Product Liability

  • October 22, 2024

    The 2024 Prestige Leaders

    Check out our Prestige Leaders ranking, analysis and interactive graphics to see which firms stand out for their financial performance, attractiveness to attorneys and law students, ability to secure accolades and positive legal news media representation.

  • October 22, 2024

    How Law Firms Get And Keep Elite Status

    For decades, a handful of New York-based law firms thoroughly dominated the national consciousness when it came to power, profitability and prestige. But in today's legal market, increased movement of partners and clients from one firm to the next has begun to shake things up and create opportunities for go-getters to ascend the ranks.

  • October 22, 2024

    MVP: Keller Rohrback's Gretchen Freeman Cappio

    Keller Rohrback LLP partner Gretchen Freeman Cappio helped consumers reach a $150 million deal over claims that Chevrolet Bolt cars made by General Motors LLC and LG units had battery defects that led to overheating and fires, earning her a spot as one of the Law360 2024 Product Liability MVPs.

  • October 21, 2024

    Eli Lilly Slams 'Dangerous' Knock-Off Weight Loss Drugs

    Eli Lilly & Co. on Monday launched a trio of lawsuits in Indiana, Texas and Washington federal courts accusing three telehealth companies of peddling illicit knockoffs of its weight-loss medications that have not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and that pose a danger to patients.

  • October 21, 2024

    John Deere's Tractor Brake Recall Is Also Defective, Suit Says

    John Deere sold utility tractors with a brake defect that can cause them to crash, and the company's recent recall doesn't guarantee a permanent fix but rather appears to simply "replace defective systems with even more defective systems," according to a proposed class action in South Carolina federal court.

  • October 21, 2024

    Nissan Fights Uphill To Undo Cert. In Sunroof Defect Fight

    Ninth Circuit judges on Monday doubted Nissan's bid to undo an order certification of a class of drivers who allege the Japanese carmaker sold vehicles with panoramic sunroofs that are prone to shattering, telling Nissan's counsel the appeal appears to challenge the claims' merits, and not whether they could be resolved classwide.

  • October 21, 2024

    FDA Tells Court Menthol Cigarette Ban Is Still Under Review

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said it's still evaluating whether to finalize a proposed ban on menthol cigarettes, urging a California federal court to throw out a lawsuit that's attempting a "judicial end-run" around the ongoing review.

  • October 21, 2024

    Truck Asbestos Claims Suit Must Be Arbitrated, Court Hears

    A group of reinsurers is pressing a California federal court to order Truck Insurance Exchange to arbitrate its claim seeking coverage for millions of dollars' worth of asbestos bodily injury claims filed against Kaiser Cement & Gypsum, which was driven into bankruptcy in 2016.

  • October 21, 2024

    Court Kicks Cannabis Consumer Case Back To Conn. State

    Smoke and vape wholesalers accused of illegally selling intoxicating hemp products have lost a bid to keep an unfair trade lawsuit brought against them by the Connecticut attorney general out of state court after a district court judge ruled it doesn't matter if the THC in the vapes was derived from federally legal hemp.

  • October 21, 2024

    Kroger Beats Class Cert. Bid In Pain Patch False Ad Suit

    An Illinois federal judge on Monday denied class certification to consumers who sued Kroger over lidocaine patches they asserted could not stay on long enough to provide up to eight hours of relief as advertised, saying neither of two proposed class representatives purchased the allegedly misleading patches.

  • October 21, 2024

    GOP Pols Want Probe Into FDA Laboratory Safety

    Three Republican lawmakers on Friday sought information from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about its oversight of its laboratory safety practices, following a long investigation over an incident about vials of smallpox virus and other hazards found on a National Institutes of Health campus.

  • October 21, 2024

    Belgium Joins French Courts In Telegram CEO Criminal Probe

    Belgian investigators have joined French law enforcement in the criminal investigation of Pavel Durov, the CEO of encrypted messaging-platform Telegram, who is charged in France with aiding illegal child pornography, fraud and other crimes, the Paris prosecutor's office announced.

  • October 21, 2024

    3M Asks 2nd Circ. To Keep Vermont PFAS Case In Fed Court

    3M Co. is asking the Second Circuit to reverse an order remanding a suit by the state of Vermont over "forever chemical" contamination back to state court, saying that it filed for removal as soon as it learned that the claims involved products from a facility that made products for the military.

  • October 21, 2024

    Boeing Machinists To Vote On New Tentative Wage Deal

    Approximately 33,000 Boeing employees represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers will vote Wednesday on a tentative new labor contract that includes a 35% wage increase over four years, potentially ending a more than monthlong strike that hampered Boeing's production and cash flow.

  • October 21, 2024

    MVP: Seeger Weiss' Chris Seeger

    Founding partner Chris Seeger of Seeger Weiss LLP helped win favorable outcomes in three high-profile mass tort cases, including a $6 billion global settlement to end sprawling litigation over allegedly defective 3M combat earplugs, earning him a spot among the 2024 Law360 Product Liability MVPs.

  • October 21, 2024

    5th Circ. Says Doc's Roundup Cancer Suit Filed Too Late

    The Fifth Circuit won't upend summary judgments in favor of Monsanto Co. in a suit by the family of a doctor who they say died because of his exposure to the weedkiller Roundup, finding that the suit was filed well outside the time limit.

  • October 21, 2024

    High Court Won't Revisit New-Deal Removal Ruling Yet

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to review a case challenging presidential removal protections for commissioners of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, passing up the opportunity to revisit a New Deal-era precedent at the center of the modern regulatory system.

  • October 18, 2024

    Law360 MVP Awards Go To Top Attys From 74 Firms

    The attorneys chosen as Law360's 2024 MVPs have distinguished themselves from their peers by securing hard-earned successes in high-stakes litigation, complex global matters and record-breaking deals.

  • October 18, 2024

    Carrier To Pay $615M Over Kidde-Fenwal Fire Foam Claims

    Carrier Global Corp. revealed in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing Friday that it will pay at least $615 million as part of a settlement in connection to its ownership of bankrupt Kidde-Fenwal Inc., which faces multidistrict litigation arising from its manufacture of firefighting foam with deadly "forever chemicals."

  • October 18, 2024

    Meta Can't Ax Mass. AG Suit Over Hooking Kids On Instagram

    A Massachusetts judge has refused to release Meta Platforms Inc. from the state attorney general's suit alleging the social media giant deployed design features aimed at addicting kids to Instagram, finding Meta wasn't immune from claims based on its own business conduct. 

  • October 18, 2024

    Spirit AeroSystems Furloughs 700 As Boeing Strike Endures

    Boeing Co. supplier Spirit AeroSystems Inc. said Friday that it will furlough 700 employees for three weeks to save costs as Boeing's production lines have ground to a halt amid a prolonged labor standoff with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

  • October 18, 2024

    Credit Suisse, PwC Fight Bondholders' Separate Merger Suits

    Credit Suisse and PwC have urged a New York federal judge to toss a proposed class action alleging that they concealed the impact of quarterly losses and the bank's inability to retain client funds leading up to its takeover by UBS AG, saying the plaintiff launched the suit to circumvent its rejected bid to be lead plaintiff in a similar suit.

  • October 18, 2024

    Grocery Co. Sued Over 'Naturally Flavored' Cereal Bars Label

    North Carolina-based supermarket chain Harris Teeter was hit with a proposed class action alleging its fruit-flavored cereal bars aren't "naturally flavored" like the packaging claims, but instead contain a flavoring that is derived from a petroleum substrate.

  • October 18, 2024

    Chemical Cos. Say Firefighter Didn't Fix Standing In PFAS Suit

    3M Co. and two other chemical firms urged an Ohio federal judge to dismiss a firefighter's revised lawsuit over so-called forever chemicals, arguing that the allegations are plagued by the same shortcomings the Sixth Circuit flagged when it vacated class certification last year.

  • October 18, 2024

    Mich. Supreme Court Spurns Challenge To UMich Gun Ban

    The Michigan Supreme Court declined Friday to review the constitutionality of the University of Michigan's campus firearms ban, leaving in place a lower court's ruling that the policy does not violate the Second Amendment.

Expert Analysis

  • Calif. Ruling Heightens Medical Product Maker Liability

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    The California Supreme Court's decision in Himes v. Somatics last month articulates a new causation standard for medical product manufacturer liability that may lead to stronger product disclosures nationwide and greater friction between manufacturers and physicians, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

  • Purdue Ch. 11 Ruling Reinforces Importance Of D&O Coverage

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma, holding that a Chapter 11 reorganization cannot discharge claims against a nondebtor without affected claimants' consent, will open new litigation pathways surrounding corporate insolvency and increase the importance of robust directors and officers insurance, says Evan Bolla at Harris St. Laurent.

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Roundup

    After Chevron

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    Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard in June, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 36 different rulemaking and litigation areas.

  • Opinion

    Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem

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    The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.

  • Parsing Justices' Toss Of Purdue's Controversial Ch. 11 Plan

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent nixing of OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma's Chapter 11 proposal prevents the Sackler family from settling thousands of civil opioid lawsuits without the consent of all of the plaintiffs, and holds profound implications for bankruptcy cases, say attorneys at MoloLamken.

  • Calif. Long-Tail Ruling Continues Policyholder-Friendly Trend

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    The California Supreme Court's recent ruling in Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Cement & Gypsum, rejecting horizontal policy exhaustion, was the latest in a string of its decisions involving insurance coverage for continuous or progressive injury claims that favor policyholders, say Billie Mandelbaum and David Goodwin at Covington.

  • FTC Focus: Competition And The Right To Repair

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    If the Federal Trade Commission includes commercial and industrial products as part of copyright exemptions that allow consumers to modify or repair products, then businesses and affected rights holders will need to consider copyrights' impact on infringement issues, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Series

    Skiing And Surfing Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I’ve learned while riding waves in the ocean and slopes in the mountains have translated to my legal career — developing strong mentor relationships, remaining calm in difficult situations, and being prepared and able to move to a backup plan when needed, says Brian Claassen at Knobbe Martens.

  • Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule

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    Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.

  • 4 Steps To Repair Defense Credibility In Opening Statements

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    Given the continued rise of record-breaking verdicts, defense counsel need to consider fresh approaches to counteract the factors coloring juror attitudes — starting with a formula for rebuilding credibility at the very beginning of opening statements, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.

  • Del. Bankruptcy Ruling Will Give D&O Insureds Nightmares

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    In Henrich v. XL Specialty Insurance, the Delaware Bankruptcy Court recently found that a never-served qui tam claim had been "brought" before a D&O policy's retroactive date, thereby eliminating coverage, and creating a nightmare scenario for directors and officers policyholders facing whistleblower claims, says David Klein at Pillsbury.

  • Prejudicial Evidence Takeaways From Trump Hush Money Trial

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    The Manhattan District Attorney's Office's prosecution and conviction of former President Donald Trump on 34 felony counts provides a lesson on whether evidence may cause substantial unfair prejudice, or if its prejudicial potential is perfectly fair within the bounds of the law, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

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