Product Liability

  • November 05, 2024

    Lyft Must Face Sex Assault Suit Under Product Liability Law

    A Kansas federal judge on Friday left product liability claims standing against Lyft Inc. in a suit by a passenger who alleges she was sexually assaulted by a couple posing as a driver, saying she has sufficiently alleged the company's ride-sharing app is defective.

  • November 05, 2024

    EPA's Superfund 'Blank Check' Dooms PFAS Rule, Groups Say

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wrote itself a legal "blank check" to increase the number of chemicals subject to required cleanups under federal Superfund law, industry advocates told the D.C. Circuit.

  • November 05, 2024

    Target Inks Individual Deals Over 'Non-Drowsy' Flu Medicine

    Target Corp. has reached individual settlements with three consumers who launched a proposed class action alleging its over-the-counter cold and flu medicine is misleadingly labeled as "non-drowsy" despite containing an ingredient known to cause sleepiness, according to a Minnesota federal judge's order.

  • November 05, 2024

    Conagra Settles False Ad Suit Over 'Sustainable' Fish

    Conagra and a proposed class of consumers have settled a suit accusing the food giant of deceptively labeling its seafood products as sustainable despite using ocean-harming methods to source them, according to a minute order entered Tuesday.

  • November 05, 2024

    Meta Owed No Coverage For Social Media MDL, Hartford Says

    Two Hartford units told a Delaware state court they should have no duty to defend Meta Platforms Inc., parent of Facebook and Instagram, against numerous lawsuits accusing the social media giant of deliberately designing its platforms to be addictive to adolescents and concealing its harmful effects on them. 

  • November 05, 2024

    Boeing Machinists Ratify New Contract, Ending Strike

    A majority of 33,000 Boeing employees represented by the Machinists union voted Monday to ratify a new labor contract that includes a 38% wage increase over four years, ending a nearly two-month strike that hampered Boeing's production and cash flow.

  • November 05, 2024

    On The Ground: How Attorneys Safeguarded The Election

    Attorneys worked tirelessly Tuesday to support citizens and election workers on the final day of voting in one of history's most contentious presidential contests.

  • November 04, 2024

    Kroger, State AGs Finalize Sprawling $1.37B Opioid Deal

    Kroger will pay $1.37 billion to dozens of states and thousands of counties, municipalities and Native American tribes to resolve allegations the grocery store chain contributed to the opioid crisis, with Ohio, California and Texas seeing the largest distributions, according to a finalized settlement unveiled Monday.

  • November 04, 2024

    Hilton Gets $30M Punitive Damages Injury Award Cut To $10M

    A New York federal judge has slashed a jury's punitive damages award from $30 million to $10 million in a suit accusing Hilton of causing a hotel guest's severe spinal injuries when it knowingly failed to replace defective bathroom doors, saying the award was excessive.

  • November 04, 2024

    Monsanto Can't Keep Expert PCB Estimates From Seattle Jury

    A Washington state judge has slapped down Monsanto's bid to stop a plaintiffs' expert from sharing chemical exposure opinions with jurors in a Seattle PCB poisoning tort, saying on Monday that the company's stance that the testimony is "junk science" relies on an outdated record in a related Court of Appeals case.

  • November 04, 2024

    Lemon Law Doesn't Cover Used Cars, Calif. Justices Say

    The California Supreme Court has overturned nearly 30 years of precedent and held that the state's lemon law does not cover used cars when the vehicle has an unexpired manufacturer's warranty, delivering a victory to automaker FCA that its attorney said would end thousands of potential lawsuits.

  • November 04, 2024

    Boeing Agrees To End Virgin Galactic Secrets, Contract Fight

    Boeing has agreed to end a breach of contract and trade secrets lawsuit it launched against Virgin Galactic stemming from a deal for a Boeing subsidiary to develop certain aircraft used to launch commercial spaceships.

  • November 04, 2024

    Apple Hid Audio Defects In 1st-Gen AirPods Pro, Users Say

    Audio defects in the first generation of Apple's AirPods Pro did not stop the company from touting the wireless earbud's superior sound quality and noise-canceling features, consumers from Pennsylvania, Texas, and Ohio alleged in a proposed false advertising class action filed Friday in California federal court.

  • November 04, 2024

    Shell Slips Negligence Claim In Pa. Nuisance Lawsuit

    Neighbors of Shell Chemical Appalachia's Western Pennsylvania ethylene cracker plant will need to be more specific about dust and pollution affecting their homes if they want to revive a negligence claim that a federal court struck from a proposed class action Monday.

  • November 04, 2024

    Exxon Keeps Win In Sand Blaster's Lung Disease Suit

    A Texas state appeals court won't overturn a summary judgment freeing Exxon Mobil Corp. from a premises liability suit from a sandblaster alleging that he developed fibrosis in his lungs while working at an Exxon facility, saying the trial court rightly excluded his experts as unreliable.

  • November 04, 2024

    Blind Man Says Mo. Dispensary Site Not ADA Compliant

    A Missouri medical marijuana dispensary has not ensured that all would-be customers can use its website, according to a new lawsuit from a visually impaired man who says that the site is not accessible to him.

  • November 04, 2024

    Judge Says She'll Likely Send Talc Ch. 11 Plan Out For Vote

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge said Monday she will likely give a pair of talc producers permission to send their Chapter 11 plans out for a creditor vote, saying she was satisfied with the changes made since last week.

  • November 04, 2024

    Class Cert. Sought In Ga. Man's 'Forever Chemicals' Suit

    A Georgia man who lives near a Mount Vernon Mills textile plant asked a federal judge on Friday to certify two classes of neighbors who want to hold the manufacturers of so-called "forever chemicals" responsible for the alleged pollution of city drinking water.

  • November 04, 2024

    MultiPlan Judge Raises Eyebrows At Attys' Biz Flight Billing

    Counsel leading multidistrict litigation over Multiplan's pricing tools quickly revised their plans Monday for attorneys who take longer flights for the case, after an Illinois federal judge questioned why certain travelers received special treatment "arguably on the class's dime."

  • November 04, 2024

    Tesla Fights Sanctions Bid Over Atty's Mediation Appearance

    Tesla Inc. has pushed back against a widow's sanctions bid over allegations a company in-house attorney appeared at a mediation in her wrongful death case despite lacking settlement authority, saying her attorneys improperly disclosed the contents of confidential mediation communications.

  • November 04, 2024

    Ford Gets New Trial In $1.7B Rollover Case In Georgia

    The Georgia Court of Appeals on Friday ordered a new trial in a record-setting $1.7 billion rollover case against Ford Motor Co., saying it was "reluctantly" vacating the jury's verdict after finding that a trial court wrongly imposed issue preclusion sanctions that "almost completely prevented Ford from presenting a defense as to liability."

  • November 04, 2024

    Supreme Court Won't Hear Apache's Mining Regs Dispute

    The U.S. Supreme Court will let stand a ruling that sides with a state environmental agency's decision to let a copper mining company discharge untreated wastewater into a creek that's considered sacred to an Arizona Indigenous community.

  • November 01, 2024

    Delta Rips 'Transparent' CrowdStrike Bid To Duck Liability

    Delta Air Lines on Friday pressed a Georgia federal court to throw out CrowdStrike's declaratory judgment action against it, arguing that it's merely a "transparent attempt" to avoid the airline's own state court suit blaming the cybersecurity firm for the July outage that crashed millions of computers worldwide.

  • November 01, 2024

    COVID Death Suit Not Barred By PREP Act, 11th Circ. Affirms

    A split Eleventh Circuit affirmed a lower court's decision Thursday to remand to state court a lawsuit over a nursing home resident's COVID-19 death, finding preemption may cover a defendant sued for following federal public health emergency guidelines, but not when, as in the instant case, the guidelines were allegedly unheeded.

  • November 01, 2024

    Boeing Supplier Should Win Texas Probe Suit, Judge Says

    A magistrate judge on Friday recommended a Texas federal judge grant Spirit AeroSystems Inc.'s bid to permanently enjoin a Texas statute requiring businesses to immediately comply with the state's demand to examine business records, saying the statute is unconstitutional.

Expert Analysis

  • Useful Product Doctrine May Not Shield Against PFAS Liability

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    Courts have recognized that companies transferring hazardous recycled materials can defeat liability under environmental laws by showing they were selling a useful product — but new laws in California and elsewhere restricting the sale of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances may change the legal landscape, says Kyle Girouard at Dickinson Wright.

  • Opinion

    Legal Institutions Must Warn Against Phony Election Suits

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    With two weeks until the election, bar associations and courts have an urgent responsibility to warn lawyers about the consequences of filing unsubstantiated lawsuits claiming election fraud, says Elise Bean at the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy.

  • How Cos. Can Build A Strong In-House Pro Bono Program

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    During this year’s pro bono celebration week, companies should consider some key pointers to grow and maintain a vibrant in-house program for attorneys to provide free legal services for the public good, says Mary Benton at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Home Canning Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Making my own pickles and jams requires seeing a process through from start to finish, as does representing clients from the start of a dispute at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board through any appeals to the Federal Circuit, says attorney Kevin McNish.

  • Navigating The Bankruptcy Terrain After Purdue Pharma

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s June ruling in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma is having a significant impact on bankruptcies, with recent cases addressing nonconsensual third-party releases and opt-out mechanisms, and highlighting strategies practitioners can employ to avoid running afoul of the decision, say Brett Axelrod and Agostino Zammiello at Fox Rothschild.

  • Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys

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    Generation Z associates bring unique perspectives and expectations to the workplace, so it’s imperative that supervising attorneys adapt their feedback approach in order to help young lawyers learn and grow — which is good for law firms, too, says Rachael Bosch at Fringe Professional Development.

  • Opinion

    Congress Can And Must Enact A Supreme Court Ethics Code

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    As public confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court dips to historic lows following reports raising conflict of interest concerns, Congress must exercise its constitutional power to enact a mandatory and enforceable code of ethics for the high court, says Muhammad Faridi, president of the New York City Bar Association.

  • Perspectives

    Pop Culture Docket: Justice Lebovits On Gilbert And Sullivan

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    Characters in the 19th century comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan break the rules of good lawyering by shamelessly throwing responsible critical thought to the wind, providing hilarious lessons for lawyers and judges on how to avoid a surfeit of traps and tribulations, say acting New York Supreme Court Justice Gerald Lebovits and law student Tara Scown.

  • California's AI Safety Bill Veto: The Path Forward

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    California Gov. Gavin Newsom's veto of a bill that sought to impose stringent regulations on advanced artificial intelligence model development has sparked a renewed debate on how best to balance innovation with safety in the rapidly evolving AI landscape, say Bobby Malhotra and Carson Swope at Winston & Strawn.

  • Deadline Extension Highlights PFAS Reporting Complexities

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent extension of reporting and recordkeeping timelines for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances under the Toxic Substances Control Act offers relief to the regulated community, but the unprecedented volume of data required means that businesses must remain diligent in their data collection efforts, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • 6th Circ. Preemption Ruling Adds Uncertainty For Car Cos.

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    Automakers and their suppliers need uniformity under the law to create sufficient scale and viable markets — but the Sixth Circuit's recent decision in Fenner v. General Motors creates more uncertainty around the question of when state law consumer claims related to violations of federal vehicle emissions and fuel economy standards are preempted, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape

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    Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.

  • Cos. Face Increasing Risk From Environmental Citizen Suits

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    Environmental citizen suits stepping in to fill the regulatory vacuum concerning consumer goods waste may soon become more common, and the evolving procedural landscape and changes to environmental law may contribute to companies' increased exposure, say J. Michael Showalter and Bradley Rochlen at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Defining All-Risk: Despite $30M Loss, Loose Bolt Not 'Damage'

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    A Massachusetts federal court’s recent ruling in AMAG Pharmaceuticals v. American Guarantee and Liability Insurance Co., denying coverage for $30 million in damages claimed when a loose bolt caused an air leak, highlights an ongoing debate over the definition of “direct physical loss or damage,” say Josh Tumen and Paul Ferland at Cozen O'Connor.

  • 8 Childhood Lessons That Can Help You Be A Better Attorney

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    A new school year is underway, marking a fitting time for attorneys to reflect on some fundamental life lessons from early childhood that offer a framework for problems that no legal textbook can solve, say Chris Gismondi and Chris Campbell at DLA Piper.

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