Personal Injury & Medical Malpractice

  • July 12, 2024

    Biggest Colorado Decisions Of 2024: A Midyear Report

    The U.S. Supreme Court's quick reversal of Colorado justices' decision removing former President Donald Trump from the state's ballots and a Boulder County judge's ruling clearing the way for landmark climate litigation about major oil companies rank among the most important decisions affecting Colorado so far this year.

  • July 12, 2024

    Biggest Washington Decisions Of 2024: A Midyear Report

    The first half of 2024 in Washington courts was punctuated by a fizzled startup's $72 million trial win against The Boeing Co., and Monsanto Co.'s appellate reversal of a $185 million verdict in one of a series of high-profile PCB poisoning cases. Here is a closer look at some of the biggest decisions in Washington state and federal courts in the first half of 2024.

  • July 12, 2024

    'Willful Withholding' Of Evidence Dooms Baldwin 'Rust' Case

    Alec Baldwin wept and hugged his attorneys Friday after a New Mexico state judge threw out involuntary manslaughter charges against the actor in the "Rust" shooting case, finding that prosecutors willfully withheld key ammunition evidence from the defense. 

  • July 12, 2024

    Biggest Illinois Decisions Of 2024: A Midyear Report

    State and federal courts have handed down rulings so far this year that limited the reach of a federal bribery law commonly used to prosecute Illinois corruption, laid out a framework to challenge so-called mootness fees and clarified the scope of Illinois defamation and antitrust law. Here's a look at some of the biggest Illinois decisions in the first half of 2024.

  • July 11, 2024

    Vanderpump's Madix Targets 'Scandoval' Revenge Porn Suit

    Counsel for "Vanderpump Rules" star Ariana Madix on Thursday urged a Los Angeles judge to toss revenge porn and other claims brought by former co-star Rachel Leviss, saying Madix was protected by free speech laws when she sent Leviss sexually explicit videos of Leviss.

  • July 11, 2024

    8th Circ. OKs Toxic Gas Injury Win, But Cuts Award By $30M

    The Eighth Circuit on Thursday affirmed a jury's finding that Dyno Nobel Inc.'s negligence in handling toxic gas emissions caused serious injuries to a man's larynx but slashed his $43.75 million award down to $13.75 million, saying the explosives company lacked the culpable mental state required for punitive damages.

  • July 11, 2024

    TikTok's Bid For Users' Device Data Found Overbroad

    A California federal magistrate judge overseeing discovery in multidistrict litigation over claims that social media is addictive denied TikTok's request Thursday for "full" forensic images of all personal devices bellwether plaintiffs used to access its platform, telling defense counsel that he's concerned about the "overbreadth" of the request and privacy issues.

  • July 11, 2024

    All Grand Jury Witnesses Get Civil Immunity, Colo. Panel Says

    A Colorado state appeals court held for the first time Thursday that all types of grand jury witnesses have absolute immunity for their testimony, though they don't have sweeping protection for statements made before the proceedings start. 

  • July 11, 2024

    Dollar General Pays $12M Over DOL's Safety Violation Claims

    Discount retail chain Dollar General will pay $12 million to resolve alleged workplace safety violations at its stores nationwide, including obstructed emergency exits and unsafe storage, and will implement abatement measures like expanding storage capacity and reducing overstock, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Wednesday.

  • July 11, 2024

    NJ Justices Back Expert Report In Mother's Suit Over Death

    The New Jersey Supreme Court on Thursday reinstated a lawsuit against a Garden State hospital by the mother of a diabetic patient who died, saying the trial court erred in dismissing the case on grounds that an affidavit of merit was insufficient.

  • July 11, 2024

    Condo Owner Can Sue Over Icy Sidewalk, Mich. Justices Rule

    A condominium owners' association can be sued by a member who slipped on ice in a common area, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled Thursday, finding an association has a duty to exercise reasonable care to protect condo owners in shared spaces.

  • July 11, 2024

    Celebrity Cruises Settles Suit Over Ship Morgue Failure

    The family of a man who died aboard a Celebrity Cruises ship and whose body decomposed after being stored in an ill-equipped cooler told a Florida federal court Wednesday that they had settled their dispute with the cruise line, just days before the case was set to go to trial.

  • July 11, 2024

    Opiate MDL Judge Flags Evidence Preservation Shortfall

    An Ohio federal judge has said "at least some" of the plaintiff local government entities in four chosen bellwether cases against pharmacy benefit managers for the multidistrict litigation over the opioid epidemic failed to preserve documents and evidence for trial, warning the parties he may replace those cases.

  • July 11, 2024

    Ex-Northwestern Coach Accuses University Of Defamation

    The former offensive coordinator of Northwestern University's football team has sued the university, its president and its athletic director, claiming they portrayed him and the rest of the football staff in a false light when they fired head coach Pat Fitzgerald amid a hazing scandal and defamed him after he wore a T-shirt supporting the coach to practice.

  • July 11, 2024

    Navy Can't Get Out Of Ex-Marine's PTSD Discrimination Suit

    A Washington federal judge won't let the U.S. Navy out of a suit from a former Marine alleging that he was discriminated against and terminated over his post-traumatic stress disorder, saying there is enough evidence that a fact-finder could determine his boss retaliated against him.

  • July 11, 2024

    Baldwin Wasn't Only 'Rust' Actor With Live Rounds, Jury Told

    Alec Baldwin's counsel established Thursday during a contentious second day of testimony in the "Rust" trial in New Mexico that he wasn't the only actor unknowingly carrying live ammunition on the film's set before the 2021 fatal shooting of a cinematographer.

  • July 11, 2024

    2nd Circ. Says Unreported Violence Doesn't Doom Asylum Bid

    The Second Circuit on Thursday said the Board of Immigration Appeals must reconsider an asylum bid from a Honduran woman claiming family abuse and rape by a criminal, finding that evidence of the difficulties women face in reporting violence and the government's ineffective response to such reports was ignored.

  • July 11, 2024

    Conn. Justices Say Law Firm's Ex Parte Sanctions Were Error

    The law firm Brignole Bush & Lewis LLC cannot be sanctioned for engaging in ex parte talks with an expert witness previously disclosed by Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., the opposing party in a car accident case, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

  • July 11, 2024

    Cruise Ship Co. Sanctioned With Fees In Sexual Assault Suit

    Carnival Corp. will have to pay fees related to a discovery dispute stemming from a $10.2 million sexual assault personal injury lawsuit, a Florida federal judge has ruled in a sanctions order, finding that the cruise company must pay a portion of the legal bills of a female passenger after "clear" discovery violations occurred.

  • July 11, 2024

    Hershey, Walgreens Sued For 'One Chip Challenge' Death

    The Hershey Co. and its businesses that created and negligently marketed the "One Chip Challenge" to eat an ultra-spicy tortilla chip are responsible for the wrongful death of a Massachusetts 14-year-old, whose death coincided with the product being pulled from the shelves, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday by the boy's mother.

  • July 11, 2024

    Talc Law Firms Beat J&J Subpoenas Seeking Funding Info

    The Beasley Allen Law Firm, another plaintiffs law firm and a litigation funder defeated subpoenas from Johnson & Johnson in talc litigation, with a special master reasoning that the broad swath of discovery permitted in federal courts still has limits. 

  • July 11, 2024

    Insurer Can Tap Trust Fund For Old Claims, Mass. Court Says

    A Massachusetts intermediate appellate court concluded Thursday that workers' compensation insurers who are no longer selling policies in the state but still paying benefits on older claims are entitled to seek partial reimbursement from an employer-funded state trust fund, reversing its own prior holding on the question.

  • July 11, 2024

    BP Deadline Denial Could Impact Mass Torts, 5th Circ. Told

    A man suffering from a chronic health condition stemming from his work cleaning up Mississippi beaches after the Deepwater Horizon spill told the Fifth Circuit that a Louisiana judge's failure to yield to third-party discovery agreements could potentially impact a litany of mass litigation if upheld.

  • July 11, 2024

    Communications Co. Says Death Suit Skirted Probate Court

    Frontier Communications of America Inc. told a Connecticut state court that it must dismiss a wrongful death case brought against it after an elderly woman fell in her basement and could not call 911 because her phone lines were down, arguing her estate skipped a vital step before filing suit.

  • July 10, 2024

    Roundup Cancer Case Revived By Oregon Appellate Panel

    An Oregon appellate panel on Wednesday revived a lawsuit claiming Bayer AG subsidiary Monsanto's weedkiller Roundup caused an Oregon man's cancer, saying the judge who oversaw the trial that cleared the company wrongly excluded testimony from an expert for the plaintiff.

Expert Analysis

  • 6 Pointers For Attys To Build Trust, Credibility On Social Media

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    In an era of information overload, attorneys can use social media strategically — from making infographics to leveraging targeted advertising — to cut through the noise and establish a reputation among current and potential clients, says Marly Broudie at SocialEyes Communications.

  • Why Fla. High Court Adopting Apex Doctrine Is Monumental

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    The Florida Supreme Court recently solidified the apex doctrine in the Sunshine State, an important development that extends the scope of the doctrine in the state to include both corporate and government officials, and formalizes the requirements for a high-level corporate official to challenge a request for a deposition, says Laura Renstrom at Holland & Knight.

  • A Post-Mortem Analysis Of Stroock's Demise

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    After the dissolution of 147-year-old firm Stroock late last year shook up the legal world, a post-mortem analysis of the data reveals a long list of warning signs preceding the firm’s collapse — and provides some insight into how other firms might avoid the same disastrous fate, says Craig Savitzky at Leopard Solutions.

  • Preparing For DOJ's Data Analytics Push In FCPA Cases

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    After the U.S. Department of Justice’s recent announcement that it will leverage data analytics in Foreign Corrupt Practice Act investigations and prosecutions, companies will need to develop a compliance strategy that likewise implements data analytics to get ahead of enforcement risks, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Considering The Logical Extremes Of Your Legal Argument

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    Recent oral arguments in the federal election interference case against former President Donald Trump highlighted the age-old technique of extending an argument to its logical limit — a principle that is still important for attorneys to consider in preparing their cases, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Reducing The Risk Of PFAS False Advertising Class Actions

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    A wave of class actions continues to pummel products that allegedly contain per- or polyfluoroalkyl substances, with plaintiffs challenging advertising that they say misleads consumers by implying an absence of PFAS — but there are steps companies can take to minimize risk, say attorneys at Keller and Heckman.

  • 6th Circ. Ruling Breathes New Life Into Article III Traceability

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    The Sixth Circuit's recent decision in Hardwick v. 3M Co. to vacate a district court's certification of one of the largest class actions in American jurisprudence for lack of Article III standing has potentially broader implications for class action practice in the product liability sphere, particularly in medical monitoring cases involving far-fetched theories of causation, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Storytelling Strategies To Defuse Courtroom Conspiracies

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    Misinformation continues to proliferate in all sectors of society, including in the courtroom, as jurors try to fill in the gaps of incomplete trial narratives — underscoring the need for attorneys to tell a complete, consistent and credible story before and during trial, says David Metz at IMS Legal Strategies.

  • Aviation Watch: 737 Max Blowout Raises Major Safety Issues

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    The sudden in-flight loss of a side panel on an Alaska Air 737-9 Max last month, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the plane's cabin, highlighted ongoing quality issues at Boeing, the jet's manufacturer — but the failure also arose from decisions made by the airline, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.

  • EDNY Ruling Charts 99 Problems In Rap Lyric Admissibility

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    A New York federal court’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Jordan powerfully captures courts’ increasing skepticism about the admissibility of rap lyrics as evidence in criminal trials, particularly at a time when artists face economic incentives to embrace fictional, hyperbolic narratives, say attorneys at Sher Tremonte.

  • 3 Principles For Minimizing The Risk Of A Nuclear Verdict

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    In one of the latest examples of so-called nuclear verdicts, a single plaintiff was awarded $2.25 billion in a jury trial against Monsanto — revealing the need for defense attorneys to prioritize trust, connection and simplicity when communicating with modern juries, say Jenny Hergenrother and Mia Falzarano at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Coaching High School Wrestling Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Coaching my son’s high school wrestling team has been great fun, but it’s also demonstrated how a legal career can benefit from certain experiences, such as embracing the unknown, studying the rules and engaging with new people, says Richard Davis at Maynard Nexsen.

  • SG's Office Is Case Study To Help Close Legal Gender Gap

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    As women continue to be underrepresented in the upper echelons of the legal profession, law firms could learn from the example set by the Office of the Solicitor General, where culture and workplace policies have helped foster greater gender equality, say attorneys at Ocean Tomo.

  • Verizon Benefits Ruling Clears Up Lien Burden Of Proof

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    A Rhode Island federal court recently ruled that a Verizon benefits plan could not recoup a former employee’s settlement funds from the attorney who represented her in a personal injury case, importantly clarifying two Employee Retirement Income Security Act burden of proof issues that were previously unsettled, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.

  • Googling Prospective Jurors Is Usually A Fool's Errand

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    Though a Massachusetts federal court recently barred Google from Googling potential jurors in a patent infringement case, the company need not worry about missing evidence of bias, because internet research of jury pools usually doesn’t yield the most valuable information — voir dire and questionnaires do, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.

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