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Product Liability
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July 02, 2024
Judge Says Feds Exceeded Question Limit In Pollution Suit
A Michigan federal judge has denied the federal government's bid to force a coke oven battery company to respond to questions about business decisions and parent company involvement, holding that it has exceeded an agreed-upon limit of so-called interrogatories in its Clean Air Act case.
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July 02, 2024
McKinsey Wants To Arbitrate Ex-Partner's Defamation Suit
McKinsey & Co. has urged a New York state judge to send to arbitration or dismiss a former partner's defamation lawsuit alleging the consulting giant tried to make him a scapegoat for purported evidence destruction amid a U.S. Department of Justice probe into McKinsey's work with opioid makers.
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July 02, 2024
Enbridge, Tribes Spar Over Payout In Pipeline Trespass Row
Enbridge Energy told the Seventh Circuit a recent ruling that resulted in a tribe receiving a nearly $400 million payout for trespassing does not apply to the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe's current trespass challenge, arguing the district court recognized that this case presents a different set of facts.
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July 02, 2024
Beasley Allen Slams J&J's DQ Bid 'Check-Up' In Talc Tort
The Beasley Allen Law Firm and Johnson & Johnson continue to spar over the firm and attorney Andy Birchfield's role in long-running federal and state mass torts over talcum powder injuries, with the firm calling out J&J on Tuesday for "prodding" the New Jersey courts to boot the lawyers from the litigation.
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July 02, 2024
Grocer Wants Its Workers Out Of Peanut Allergy Death Suit
Grocery chain Stew Leonard's told a Connecticut federal judge on Tuesday that there is "not a potentially plausible claim" against the eight of its individual employees named in a lawsuit brought by the family of a consumer who died after eating a cookie she bought that had not been labeled as containing peanuts.
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July 02, 2024
Flint Needs State Help After Years Of Pipe Delays, Judge Says
A Michigan federal judge said the city of Flint's repeated failures to replace lead water service lines for residents shows it doesn't have the "wherewithal" or funds to finish the project and granted yet another extension to complete the work with offered help from the state of Michigan.
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July 02, 2024
Thomas Warns Of 'Danger In Delay' In Snapchat Abuse Case
The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Tuesday to review whether Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act immunizes platforms from lawsuits based on their own misconduct, rejecting a petition from a man who alleges that his high school teacher used Snapchat to send him sexually explicit material when he was 15.
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July 02, 2024
Supreme Court Won't Hear Ill. Gun Ban Dispute
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to review a Seventh Circuit decision upholding laws by the state of Illinois and a Chicago suburb banning the sale of assault weapons.
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July 02, 2024
Justices Order Post-Rahimi Review For Felon Gun Ban
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered lower courts to review a series of cases that challenged as unconstitutional federal gun restrictions, including those for felons and drug users, in light of its ruling this term that allowed bans for domestic abusers.
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July 02, 2024
High Court Agrees To Review FDA's Flavored E-Cig Denial
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday granted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's petition to review a Fifth Circuit decision overturning its denial of a flavored e-cigarette marketing application.
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July 01, 2024
Gluten Abounds In Trader Joe's Gluten-Free Bagels, Suit Says
Trader Joe's has been hit with a proposed class action in California federal court claiming its "Gluten Free Almost Everything Bagels" actually contain high levels of gluten that exceed the legal limits for the claim.
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July 01, 2024
Gas Co. Not Covered For Pollution MDL, NY Court Rules
A petroleum company is not owed coverage for an underlying multidistrict litigation over remediation for groundwater contamination that the suit alleges was caused by a gasoline additive, a New York state appeals court said, holding that pollution exclusions in multiple of its policies applied to the contamination.
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July 01, 2024
July 4 Parade Shooting Survivors In Ill. Sue Smith & Wesson
The families of victims of the 2022 July Fourth parade shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, are suing Smith & Wesson and firearm retailers in state court, alleging they deliberately marketed the M&P-15, an AR-15-style rifle, to appeal to people like the shooter.
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July 01, 2024
Carvana Seeks Toss Of Chancery Suit Alleging Faulty Sales
An attorney for online used-car sales giant Carvana Inc. on Monday urged Delaware's chancellor to toss or stay what he described as a derivative damages case "repackaged" from past or pending federal securities actions that "have not fared well."
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July 01, 2024
EPA To Clean Up Middle Of Gowanus Canal Superfund Site
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revealed Monday it has initiated cleanup work on the middle portion of the Gowanus Canal Superfund site in Brooklyn, New York, while the agency works to complete dredging and capping activities in the upper portion later this month.
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July 01, 2024
NJ Judge Tosses J&J Unit's Libel Claim Over Talc Study
A New Jersey federal judge has tossed a bankrupt Johnson & Johnson unit's libel suit over a scientific article linking talcum powder to mesothelioma, ruling the challenged statements in the article are scientific conclusions protected by the First Amendment.
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July 01, 2024
Bard, Hernia Mesh Claimants Can't Hide Injury MDL Deal Info
An Ohio federal judge denied a joint bid to seal a forthcoming settlement motion by C.R. Bard Inc. and hundreds of claimants who sued Bard and a subsidiary over their hernia mesh implants Monday, saying the parties had not given a compelling reason their deal should be secret.
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July 01, 2024
Talc Victims Can't Block J&J From Filing For Ch. 11 Outside NJ
A New Jersey federal judge has denied a bid for a restraining order from a group of patients suing Johnson & Johnson over claims they were injured by its talc products, saying their concern that the company would try to file for bankruptcy outside the Garden State is based on speculation and not ripe for litigation.
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July 01, 2024
GSK Wants Lab's Zantac Whistleblower Suit Moved To Florida
GlaxoSmithKline wants a Connecticut laboratory's federal whistleblower lawsuit moved from Pennsylvania to Florida, where a West Palm Beach court has already overseen four years of a multidistrict litigation that GSK said was touched off by the same lab's claims that Zantac breaks down into a cancer-causing chemical.
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July 01, 2024
GM Says No Warranty Breach Over Alleged Parking Defect
General Motors LLC has asked a Michigan federal judge to toss a proposed class action alleging it sold vehicles that can't detect when they're in park, forcing drivers to resort to "gimmicks" to shut them off, saying drivers haven't shown the alleged defect is dangerous or that GM knew about it when it sold the vehicles.
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July 01, 2024
Feds Say Ex-Magellan Officer's Atty May Have Conflict
A Donnelly Conroy & Gelhaar LLP attorney's prior representation of co-defendants in a pending fraud case against former executives of medical device company Magellan Diagnostics may have created a disqualifying conflict of interest, lawyers for the government told a Massachusetts federal judge.
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June 28, 2024
Chevron's End Is Just The Start For Energized Agency Foes
By knocking down a powerful precedent that has towered over administrative law for 40 years, the U.S. Supreme Court's right wing Friday gave a crowning achievement to anti-agency attorneys. But for those attorneys, the achievement is merely a means to an end, and experts expect a litigation blitzkrieg to materialize quickly in the aftermath.
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June 28, 2024
Will 'Moral Victory' In Purdue Ruling Help Plaintiffs?
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision that the Sackler family members who own Purdue Pharma LP cannot be shielded by the bankruptcy code from lawsuits over the opioid crisis reflects the widespread public outrage over their role in the epidemic, but experts say it remains unclear what will happen next for the individuals and governments that have sued the company.
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June 28, 2024
In Chevron Case, Justices Trade One Unknown For Another
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overrule a decades-old judicial deference doctrine may cause the "eternal fog of uncertainty" surrounding federal agency actions to dissipate and level the playing field in challenges of government policies, but lawyers warn it raises new questions over what rules courts must follow and how judges will implement them.
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June 28, 2024
Split 9th Circ. Revives Part Of Sprout Baby Food Label Suit
A California couple suing Sprout Foods over nutrient statements on its baby food pouches can pursue a Golden State law claim but not fraud-based claims, a split Ninth Circuit panel ruled Friday, saying federal law doesn't preempt the state's labeling standards, but the parents haven't shown the products were misleading.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
Proposed MDL Management Rule Needs Refining
Proponents of the recently proposed Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16.1 believe it may enhance efficiency in multidistrict litigation proceedings if adopted, but there are serious concerns that it could actually hinder plaintiffs' access to justice through the courts — and there are fundamental flaws that deserve our attention, says Ashleigh Raso at Nigh Goldenberg.
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Opinion
Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year
As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.
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Series
Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.
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Rebuttal
High Court Should Maintain Insurer Neutrality In Bankruptcy
While a recent Law360 guest article argues that the U.S. Supreme Court should endorse insurer standing in Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Gypsum, doing so would create a playground for mischief and delay, and the high court should instead uphold insurance neutrality, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.
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Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.
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3 Litigation Strategies To Combat 'Safetyism'
Amid the rise of safetyism — the idea that every person should be free from the risk of harm or discomfort — among jurors and even judges, defense counsel can mount several tactics from the very start of litigation to counteract these views and blunt the potential for jackpot damages, says Ann Marie Duffy at Hollingsworth.
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Risks Of Nonmutual Offensive Collateral Estoppel In MDLs
After the Supreme Court declined to review the Sixth Circuit's ruling in the E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. personal injury litigation, nonmutual offensive collateral estoppel could show up in more MDLs, and transform the loss of a single MDL bellwether trial into a de facto classwide decision that binds thousands of other MDL cases, say Chantale Fiebig and Luke Sullivan at Weil Gotshal.
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What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks
Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.
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5 Things Trial Attorneys Can Learn From Good Teachers
Jennifer Cuculich at IMS Legal Strategies recounts lessons she learned during her time as a math teacher that can help trial attorneys connect with jurors, from the importance of framing core issues to the incorporation of different learning styles.
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Legal Considerations For Circular Economy Strategies
As circular economy goals — generating revenue at multiple points in a product's life cycle — become nearly ubiquitous in corporate sustainability practices, companies should reassess existing strategies by focusing on government incentives, regulations, and reporting and disclosure requirements, say Rachel Saltzman and Erin Grisby at Hunton.
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Opinion
Insurance Industry Asbestos Reserve Estimates Are Unreliable
Insurance regulators rely on industry self-reporting in approving insurance company reorganizations, but AM Best data reveals that actuarial and audit estimates have been setting perniciously low levels of loss reserves for asbestos liabilities and thus should be treated with deep skepticism, says Jonathan Terrell at KCIC.
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Preempting Bottled Water Microplastics Fraud Claims
Food products like bottled water are increasingly likely to be targets of consumer fraud complaints due to alleged microplastics contamination — but depending on the labeling or advertising at issue, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act can provide a powerful preemption defense, say Tariq Naeem and Brenda Sweet at Tucker Ellis.
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Litigation Inspiration: A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment
As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.
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5 Ways To Hone Deposition Skills And Improve Results
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Depositions must never be taken for granted in the preparations needed to win a dispositive motion or a trial, and five best practices, including knowing when to hire a videographer, can significantly improve outcomes, says James Argionis at Cozen O'Connor.
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The Challenges Of Measuring Harm In Slack-Fill Cases
A recent California federal court partial class certification ruling was a rare victory for plaintiffs in a case over slack-fill empty space in packaged products, indicating that damages arguments may be important at the certification stage, say Sushrut Jain and Valentina Bernasconi at Edgeworth Economics.