Product Liability

  • October 01, 2024

    Delta Wants Suit Over IT Outage Response Thrown Out

    Delta Air Lines is asking a Georgia federal judge to toss a proposed class action brought by customers who claim its botched response to a massive IT outage left them stranded and on the hook for numerous expenses, arguing their claims are barred by a federal deregulation law and its ticket terms.

  • October 01, 2024

    FanDuel Sued For $250M By Convicted Ex-Jaguars Employee

    A former employee of the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars who's in federal prison for embezzling millions to spend on online gambling sued FanDuel for $250 million in New York federal court Tuesday, accusing the betting platform of preying on his addiction to encourage him to continue.

  • September 30, 2024

    AI Safety Bill Veto Shows Calif. Taking Regulatory 'Baby Steps'

    The California governor's rejection of sweeping legislation to ensure the safe deployment of large-scale artificial intelligence models — and his simultaneous embrace of more targeted proposals to regulate the technology — is likely to result in the wider creation of regimes that favor "baby steps" over broad strokes, experts say. 

  • September 30, 2024

    Consumer 'Overslept' On Some Drowsy Cough Syrup Claims

    An Illinois federal judge said Monday a consumer can continue her suit alleging Tussin cough syrup's "non-drowsy" label is deceptive because the syrup made her sleepy, but ruled she waited too long to pursue warranty breach claims.

  • September 30, 2024

    GM's Cruise To Pay $1.5M Penalty Over SF Robotaxi Crash

    General Motors Co.'s Cruise LLC agreed to pay a $1.5 million civil penalty for failing to promptly disclose that one of its self-driving vehicles last year had dragged a pedestrian for 20 feet, the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced on Monday.

  • September 30, 2024

    Big Banks Get Brazilian Pollution Suit Booted From NY

    A New York federal judge on Monday dismissed an effort by a Brazilian city and residents to hold several big banks liable for allegedly financing environmentally ruinous mining operations in their region, ruling the matter would be more appropriately heard in Brazil.

  • September 30, 2024

    Apache Tribe Urges Supreme Court To Take Up Mining Case

    The San Carlos Apache Tribe is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a ruling by Arizona's high court that sides with a state agency decision letting a copper mining company discharge treated wastewater from potential future operations into a local waterway.

  • September 30, 2024

    DOE Plutonium Pit Plan Found To Violate Environmental Law

    A South Carolina federal judge on Monday backed antinuclear groups' challenge to a U.S. Department of Energy plan to boost production of plutonium cores used in nuclear weapons, saying the DOE hadn't properly considered the potential environmental impact of the plan.

  • September 30, 2024

    Marathon Unit Wants 8th Circ. To Nix Appeal In Pipeline Fight

    A Marathon Petroleum Corp. subsidiary is asking the Eighth Circuit to dismiss an appeal by tribal landowners trying to intervene in its lawsuit challenging the Interior Department's reversal of prior decisions related to a pipeline crossing part of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota.

  • September 30, 2024

    Del. Justices Asked To Revive Malpractice Suit Against Firms

    Parents who hired Baird Mandalas Brockstedt & Federico LLC and Schochor Staton Goldberg and Cardea PA to pursue claims that contamination from a Mountaire Corp. chicken plant caused "catastrophic injuries" to their child are urging Delaware's Supreme Court to revive their malpractice suit against the firms, saying they didn't "have an adequate opportunity to litigate."

  • September 30, 2024

    GM Asks Full 6th Circ. To Rehear Transmission Defect Case

    General Motors LLC is asking the full Sixth Circuit to hold an en banc rehearing of a panel decision last month affirming class certification in a suit alleging it sold vehicles with defective transmissions that caused shaking and shuddering, saying the panel ignored precedent in allowing the class claims to go forward.

  • September 27, 2024

    Norfolk Derailment Victims' Attys Get $162M After $600M Deal

    A federal judge said Friday that she signed off on a $162 million award to attorneys for a class of residents and others affected by last year's Norfolk Southern train derailment and toxic chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio, partly because of the "historic participation" in the $600 million settlement.

  • September 27, 2024

    Claims Trimmed In Delaware Jeep Hybrid Defect Class Action

    A Delaware federal judge threw out a number of claims Friday from a proposed class action against automaker FCA US LLC alleging it sold Jeep Wrangler and Grand Cherokee plug-in hybrid vehicles with a defective feature that renders electric driving unavailable, adopting the bulk of a magistrate judge's report filed in July.

  • September 27, 2024

    9th Circ. Says Stem Cell Treatment Not Exempt From FDA Rule

    Two California clinics' experimental stem cell treatments are "drugs" subject to Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act regulations, the Ninth Circuit ruled Friday, reviving the federal government's bid to stop the clinic from marketing the products as cures for certain diseases without U.S. Food and Drug Administration review.

  • September 27, 2024

    NJ Town Urges Court To Keep $1B DuPont Pollution Suit Alive

    Carneys Point Township urged a New Jersey state judge Friday to keep alive its billion dollar lawsuit over pollution from the former Dupont Chambers Works facility, arguing its complaint and the Garden State environmental regulator's enforcement action seeking the remediation of the same site have nothing to do with each other.

  • September 27, 2024

    Hemp Org., Cheech & Chong Take Aim At New Calif. THC Ban

    A leading hemp industry trade organization has teamed up with the cannabis brand fronted by stoner comedians Cheech and Chong to challenge new emergency regulations in California that ban the sale of hemp products containing the psychoactive cannabinoid THC.

  • September 27, 2024

    GM, LG Get Go-Ahead On $150M EV Battery Settlement

    A Michigan federal judge has given preliminary approval to a $150 million settlement to resolve claims that General Motors LLC sold Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles with faulty batteries made by LG units, finding the deal to be fair and reasonable in resolving the claims.

  • September 27, 2024

    Philip Morris Says Nicotine Pouch Suit Is Preempted

    Philip Morris International Inc. and a subsidiary are urging a Connecticut federal judge to throw out claims that they falsely advertised nicotine pouches as safe and healthy and marketed them to adolescents, saying the claims are preempted by federal law.

  • September 27, 2024

    EPA, Ohio Refinery Ink $169M Wastewater Cleanup Deal

    A Cenovus Energy unit has reached a $169 million deal to resolve the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's complaint over pollution from a petroleum refinery in Lima, Ohio, the U.S. Department of Justice and the EPA announced Friday.

  • September 26, 2024

    Texas Supreme Court Leaves State Fair Gun Ban Intact

    The state's high court rejected Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's attempt to toss out the State Fair of Texas' new policy prohibiting fairgoers from carrying handguns, with three justices finding in a late Thursday opinion that, as a private entity, the State Fair has the right to determine if people carry guns at the fair.

  • September 26, 2024

    Nestlé Customers Win Class Cert. In Child Labor Labeling Suit

    A California federal judge on Thursday granted class certification in litigation alleging Nestle USA misleads the public with "sustainably sourced" chocolate labels when its cocoa is produced through child labor and deforestation, rejecting the company's contention that classes can't be lumped together for different labels on different products.

  • September 26, 2024

    General Mills Seeks To Ax Suit Claiming Cocoa Puffs Has Lead

    General Mills urged a California federal court to toss a proposed consumer class action claiming its Cocoa Puffs cereal contains undisclosed and high levels of lead, saying the suit is based on a "flawed and implausible theory" that doesn't show lead is present in the cereal at unsafe levels.

  • September 26, 2024

    Feds Rip Railroads' 11th Circ. Bid To Void Train Crew Size Rule

    The U.S. Department of Transportation has told the Eleventh Circuit that its new train crew size rule is intended to promote rail safety, yet railroads have misconstrued the requirement and overblown their purported cost burdens in an effort to torpedo the rule.

  • September 26, 2024

    Helicopter-Maker Claims Supplier Had 'Reliability Issues'

    A former Fort Worth, Texas-based Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. engineer claimed a supplier at the center of a $100 million trade secrets lawsuit delivered parts that had "reliability issues," saying Thursday during a trial in Texas state court that the supplier had long-standing problems.

  • September 26, 2024

    Walgreens Struggles To Exit 'Non-Drowsy' Label Suit In Wash.

    The Washington State Supreme Court questioned Thursday whether Walgreens could avoid state consumer protection claims over its "non-drowsy" cough medicine label by pointing to a lack of federal labeling requirements for the drug, with one justice calling the argument a non sequitur.

Expert Analysis

  • Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?

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    A Pennsylvania federal court’s recent dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims in Morgan v. Noss should remind attorneys to avoid the temptation to repackage a claim’s facts and law into a mirror-image counterclaim, as this approach will often result in a waste of time and resources, says Matthew Selmasska at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • 6 Factors That Can Make For A 'Nuclear' Juror

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    Drawing from recent research that examines the rise in nuclear verdicts, Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies identifies a few juror characteristics most likely to matter in assessing case risk and preparing for jury selection — some of which are long-known, and others that are emerging post-pandemic.

  • Series

    Playing Dungeons & Dragons Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing Dungeons & Dragons – a tabletop role-playing game – helped pave the way for my legal career by providing me with foundational skills such as persuasion and team building, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.

  • Gilead Drug Ruling Creates Corporate Governance Dilemma

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    If upheld, a California state appellate court's decision — finding that Gilead is liable for delaying commercialization of a safer HIV drug to maximize profits on another drug — threatens to undermine long-standing rules of corporate law and exposes companies to liability for decisions based on sound business judgment, says Shireen Barday at Pallas.

  • 3 Leadership Practices For A More Supportive Firm Culture

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    Traditional leadership styles frequently amplify the inherent pressures of legal work, but a few simple, time-neutral strategies can strengthen the skills and confidence of employees and foster a more collaborative culture, while supporting individual growth and contribution to organizational goals, says Benjamin Grimes at BKG Leadership.

  • Rebuttal

    Cancer Research Org. Is Right To Avoid Corporate Influence

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    While a previous Law360 guest article criticizes the International Agency for Research on Cancer's processes, its reliance on peer-reviewed literature is proper and its refusal to allow corporate influence is sound science, say Lance Oliver and Ridge Mazingo at Motley Rice.

  • Attorneys Can Benefit From Reverse-Engineering Their Cases

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    Trial advocacy programs often teach lawyers to loosely track the progression of a lawsuit during preparation — case analysis, then direct examination, then cross-examination, openings and closings — but reverse-engineering cases by working backward from opening and closing statements can streamline the process and also improve case strategy, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • How Courts' Differing Views On Standing Affect PFAS Claims

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    Two recent opinions from New York federal courts — in Lurenz v. Coca-Cola, and Winans v. Ornua Foods North America — illustrate how pivotal the differing views on standing held by different courts will be for product liability litigation involving per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, particularly consumer claims, say attorneys at Hollingsworth.

  • 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.

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