Product Liability

Expert Analysis

• Law Firms Must Beware Risks In Nontraditional Financing

  

  Law firms in today's financial crisis may be looking at nontraditional arrangements such as portfolio funding or factoring to provide liquidity and cash support, but firms must first consider lawsuits brought against Pierce Bainbridge and other recent developments, says Katherine Toomey at Lewis Baach.

• 'The Government Said I Could' As A Defense During COVID-19

  

  Pursuant to long-recognized due process principles, litigants should be entitled to reasonably rely on governmental directives related to COVID-19, and, in appropriate cases, assert it as complete defense to civil liability, say attorneys at Butler Snow.

• Caremark Precedent Should Inform Boards' COVID-19 Duties

  

  Directors of Delaware corporation boards should consider the responsibilities established in Caremark as a framework for getting sufficiently involved in COVID-19 decision-making, both to help their corporations navigate this difficult period and to defend against potential duty to monitor claims, say attorneys at Boies Schiller.

• The EPA's Action Plan On PFAS, One Year Later

  

  While little progress has been made in the year since the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced its action plan on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, stakeholders should anticipate how their interests and liabilities will shift when PFAS are designated as hazardous substances, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

• 2 Tested Alternatives To Unavoidable Court Delays

  

  Those seeking resolution in commercial disputes that are stuck in an unavoidable but lengthy court backlog due to the pandemic must consider the advantages of arbitration and mediation over court proceedings, says former U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin now at Stroock.

• Opinion

  Minn. Ruling Represents Sensible Stance On Legal Finance

  

  The Minnesota Supreme Court's Maslowski v. Prospect Funding Partners decision this week reaffirms that the doctrine of champerty is archaic, impedes important litigation finance activity, and should be abolished in the handful of states where it remains alive, says Andrew Cohen at Burford Capital.

• And Now A Word From The Panel: Pandemic MDLs

  

  While it is too soon to know whether the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation will receive any petitions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, there are lessons to be learned from looking back at the panel's experience with MDLs in the aftermath of past outbreaks, says Alan Rothman at Sidley.

• Best Practices For A Paperless Law Practice

  

  A significant challenge in practicing law remotely is the use and handling of documents without paper, because common digital tools such as email or even secure file transfer applications are problematic, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

• In GE, Supreme Court Extends Reach Of Int'l Arbitration In US

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision this week in GE Energy v. Outokumpu Stainless broadens the reach of international arbitration as a viable dispute resolution mechanism under U.S. law, but leaves unanswered a number of important questions regarding the application of the nonsignatory doctrine, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

• Opinion

  Lawyers Must Address Racial Injustice With Radical Candor

  

  The legal industry is uniquely positioned, and indeed obligated, to respond to the racial disparities made clear by the recent killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, but lawyers must be willing to be uncomfortable, says Tiffani Lee at Holland & Knight.

• Studying The Post-Pandemic Juror By Generation

  

  A close look at the life experiences unique to baby boomers, Generation X, millennials and others can offer valuable insight into how the pandemic could shape jurors' opinions in very different ways depending on their birth cohort, say trial consultants at JuryScope.

• How NJ Talc Case May Shift NY Courts On Expert Testimony

  

  A New Jersey federal court's recent decision in litigation over Johnson & Johnson talc products may help push state courts in neighboring New York further toward using the Daubert evidentiary standard — giving courts a more active gatekeeping role over expert testimony, say attorneys at Darger Errante.

• A New Cost-Effective Approach To Class Action Discovery

  

  Courts have traditionally bifurcated discovery into class and merits stages, but businesses facing class actions should consider arguing for a single discovery period covering all issues, say Cole Geddy and Brian Jackson at McGuireWoods.

• How Lawyers Can Network Better, Virtually And In Person

  

  The current decrease in formality and increase in common ground due to the work-from-home environment can make it easier to have a networking conversation, says Megan Burke Roudebush at Keepwith.

• Practical Tips For Presenting Your Case To Litigation Funders

  

  One mistake that attorneys commonly make when presenting a case to a third-party funder is focusing almost exclusively on liability and giving short shrift to the damages analysis — resulting in an aspirational damages estimate that falls apart under scrutiny, say Cindy Ahn and Justin Maleson at Longford Capital and Casey Grabenstein at Saul Ewing.