Product Liability

  • April 25, 2025

    Hemp Co. Says Seller Can't Pass Buck On Pot Arrest

    A hemp company and its affiliates are urging a Wisconsin federal court to throw out a seller's claim that his shop was raided and he was convicted of drug possession because their products were falsely labeled as legal hemp, saying that the complaint fails to show the products had anything to do with the arrest.

  • April 25, 2025

    Father Trapped In Tesla During Fatal Fire, Family Claims

    The family of a father who died while trapped inside his Tesla Model 3 as it "spontaneously combusted and erupted into fire" is suing the automaker in California state court, claiming it was aware its doors would malfunction during a fire but hid that from consumers.

  • April 25, 2025

    Apache Want To Pause Enviro Study Until High Court Ruling

    An Apache nonprofit has urged an Arizona federal judge to issue an emergency injunction barring the government from transferring an ancient worship site to a mining company until the U.S. Supreme Court can rule on the group's petition, which seeks to block the endeavor.

  • April 25, 2025

    11th Circ. Backs FDA In Denial Of Bidi's Vape Application

    The Eleventh Circuit has affirmed the denial of a marketing application for a tobacco-flavored electronic cigarette made by Bidi Vapor LLC, finding that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration did not act arbitrarily or capriciously in finding that the company failed to show the product would promote public health.

  • April 25, 2025

    Nelson Mullins Adds Product Liability Pro In Charlotte

    Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP has welcomed seasoned product liability litigator William Purnell to its Charlotte, North Carolina, litigation group, where the firm said it intends to draw on his experience defending manufacturers in complex matters involving everything from consumer goods to industrial equipment.

  • April 24, 2025

    Circuit-By-Circuit Guide As Justices Confront Class Cert. Split

    The U.S. Supreme Court is set for climactic arguments over class certification standards that have cleaved circuits from coast to coast for much of the past two decades, teeing up a make-or-break ruling for many class actions and a transformative event for legal practice in the swelling litigation realm.

  • April 24, 2025

    Ill. Judge Won't Reduce Claims In Defective Smoker Suit

    Grill manufacturer Char-Broil LLC can't escape claims it sold an electric smoker that shocked its users and didn't work correctly even after a recall, a Chicago federal judge ruled on Thursday, rejecting arguments that the buyers' fight is actually with the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

  • April 24, 2025

    Biz Court Questions What Ties TikTok To NC In Addiction Case

    A North Carolina business judge grappled Thursday with the limits of personal jurisdiction in the internet age in the state's case alleging TikTok addicts young users, questioning whether a digital app is different from a physical good regarding where a lawsuit can be filed.

  • April 24, 2025

    Apple, Google, Roblox Duck Game Addiction Suit, For Now

    An Illinois federal judge Wednesday dismissed Apple, Google and Roblox from a parent's proposed class action accusing multiple video game developers and platforms of peddling their addictive wares to children, saying the allegations lack specificity, but left open the possibility of amending the complaint.

  • April 24, 2025

    $1M Settlement In Ga. PFAS Litigation Gets Judge's Final OK

    A Georgia federal judge gave a final sign-off Wednesday to a $1 million settlement that will see a chemical company provide temporary drinking water resources to a northwest Georgia town to end the company's involvement in a suit over the alleged release of forever chemicals into local waterways.

  • April 24, 2025

    DOT Carves Out Autonomous Vehicle Exemptions

    The U.S. Department of Transportation on Thursday updated its policy for developing autonomous vehicles, pledging to ease regulatory hurdles for domestically produced vehicles in order to accelerate U.S. competitiveness in the self-driving car space.

  • April 24, 2025

    L'Oreal, P&G Sued Over Hair Dyes Blamed For Stylist's Cancer

    A woman who developed bladder cancer after decades of exposure to hair dye is suing companies including L'Oreal, Coty, Procter & Gamble and others in California state court, claiming they concealed risks associated with certain chemicals in their products.

  • April 24, 2025

    Verdict Upheld For Security Co. Accused In Teen's Drowning

    A Connecticut judge has declined to set aside a jury verdict in favor of a security company that beat product liability and recklessness claims in the death of a teenager who drowned after sneaking into a Hartford park pool, rejecting arguments from the boy's mother that two evidence rulings tainted the outcome of her case.

  • April 23, 2025

    11th Circ. Considers Timeliness Of J&J Pelvic Mesh Claims

    An Alabama couple urged the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday to revive their lawsuit over injuries allegedly caused by pelvic mesh manufactured by Ethicon Inc. and its parent Johnson & Johnson, arguing that a district court wrongly found their claims were time-barred.

  • April 23, 2025

    Oil Giants Lose Bid To Shake DC 'Greenwashing' Suit

    A D.C. Superior Court judge has refused to throw out a D.C. lawsuit accusing BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil and Shell of long misleading consumers about climate change and the central role that their fossil fuel products have played in causing it.

  • April 23, 2025

    FDA Warns Of Health Risks In Topical Hair Loss Drug

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday alerted healthcare providers, pharmaceutical compounders and consumers about potential safety risks tied to certain hair loss treatment products, citing reports of persistent adverse side effects, including sexual dysfunction, depression and suicidal thoughts.

  • April 23, 2025

    Meta MDL Judge Doubts Insurers' Bid To Kick Fight To Del.

    A California federal judge presiding over sprawling social media personal injury multidistrict litigation doubted on Wednesday insurers' arguments their multimillion-dollar coverage fight with Meta belongs in Delaware state court, questioning how moving the case would preserve judicial resources, while observing that Hartford's pre-litigation conduct may have been in bad faith.

  • April 23, 2025

    Pool Co. Wants Rival's CEO Arrested For Unpaid $17M Verdict

    A U.S. pool parts supplier wants the owner of a rival Chinese business arrested after months of allegedly dodging court orders demanding information on company assets to satisfy a $17 million false advertising and deceptive business practices judgment.

  • April 23, 2025

    Plastic Co. Asks 1st Circ. To Undo Class Cert In PFOA Suit

    Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Co. told the First Circuit that a New Hampshire federal judge's overly broad class certification for plaintiffs claiming it contaminated thousands of properties with a toxic forever chemical must be reversed, arguing that it opened courthouse doors to uninjured class members.

  • April 23, 2025

    New Mexico Wildfire Sparks Suit Against Federal Government

    The federal government is being hit with a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Forest Service's alleged failure to follow its own prescribed burn plan, saying the lapse eventually led to the destruction of nearly 46,000 acres in the Jemez Mountains in New Mexico.

  • April 23, 2025

    Colgate Faces New Suit Over Lead In Children's Toothpaste

    Colgate-Palmolive Co. was hit with another class action accusing it of allowing their children's toothpaste to become tainted with heavy metals, according to a complaint filed in New York federal court.

  • April 23, 2025

    Railcar Co. Owes Nothing In $600M Ohio Derailment Deal

    A federal jury on Wednesday freed a railcar company from Norfolk Southern Corp.'s suit seeking a contribution to a $600 million settlement with individuals and businesses impacted by a train derailment and chemical spill in a small Ohio village two years ago.   

  • April 23, 2025

    Eli Lilly Sues 4 Telehealth Cos. For Weight Loss Drug Copies

    Eli Lilly filed a new round of lawsuits Wednesday over the compounding of its popular weight loss drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound, accusing four telehealth companies of making copies of the medications while alleging that two companies violated laws requiring doctors to make medical decisions, not corporations. 

  • April 23, 2025

    Judge Slams TCPA Atty Over Filing With 'No Legitimate Basis'

    A North Carolina magistrate judge on Wednesday chastised a Telephone Consumer Protection Act litigant and his attorney for filing a reply to a discovery motion after the court had already ruled on it, striking the reply from the docket and warning that further filings without "a legitimate basis" could lead to sanctions.

  • April 23, 2025

    Insurers Settle $1.1M Ryobi Battery Fire Claims

    A group of insurers including The Hartford has agreed to settle a consolidated lawsuit alleging that a defective Ryobi power tool battery caused a fire that led to at least $1.1 million in losses to three businesses, according to a Wednesday notice filed in Connecticut federal court.

Expert Analysis

  • Defense Strategies For Addressing Conspiracy-Minded Jurors

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    As conspiracy theories continue to proliferate and gain traction in the U.S., defense attorneys will need to consider ways to keep conspiracy-minded jurors from sitting on the jury, and to persuade them when this isn’t possible, say consultants at IMS Legal Strategies.

  • 7 Ways 2nd Trump Administration May Affect Partner Hiring

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    President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House will likely have a number of downstream effects on partner hiring in the legal industry, from accelerated hiring timelines to increased vetting of prospective employees, say recruiters at Macrae.

  • Trump, Tariffs And Tech: The Right To Repair In 2025

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    The "right-to-repair" movement has helped make it easier for independent repair shops and consumers to repair their devices and vehicles — but President-elect Donald Trump's complicated relationship with Big Tech, and his advocacy for increased tariffs, make the immediate future of the movement uncertain, say attorneys at Carter Ledyard.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Custodian Selection

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    Several recent rulings make clear that the proportionality of additional proposed custodians will depend on whether the custodians have unique relevant documents, and producing parties should consider whether information already in the record will show that they have relevant documents that otherwise might not be produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Opinion

    Section 230 Debates Will Continue, With Or Without TikTok

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    Regardless of whether TikTok is forced to shut down in the U.S. in the coming weeks, legal disputes will continue over social media platforms' responsibility under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act for harms allegedly caused by content shared on their apps, says Carla Varriale-Barker at Segal McCambridge.

  • When Judging Product Label Claims, Follow The Asterisk

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    A recurring question in false advertising class actions is whether misleading or ambiguous statements on a product's front label can be cured by information on the back label — but recent decisions from the Ninth Circuit suggest that a front-label asterisk can help alert consumers to seek further clarification, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • Complying With Seasonal Product Labeling Requirements

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    Though the holiday season is in the rearview, many seasonal alcohol products remain in the market, and producers should ensure that their labels comply with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau's additional requirements for such products, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • How Trial Attys Can Wield Amended Federal Evidence Rules

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    Trial lawyers should assess recent amendments to four Federal Rules of Evidence and a newly enacted rule on illustrative aids to determine how to best use the rules to enhance pretrial discovery and trial strategy, says Stewart Edelstein, former litigation chair at Cohen & Wolf.

  • Series

    Exercising On My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While I originally came to the Peloton bike for exercise, one cycling instructor’s teachings have come to serve as a road map for practicing law thoughtfully and mindfully, which has opened opportunities for growth and change in my career, says Andrea Kirshenbaum at Littler.

  • 5 Drug And Device Developments That Shaped 2024

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    The last year saw significant legal developments affecting drug and device manufacturers, with landmark decisions and regulatory changes that require vigilance and agility from the industry, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • Opinion

    Aviation Watch: How Court Nixed Boeing Plea Deal Over DEI

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    A Texas federal court's rejection of the plea agreement between the U.S. Department of Justice and Boeing over the 737 Max aircraft gratuitously injected the court's views on diversity, equity and inclusion into a case that shouldn't have been a criminal matter in the first place, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.

  • Top 10 Legal Issues This Year For Transportation Industry GCs

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    General counsel must carefully consider numerous legal and policy challenges facing the automotive and transportation industry in the year to come, especially while navigating new technologies, regulations and global markets, says Francesco Liberatore at Squire Patton.

  • Exploring Venue Strategy For Trump-Era Regulatory Litigation

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    Litigation will likely play a prominent role in shaping policy outcomes during the second Trump administration, and stakeholders have several tools at their disposal to steer regulatory litigation toward more favorable venues, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Consultants Should Be Aware Of DOJ's Potential New Reach

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's recent first-of-its-kind settlement with McKinsey & Co. indicates not only the DOJ's more aggressive stance toward businesses' potential criminal wrongdoings, but also the benefits of self-disclosure and cooperation when wrongdoing becomes apparent, says Dom Caamano at Kibler Fowler.

  • Product Safety Issues In 2024 Highlight Need For Vigilance

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    A look at some of the medications and foods that led to significant class actions last year demonstrates the need for robust regulatory systems and proactive measures to protect consumers from defective and harmful products, says Jennifer Taylor at the Law Offices of James Scott Farrin.

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