue & Customs said Thursday it has slashed the tax gap on cigarettes and other tobacco products by more than half since 2005.

  • September 12, 2024

    Feds Eye Nixing Girardi's Ill. Case After Calif. Theft Conviction

    The federal government might drop its criminal charges in Illinois against disbarred attorney Tom Girardi following his recent conviction in California on similar charges of stealing millions from clients, a prosecutor indicated Thursday during a status hearing in the Prairie State matter.

  • September 12, 2024

    Beasley Sues Fellow Talc Firms Over Joint Venture Gone Awry

    Beasley Allen is going after its law firm partner in a joint venture that has represented thousands in talcum powder litigation against Johnson & Johnson, claiming in a new federal lawsuit that the firm is partially responsible for more than $1 million in owed expenses and, driven by its own financial woes, has unilaterally been negotiating with the pharmaceutical giant to the detriment of clients.

  • September 12, 2024

    Mass Tort Boutique Leader On Sizing Up With Anapol Weiss

    Nearly four years after leaving the corporate defense world to launch her own five-attorney plaintiffs' boutique, former Wilkinson Stekloff LLP founding partner Alexandra Walsh says she's looking forward to spending more time in the courtroom as her firm is absorbed by Philadelphia-based mass tort and personal injury firm Anapol Weiss. Here, Law360 Pulse speaks with Walsh about the decision to merge and about her move from the defense to the plaintiffs' bar.

  • September 12, 2024

    Greenberg Traurig Grows Health Team With Ex-NY Official

    A former New York State Department of Health official has moved to the private sector with Greenberg Traurig LLP as the firm expands its healthcare and U.S. Food and Drug Administration practice.

  • September 11, 2024

    Litigation Spending To Rise As Cases Grow More Aggressive

    A substantial number of large companies are expecting to increase their litigation spending by double digits next year in the face of more complex and hard-fought cases — and they are more open to bringing in new legal talent to navigate the matters, according to a report released Thursday. 

  • September 11, 2024

    Utah Social Media Law Blocked Amid 1st Amendment Fight

    A Utah federal judge has blocked the state from enforcing a new law requiring social media companies to verify the ages of minor users and impose restrictions on their accounts, saying the state law likely violates tech companies' First Amendment rights.

  • September 11, 2024

    Norfolk Southern Fires CEO, CLO Over Relationship

    Norfolk Southern Corp. fired CEO Alan Shaw and chief legal officer Nabanita Nag after it found in an investigation that they'd had a consensual relationship that violated company policy, the Atlanta-based transportation giant said Wednesday evening.

  • September 11, 2024

    Philadelphia Jury Clears Monsanto In City's 5th Roundup Trial

    A Philadelphia jury on Wednesday cleared Bayer AG unit Monsanto of liability in a man's case alleging the company sold its flagship weedkiller Roundup despite knowing about its cancer-causing properties, marking the agrochemical giant's second trial win in a spate of massive plaintiffs' verdicts in the city.

  • September 11, 2024

    Sprout Foods Can't Get 9th Circ. Redo In Baby Food Label Suit

    A split Ninth Circuit panel declined Tuesday to rethink its decision that federal law doesn't preempt a couple's California state law claim over allegedly misleading nutrition labels on Sprout Foods baby food labels.

  • September 11, 2024

    Top Calif. Biz Bills Sitting On Gov. Newsom's Desk

    Among the hundreds of bills awaiting California Governor Gavin Newsom's signature are a number that would create new guidelines for Golden State employers, healthcare industry players, as well as artificial intelligence labeling, textile recycling and increasing criminal penalties for corporate malfeasance by tens of millions of dollars.

  • September 11, 2024

    San Diego Utility Hit With Suit Over Wood Waste Runoff

    San Diego Gas & Electric is using a wood treatment mixture on its power poles and in its facilities that includes toxic chemicals that poison the environment and pose a danger to humans and animals nearby, according to a suit filed in California federal court Tuesday.

  • September 11, 2024

    Indivior, Reckitt Benckiser Units Freed From Suboxone MDL

    An Ohio federal judge cut Indivior PLC and two Reckitt Benckiser entities loose from multidistrict litigation alleging opioid addiction treatment Suboxone caused dental decay, formalizing an agreement the parties forged in recent weeks.

  • September 11, 2024

    King & Spalding Adds 4 Attys To Mass Torts Practice In Texas

    King & Spalding LLP continues to grow its Texas presence, announcing Wednesday that it has added four partners from Butler Snow LLP to its product liability and mass torts practice group.

  • September 11, 2024

    Phelps Dunbar Recruits 6 Litigators In Raleigh

    Phelps Dunbar LLP has hired six lawyers in Raleigh to serve the business and litigation needs of companies in North and South Carolina, adding strength in health care, construction, employment and intellectual property.

  • September 11, 2024

    Mars Can't Claim For Contaminated Ice Cream, Supplier Says

    A food supplier has denied owing confectionery giant Mars Wrigley £1.1 million ($1.4 million) after ice cream became contaminated with an allegedly hazardous pesticide, claiming it didn't need to check for the substance.

  • September 11, 2024

    NC Car Parts Biz Racks Up $10M In Fines For Cheat Devices

    A North Carolina automotive components business will pay a $2.4 million criminal penalty on top of a $7 million civil fine for dealing devices used to skirt federal vehicle emissions controls, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

Expert Analysis

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Hyperlinked Documents

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    Recent rulings show that counsel should engage in early discussions with clients regarding the potential of hyperlinked documents in electronically stored information, which will allow for more deliberate negotiation of any agreements regarding the scope of discovery, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Loper Bright Limits Federal Agencies' Ability To Alter Course

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to dismantle Chevron deference also effectively overrules its 2005 decision in National Cable & Telecommunications Association v. Brand X, greatly diminishing agencies' ability to change regulatory course from one administration to the next, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

  • Series

    Teaching Scuba Diving Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    As a master scuba instructor, I’ve learned how to prepare for the unexpected, overcome fears and practice patience, and each of these skills – among the many others I’ve developed – has profoundly enhanced my work as a lawyer, says Ron Raether at Troutman Pepper.

  • Lawyers Can Take Action To Honor The Voting Rights Act

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    As the Voting Rights Act reaches its 59th anniversary Tuesday, it must urgently be reinforced against recent efforts to dismantle voter protections, and lawyers can pitch in immediately by volunteering and taking on pro bono work to directly help safeguard the right to vote, says Anna Chu at We The Action.

  • 3rd Circ. Ruling Shows Benefits Of IP Licenses In Bankruptcy

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    The Third Circuit’s recent ruling in Mallinckrodt’s Chapter 11 filing, which held that Mallinckrodt could sever its obligations to pay Sanofi royalties on sales of an autoimmune disease drug, highlights the advantages of structuring transactions as nonexclusive licenses for developers of intellectual property, say Gregory Hesse and Kaleb Bailey at Hunton.

  • How 3rd Circ. Raised Bar For Constitutional Case Injunctions

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    The Third Circuit's decision in Delaware State Sportsmen's Association v. Delaware Department of Safety & Homeland Security, rejecting the relaxed preliminary injunction standards many courts have used when plaintiffs allege constitutional harms, could portend a shift in such cases in at least four ways, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • Opinion

    Expert Witness Standards Must Consider Peer Review Crisis

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    For nearly two decades, the so-called replication crisis has upended how the scientific community views the reliability of peer-reviewed studies, and it’s time for courts to reevaluate whether peer review is a trustworthy proxy for expert witness reliability, say Jeffrey Gross and Robert LaCroix at Reid Collins.

  • How To Grow Marketing, Biz Dev Teams In A Tight Market

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    Faced with fierce competition and rising operating costs, firms are feeling the pressure to build a well-oiled marketing and business development team that supports strategic priorities, but they’ll need to be flexible and creative given a tight talent market, says Ben Curle at Ambition.

  • Series

    Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step

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    From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Weight-Loss Drugs May Spur Next Major Mass Tort

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    With lawsuits concerning Ozempic and similar weight-loss drugs potentially becoming the next major mass tort in the U.S., companies should consider key defense strategies ranging from alternate dispute resolution to enhanced drug safety, say Dino Haloulos and Jarif Khan at Foley & Mansfield.

  • What Cos. Should Know About New Global Plastics Regs

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    As the global regulatory landscape for plastics and recycling changes rapidly — with new policies coming into effect in California, at the federal level, in the European Union and at the United Nations — businesses that operate across jurisdictions must stay informed to remain compliant, mitigate legal risk and achieve stewardship goals, say attorneys at O'Melveny.

  • Del. 3M Ruling Risks Upending Corporate Insurance Programs

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    A Delaware court's findings last week in the 3M earplug insurance litigation that a parent company's defense fee payments don't count toward a subsidiary's self-insured retention and that an insurer's duty to pay defense costs doesn't attach to multidistrict litigation merit closer scrutiny in light of the modern corporate form and the fundamental objectives of MDLs, say Julie Hammerman and Gary Thompson at Thompson HD.

  • And Now A Word From The Panel: Rare MDL Moments

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    Following a recent trend of rare moments in baseball, there are a few rarities this year in multidistrict litigation panel practice, including an unusually high rate of petition grants, and, in one session, a two-week delay from hearing session day to the first decision, says Alan Rothman at Sidley.

  • Series

    Being A Luthier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    When I’m not working as an appellate lawyer, I spend my spare time building guitars — a craft known as luthiery — which has helped to enhance the discipline, patience and resilience needed to write better briefs, says Rob Carty at Nichols Brar.

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