Product Liability

  • October 08, 2024

    DOJ Sues LA Fitness Over Nationwide Accessibility Issues

    The U.S. Department of Justice sued gym chain LA Fitness on Tuesday, alleging that it mistreated patrons with disabilities at its nearly 700 locations across the country, including by failing to fix broken pool lift equipment and charging caretakers additional fees.

  • October 08, 2024

    CooperSurgical Fails To Escape Embryo Solution Recall Suits

    A California state judge on Tuesday declined to dismiss four lawsuits filed against CooperSurgical Inc. by individuals or couples who allege the company failed to recall a toxic solution before it destroyed their developing embryos, trimming a few claims but otherwise keeping the suits intact. 

  • October 08, 2024

    J&J Wins OK For $505M Deal With Bankrupt Talc Miners

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge approved a $505 million settlement between a pair of talc producers and Johnson & Johnson after overruling an objection by a group of insurers to the deal, which would resolve several ongoing disputes with J&J over talc injury claims.

  • October 08, 2024

    Marathon Co. Wants 'Both Bites' In Pipeline Row, 8th Circ. Told

    A group of tribal landowners looking to intervene in the federal government's appeal related to a Marathon Petroleum Corp. subsidiary's pipeline that crosses part of reservation lands told the Eighth Circuit that the company can't have "both bites of the apple" in fighting their bid to dismiss the case.

  • October 08, 2024

    Eggland's Best Says Cage-Free Eggs Are Exactly That

    Eggland's Best asked an Illinois federal judge on Monday to toss a suit claiming it misled consumers about the quality of care for its hens and the conditions in which they lived, arguing its cage-free eggs are unquestionably labeled as such and that the plaintiffs "twist themselves into knots" to render the products deceptive.

  • October 08, 2024

    Industry, Utilities Take Aim At EPA's Drinking Water PFAS Rule

    Water utility associations and chemical industry players asked the D.C. Circuit to strike down the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rule setting the first-ever limits for forever chemicals in the nation's drinking water.

  • October 08, 2024

    3rd Circ. Preview: Constitutional Rights Fears Top October

    Constitutional challenges dominate an October argument lineup that will task the Third Circuit with mulling drug price fights by AstraZeneca and other pharmaceutical powerhouses and a suit by a Pennsylvania man claiming his past convictions don't foreclose his right to own a gun. 

  • October 08, 2024

    AGs Slam TikTok With Youth Addiction, Fraud Claims

    More than a dozen states have sued TikTok, alleging the popular social media platform targets young users and manipulates them into becoming habitual users while downplaying the harmful effects it can have on mental health and development.

  • October 08, 2024

    EPA Sets 10-Year Target For Lead Drinking-Water Pipe Fixes

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday finalized a rule that requires all lead drinking water pipes in the country to be replaced within the next 10 years to protect the public from the "significant and irreversible" health effects tied to exposure to lead in drinking water.

  • October 07, 2024

    Factory Mutual Must Fully Cover Plant Explosions, Suit Says

    Petrochemicals maker Indorama Ventures accused Factory Mutual Insurance Co. in Texas federal court Monday of wrongly refusing to fully cover roughly $100 million in losses stemming from a series of major explosions in 2019 near an Indorama plant in Texas.

  • October 07, 2024

    Boehringer Defends Zantac As Cancer Jury Trial Kicks Off

    Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals defended the company's heartburn medication Zantac during the defense's opening statements in a product liability trial Monday, telling California jurors that trial evidence will show the plaintiff never used Boehringer's over-the-counter Zantac products, and that other risk factors put him at risk of developing bladder cancer.

  • October 07, 2024

    Justices Set To Review Feds' Suit Over 'Ghost Gun' Exception

    The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments Tuesday over whether "ghost gun" assembly kits and their accessories, which are unserialized and untraceable, can be considered firearms and therefore subject to licensing requirements under the Gun Control Act of 1968.

  • October 07, 2024

    Valero, Port Cos. To Pay $2.4M To End Bay Area Pollution Suit

    Valero and three port companies will pay nearly $2.4 million to resolve a nonprofit's lawsuit accusing the defendants of illegally dumping petroleum coke into the water without proper permits, in violation of the Clean Water Act, according to a consent decree signed by a California federal judge on Monday.

  • October 07, 2024

    J&J Can't Unwind Chicago Jury's $45M Talc Verdict

    An Illinois judge has refused to disturb a $45 million jury verdict for the estate of a woman who died from mesothelioma after using Johnson & Johnson's talc-based baby powder for years, rejecting multiple attacks the company lodged against the award.

  • October 07, 2024

    Texas Ghost Gun Cos. Can't Keep Calif. Suit In Fed Court

    A California federal judge has sent back to state court a suit by the state alleging three Texas-based companies are trying to get around California's prohibition on equipment used primarily or exclusively to make "ghost guns," finding the companies haven't shown that there's diversity among the parties.

  • October 07, 2024

    Decision In Jurisdictional Case 'Outlier,' High Court Told

    An attorney representing Royal Canin USA Inc. and Nestlé Purina PetCare Co. on Monday told the U.S. Supreme Court that a jurisdictional decision in a case over prescription dog food is both an "extreme outlier" and goes against more than a hundred years of precedent.

  • October 07, 2024

    No Firm Schedule For New LNG Rule, Feds Tell DC Circ.

    The Biden administration has told the D.C. Circuit that it has no "firm schedule" for revising a rule allowing liquefied natural gas to be transported by rail, information the court asked for in litigation filed by environmental groups opposed to the regulations.

  • October 07, 2024

    3M Facing PFAS Headwinds In Vermont, NJ And Ohio Cases

    3M Co., which is facing forever chemical lawsuits across the country, is dealing with pushback from Vermont, which is fighting 3M's effort to take its state court case into federal court, and from plaintiffs in Ohio and New Jersey, who have kept their litigation out of a sprawling multidistrict litigation.

  • October 07, 2024

    5 Decisions To Know By Outgoing Mass. Chief Judge

    Chief Massachusetts U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV, who announced Monday that he will step back from full-time judicial service next summer, has presided over numerous significant cases in recent years, including a dispute over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's disgorgement powers and a birth defects suit against GlaxoSmithKline.

  • October 07, 2024

    Panera Settles 'Charged Lemonade' Death Case Days Before Trial

    Panera Bread has reached a confidential settlement in a wrongful death suit lodged by the parents of a University of Pennsylvania student who died after drinking the bakery café chain's now-discontinued Charged Lemonade, counsel for the parents told Law360 on Monday.

  • October 07, 2024

    Target's '100% Pure' Avocado Oil Not So Pure, Suit Says

    Target customers hit the retailer with a putative class action in California federal court alleging its line of Good & Gather avocado oil is not 100% pure as the label suggests, and instead may contain additives like other lesser quality oils.

  • October 07, 2024

    State Courts Splitting Over Future Of Climate Change Suits

    Recent decisions on whether climate change suits brought by state and local governments against fossil fuel companies can go forward are exposing splits between state courts over whether they can impose liability for pollution that originates beyond their borders, legal experts say.

  • October 07, 2024

    Sprinter Says Gatorade Gummies Made Him Flunk Doping Test

    A New York federal judge heard Monday from a promising sprinter from Texas who claims Gatorade Recovery gummies gifted to him by the sports-drink giant caused him to fail a doping test, an allegation the PepsiCo unit denies.

  • October 07, 2024

    6 High Court Cases To Watch For Trial Attorneys

    As the U.S. Supreme Court lifts the curtain on a new term, the justices are slated to consider a variety of cases impacting the work of trial litigators, including a death penalty case over a state-disavowed conviction, the boundaries of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, and corporate veil piercing.

  • October 07, 2024

    Justices Seek SG Input On Red State Bid To End Climate Torts

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday asked the U.S. Solicitor General to weigh in on a request by red states to nix climate change torts brought by blue state governments against fossil fuel companies, signaling its growing interest in the future of such cases.

Expert Analysis

  • Insurance Types That May Help Cos. After Key Bridge Collapse

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    Following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, businesses that depend on the bridge, the Port of Baltimore and related infrastructure for shipment and distribution of cargo should understand which common types of first-party insurance coverage may provide recoveries for financial losses, say Bert Wells and Richard Lewis at Reed Smith.

  • Lessons On Challenging Class Plaintiffs' Expert Testimony

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    In class actions seeking damages, plaintiffs are increasingly using expert opinions to establish predominance, but several recent rulings from California federal courts shed light on how defendants can respond, say Jennifer Romano and Raija Horstman at Crowell & Moring.

  • Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance

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    A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.

  • Trump Hush Money Case Offers Master Class In Trial Strategy

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    The New York criminal hush money trial of former President Donald Trump typifies some of the greatest challenges that lawyers face in crafting persuasive presentations, providing lessons on how to handle bad facts, craft a simple story that withstands attack, and cross-examine with that story in mind, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Series

    Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.

  • A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System

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    As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.

  • When The Platform Is A Product, Strict Liability Can Attach

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    A New York state court's recent ruling in Patterson v. Meta, holding that social media platforms can be considered products, appears to be the first of its kind — but if it is upheld and adopted by other courts, the liability implications for internet companies could be incredibly far-reaching, say attorneys at Patterson Belknap.

  • Opinion

    State-Regulated Cannabis Can Thrive Without Section 280E

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    Marijauna's reclassification as a Schedule III-controlled substance comes at a critical juncture, as removing marijuana from being subjected to Section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code is the only path forward for the state-regulated cannabis industry to survive and thrive, say Andrew Kline at Perkins Coie and Sammy Markland at FTI Consulting.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data

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    Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Keeping Up With Class Actions: A New Era Of Higher Stakes

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    Corporate defendants saw unprecedented settlement numbers across all areas of class action litigation in 2022 and 2023, and this year has kept pace so far, with three settlements that stand out for the nature of the claims and for their high dollar amounts, says Gerald Maatman at Duane Morris.

  • 5 Climate Change Regulatory Issues Insurers Should Follow

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    The climate change landscape for insurers has changed dramatically recently — and not just because of the controversy over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related risk disclosure rules, says Thomas Dawson at McDermott.

  • Series

    Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.

  • What 100 Federal Cases Suggest About Changes To Chevron

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    With the U.S. Supreme Court poised to overturn or narrow its 40-year-old doctrine of Chevron deference, a review of 100 recent federal district court decisions confirm that changes to the Chevron framework will have broad ramifications — but the magnitude of the impact will depend on the details of the high court's ruling, say Kali Schellenberg and Jon Cochran at LeVan Stapleton.

  • Manufacturers Should Pay Attention To 'Right-To-Repair' Laws

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    Oregon’s recently passed "right-to-repair" statute highlights that the R2R movement is not going away, and that manufacturers of all kinds need to be paying attention to the evolving list of R2R statutes in various states and consider participating in the process, says Courtney Sarnow at Culhane.

  • How Cos. Can Comply With New PFAS Superfund Rule

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new rule designating two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances as "hazardous substances" under the Superfund law will likely trigger additional enforcement and litigation at sites across the country — so companies should evaluate any associated reporting obligations and liability risks, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

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