Expert Analysis

• After Durnell, Connecting Science And Causation Will Be Key

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's June 25 decision in Monsanto v. Durnell narrowed label-based failure-to-warn claims — meaning that going forward, viable theories will depend even more on whether experts can reliably connect scientific evidence to the causal proposition the law requires, says Alex Smolak at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar.

• Series

  Choral Singing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Singing in the New York City Bar Chorus — a hobby partly inspired by the late U.S. District Judge Richard Owen, who infused my clerkship year with opera music — has improved my legal career by refining my abilities to listen, exude confidence and develop emotional intelligence, says Bonnie Baker at Friedman Kaplan.

• Attorney Mental Health Is An Ethical Obligation In The AI Era

  

  As attorneys cope with the increasing unpredictability that artificial intelligence and constant policy changes have created, particularly in practice areas where they carry the emotional weight of clients’ most consequential life events, otherwise soft discussions about self-care are a matter of professional competence, says attorney Jack Jrada.

• 3 Litigation Strategies To Stay Ahead Of Bad Facts

  

  A case with damaging facts can still be won if, instead of avoiding the facts, attorneys proactively address them by carefully selecting a strategy of confronting, containing or reframing, says Allison Rocker at Baker McKenzie.

• Leveraging AI In MDL Discovery And Case Management

  

  Generative and agentic artificial intelligence tools can help teams organize and digest the vast volume of documents inherent to multidistrict litigation, but workflows must be designed to maximize the tools' strengths and maintain human control of key operational and ethical factors, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

• Lessons For Cos. From Nixed Apple Watch Greenwashing Suit

  

  A California federal court's recent decision in Dib v. Apple, a putative class action challenging carbon-neutral marketing statements made about the Apple Watch, provides meaningful guidance on how such claims may be defeated at the pleading stage, especially where they hinge on third-party verification, say attorneys at Mintz.

• Series

  Power To The Paralegals: Burnout As A Structural Problem

  

  Law firm leadership can best retain their paralegals not by encouraging self-care, but by seeking top-down structural solutions for the quiet proliferation of responsibilities and the vicarious exposure to client trauma that particularly drive burnout in this vital role, says Erika Sneeringer at Brockstedt Mandalas.

• Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: June Lessons

  

  In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five recent rulings from cases involving allegations of internet data misuse, consumer fraud claims, immigration, insurance and First Amendment violation claims.

• Ill. Law Firm MSO Bill Clashes With Court Power, Ethics Rules

  

  An Illinois bill prohibiting law firms from certain business arrangements with management service organizations, sent to the governor for signature last week, encroaches upon the courts' constitutional powers and goes beyond the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct in regulating investment in law-related services, says Matthew O’Hara at Smith Gambrell.

• Justices' Montgomery Ruling Doesn't Expand Shipper Liability

  

  Whether negligent hiring liability claims against shippers will increase after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last month in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II is anyone's guess, but the ruling itself will have no impact on shippers' actual liability in personal injury claims relating to trucking accidents, says Ronald Leibman at McCarter & English.

• GHG Rescission Undermines State Climate Suit Preemption

  

  As the U.S. Supreme Court considers the fate of state climate litigation in Suncor Energy Inc. v. Boulder County, it must confront the fact that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rescission of its greenhouse gas endangerment finding has also removed the foundation for federal preemption of state climate suits, says attorney Gregg Goldfarb.

• Opinion

  State Courts Must Be Gatekeepers Of Expert Testimony

  

  Based on my experience in the state judiciary, emulating federal courts' role as gatekeepers of expert witness testimony would help state court judges maintain the appearance of impartiality and assist juries, thus enhancing the overall confidence people have in their justice system, says Lorie Gildea at Greenberg Traurig.

• Series

  Moshing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Entering a mosh pit is much like entering the practice of law — it is difficult, you have to know both the written and unwritten rules, and conduct yourself according to the expectations of each community, says Christopher Deubert at Constangy Brooks.

• Why Highly Specialized Experts May Risk Exclusion At Trial

  

  Expert witnesses with highly specific areas of focus may be vulnerable to exclusion in court, making it important for attorneys to check how potential witnesses' qualifications can be bolstered by their publications and other professional activities, say Evan Weisberg and Christopher Cunio at Hunton, and Kevin Cahill at FTI Consulting.

• Gatorade Suit Offers Lessons On Product Performance Claims

  

  A proposed class action in New York federal court disputing PepsiCo's claim that Gatorade "hydrates better than water" presents a broad challenge to the way food and beverage companies communicate product benefits — and the risks that arise when marketing claims outpace the evidence supporting them, says Pejman Javaheri at Juris Law Group.