Product Liability

  • September 23, 2024

    J&J Talc Claims Paused In Latest Spinoff Ch. 11

    A Texas bankruptcy judge Monday froze certain talc personal injury litigation against Johnson & Johnson, saying a three-week administrative stay will give the court time to decide key jurisdictional issues in the Chapter 11 case of Red River Talc LLC, a newly created J&J spinoff and the pharmaceutical and cosmetics giant's latest attempt to settle claims in bankruptcy that its baby powder caused cancer.

  • September 23, 2024

    John Paul Mitchell Beats Dry Shampoo Benzene Suit, For Now

    An Illinois federal judge ruled Monday a putative consumer class action claiming a Paul Mitchell dry shampoo contains cancer-causing benzene didn't sufficiently show an "injury-in-fact" to warrant damages or even that the product contained the carcinogen, but gave the consumers a chance to amend their complaint.

  • September 23, 2024

    Calif. Gov. Vetoes Privacy Bill, OKs Social Media Addiction Law

    California's governor has refused to enact legislation that would have required browser developers to make it easier for consumers to stop the sale and sharing of their personal information, while approving a bill that will block online platforms from using algorithms to deliver addictive feeds to children without parental consent.

  • September 23, 2024

    Mallinckrodt Brass Can't Avoid Investor Suit Over 2nd Ch. 11

    A New Jersey federal judge ruled Monday that senior leaders of drugmaker Mallinckrodt cannot escape a lawsuit brought by shareholders alleging the company tricked them into thinking it had recovered from bankruptcy and would make a $200 million payment to opioid claimants, finding the investors sufficiently pleaded securities law violations.

  • September 23, 2024

    Helicopter Co. Used Code Names To Oust Supplier, Jury Hears

    Under the code name "Project Cicada," Fort Worth-based Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. worked for years to replace California-based digital avionics equipment supplier Rogerson Aircraft Corporation with a competitor, a jury heard in a Texas state court Monday, using Rogerson's trade secrets to prep the rival for the eventual shift.

  • September 23, 2024

    Gordon Rees Gets Insurer's Wash. Malpractice Suit Trimmed

    A Washington judge issued a mixed order in a lawsuit brought by the insurer for a climbing equipment manufacturer over allegations that misconduct by a Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP attorney — coupled with another insurer's decision to yank coverage — forced the manufacturer into a settlement over a climber's fall.

  • September 23, 2024

    EPA Admits Mistakes In Approving New Chevron Chemicals

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday told the D.C. Circuit that it overestimated the risk of allowing Chevron Corp. to create new fuel chemicals derived from plastic waste, asking the appeals court to remand the order authorizing the new substances back to federal regulators.

  • September 23, 2024

    'Bluey,' 'Paw Patrol' App Maker Sued Over 'Stealth Marketing'

    A proposed class of parents is suing Budge Studios Inc., the maker of licensed phone and tablet applications for children's cartoons such as "Bluey" and "Paw Patrol," alleging that the company used predatory "stealth marketing" and "dark patterns" to entice children into getting their parents to pay for monthly subscriptions and in-app purchases.

  • September 23, 2024

    Toyota Accused Of 'Rotten' Forklift Emissions Compliance

    Toyota has been misrepresenting the true emissions levels of the engines in its forklifts and construction machinery, leading businesses to believe the engines were far more environmentally friendly than they actually were, according to a proposed class action filed in California federal court.

  • September 23, 2024

    Wash. Agency No Longer Seeking Names In 3M Earplug Case

    The Washington state agency that handles child support claims seems no longer interested in seeking information on service members who are expected to receive payments from the 6 billion settlement from 3M Co. over injuries stemming from its Combat Arms Earplugs.

  • September 23, 2024

    Calif. Sues Exxon For Plastic Pollution And Recycling Deception

    California's attorney general and a coalition of conservation groups hit Exxon Mobil Corp. with a pair of lawsuits on Monday claiming the petrochemical giant has inundated the state with harmful plastic waste while misleading people about recycling's ability to ever make a dent in the problem.

  • September 23, 2024

    Brockovich, Attys Warn Of PFAS Dangers At Ga. Town Halls

    More than 400 people gathered in northwest Georgia over the weekend to attend two town hall meetings hosted by a group of law firms and paralegal-turned-environmental advocate Erin Brockovich concerning claims of local water and environmental contamination allegedly caused by chemical giant 3M Co., as well as the potential health risks associated with so-called forever chemicals.

  • September 23, 2024

    Class Gets Cert In Suit Over Dave's Killer Bread Protein Claims

    A California federal judge on Friday granted class certification to a group of consumers alleging that Dave's Killer Bread and Flowers Foods violated U.S. Food and Drug Administration labeling regulations by leaving out required protein content information, finding that the consumers had standing.

  • September 23, 2024

    J&J Accuses Beasley Allen Of Casting Bogus Talc Ballots

    Johnson & Johnson has accused the Beasley Allen Law Firm of casting about two dozen false ballots against the company's latest talc bankruptcy plan without voters' consent and urged a New Jersey federal court to remove the firm from the plaintiff's steering committee as a consequence.

  • September 23, 2024

    Insurer Can't Escape Toddler Injury Suit Over Dollar Tree Mints

    A Missouri federal judge tossed an insurer's bid to escape coverage of underlying litigation alleging a toddler suffered severe esophageal injuries after swallowing freshening drops sold by Dollar Tree, writing that the carrier's "broad interpretation" of its total pollution exclusion "yields an absurd result."

  • September 23, 2024

    Kratom Co. Gets Claims Trimmed In Addiction False Ad Row

    A California federal judge has tossed four out of six claims from a proposed class action alleging Ashlynn Marketing Group Inc. hid from buyers the addictive qualities of its kratom products, leaving only fraud and Consumer Legal Remedies Act claims.

  • September 20, 2024

    Family Dollar Must Face Arkansas AG's Rodent Infestation Suit

    Family Dollar can't escape a lawsuit by the Arkansas attorney general seeking damages for knowingly selling products potentially contaminated by rodents, both dead and alive, at a warehouse in West Memphis, a state judge has ruled.

  • September 20, 2024

    Family Of NY Helicopter Crash Victim Wins $116M Verdict

    A Manhattan jury has held that three aviation companies must pay a total of more than $116 million for negligence and design defects that contributed to a 26-year-old man's death during a sightseeing helicopter crash in New York's East River.

  • September 20, 2024

    Amazon Seller Rips Rival As 'Bully' In Fake Reviews Suit

    A maker of jump starters for cars on Thursday urged an Ohio federal court to reject a sanctions bid by a Chinese competitor that it accuses of posting fake reviews on Amazon in order to win market share, saying that the company is trying to "bully" its way out of the suit.

  • September 20, 2024

    3rd Circ. Rejects 'Close' Case For Preemption In Fosamax MDL

    A U.S. Food and Drug Administration letter denying changes to the label of Merck's osteoporosis drug Fosamax does not count as a final agency action triggering federal preemption of state law "failure to warn" claims, the Third Circuit ruled Friday in a precedential decision.

  • September 20, 2024

    Del. Justices Uphold Toss Of AmerisourceBergen Syringe Suit

    Delaware's Supreme Court upheld with little comment Friday a lower court dismissal of a nearly 5-year-old shareholder derivative suit accusing AmerisourceBergen Corp. directors of failing to investigate and stop illegal repackaging of cancer drugs.

  • September 20, 2024

    Families Of 6 Who Died Sue Over Baltimore Bridge Collapse

    The families of six workers who died in the March collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore hit the companies that owned the cargo ship that brought down the structure with lawsuits Friday in Maryland federal court over their deaths.

  • September 20, 2024

    DuPont Cos. Can't Escape Cape Fear River PFAS Suit

    A North Carolina federal judge said DuPont and several corporate spin-offs can't escape a lawsuit brought by four Tar Heel State residents who claim the companies knowingly poisoned the Cape Fear River with toxic forever chemicals pollution.

  • September 20, 2024

    Plaintiffs Firms Battle Over Proposed $9B Deal In J&J Talc Suit

    Two leading plaintiffs law firms in the multibillion-dollar litigation over Johnson & Johnson's tainted talcum powder are now warring among themselves, with Smith Law Firm PLLC suing Beasley Allen Law Firm for defamation after Beasley Allen accused the former of selling out clients to pay off litigation funders.

  • September 20, 2024

    Q&A With Former CPSC Chair Elliot Kaye

    The legal career of Elliot Kaye, who was chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission from 2014 to 2017, has intrepidly crossed the government, private and nonprofit sectors. Kaye talked with Law360 about life after leaving the CPSC, which include a kidney transplant and being on the ground in Ukraine while working for World Central Kitchen.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Retailers Must Be Mindful Of Sale Ads As Class Actions Rise

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    A recent uptick in class actions filed against retailers over a breadth of allegedly deceptive pricing practices — including misleading reference prices for sales and discounts offered on a perpetual basis — show no sign of slowing down, indicating that class counsel are laser-focused on challenging advertising strategies, say Louis DiLorenzo and Paavana Kumar at Davis+Gilbert.

  • Legislative And Litigation Trends In Environmental Advertising

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    Companies that tout their products' environmental benefits can significantly reduce the risk that they will face allegations of greenwashing by staying up to date on related Federal Trade Commission guidance, state requirements and litigation trends, say Raqiyyah Pippins and Kelsie Sicinski at Arnold & Porter.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Opinion

    New Rule 702 Helps Judges Keep Bad Science Out Of Court

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    A court's recent decision to exclude dubious testimony from the plaintiffs' experts in multidistrict litigation over acetaminophen highlights the responsibility that judges have to keep questionable scientific evidence out of courtrooms, particularly under recent amendments to Federal Rule of Evidence 702, says Sherman Joyce at the American Tort Reform Association.

  • 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.

  • Opinion

    Proposed Rule Could Impair MDL Flexibility, Harm Plaintiffs

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    While proposed Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16.1 is intended to enhance the management of multidistrict litigation proceedings, its one-size-fits-all requirements could stifle the flexibility that judges need to address the varying circumstances of MDLs effectively, and jeopardize plaintiffs' ability to pursue justice, say Christopher Seeger and Jennifer Scullion at Seeger Weiss.

  • 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.

  • A Look Into How Jurors Reach High Damages Awards

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    In the wake of several large jury awards, Richard Gabriel and Emily Shaw at Decision Analysis shed light on challenges that jurors have in deciding them, the nonevidentiary and extra-legal methods they use to do so, and new research about the themes and jury characteristics of high-damages jurors.

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