Product Liability

  • December 05, 2024

    Dunkin' Fruit-Named Drinks Have No Fruit, False Ad Suit Says

    Dunkin' falsely markets its "Refresher" line of caffeinated beverages with names of specific fruits despite not containing any of the fruits, cheating consumers out of the "premium" fruit ingredients and their health benefits, alleges a new proposed false advertising class action filed Wednesday in New York federal court.

  • December 05, 2024

    Frontier Pays $3.5M To End Calif. AG's Illegal Dumping Probe

    The California subsidiary of telecom company Frontier Communications will pay $3.5 million to end an investigation into the improper disposal of batteries, aerosol cans and other hazardous waste at warehouses and field service facilities dating back to 2008, the Golden State's attorney general announced Thursday.

  • December 05, 2024

    Gov't Efficiency Push Is A 'New Day,' House Speaker Says

    House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., spoke excitedly Thursday about the new government efficiency operation helmed by billionaire Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and touted the budding bipartisan lineup of a congressional caucus that will work with it.

  • December 05, 2024

    Abbott Accused Of 'Last-Ditch Effort' To Halt Formula Suit

    Investors accusing Abbott Laboratories leaders of concealing known safety issues related to recalled infant formula urged an Illinois federal judge to reject the company's bid to stay the case because it belatedly formed a special litigation committee to investigate the allegations two years into the litigation.

  • December 05, 2024

    Tesla Can't 'Pretend' Dismissal Was Stay Order, 9th Circ. Says

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Thursday doubted Tesla's arguments that a California federal court had jurisdictional authority to enforce its arbitration win against an ex-Tesla engineer's defamation claims, with one judge noting that Tesla asked to dismiss the engineer's case and it can't now "pretend" the dismissal was a stay order.

  • December 05, 2024

    FDA Warns 115 Retailers Over Unauthorized E-Cigarettes

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued warning letters to 115 retailers across the country for selling unauthorized e-cigarettes that appeal to youths, the agency said Thursday.

  • December 05, 2024

    Feds Invest $849M For Water Infrastructure Improvements

    An $849 million investment from the Biden administration will support 77 water infrastructure development projects throughout the country's western states and tribal communities that are located along major river basins in an effort to restore canal capacity, sustain treatment, replace aging hydropower production equipment and provide maintenance to older project buildings.

  • December 05, 2024

    Hinckley Allen Opens New Ill. Office To Tackle Asbestos Work

    Hinckley Allen has debuted an office with an 11-member team to service the southern Illinois and St. Louis metropolitan areas, hiring three partners specializing in complex product liability and toxic tort matters as it seeks to plant its flag in a "critical jurisdiction" for those kinds of cases.

  • December 05, 2024

    DEI Provision Dooms Boeing's 737 Max Plea Deal

    A Texas federal judge on Thursday rejected Boeing's plea agreement in its 737 Max criminal conspiracy case, finding flaws in how the U.S. Department of Justice intended to use race and diversity to select an independent compliance monitor to oversee Boeing, and how the court was cut out of that process.

  • December 05, 2024

    Helicopter Co. Says It Is Not Holding Up Fatal Crash Suit

    The aircraft company facing claims from the families of six Canadian Air Force members who died in a 2020 helicopter crash near Greece pushed back on a claim its bid to transfer the suit to Connecticut is forum-shopping, arguing it should be allowed to defend itself in the state where it is based.

  • December 04, 2024

    Meta Genocide Defense Spurs 'Yeah Right' From 9th Circ.

    Ninth Circuit judges doubted Wednesday whether women fleeing genocide of the Rohingya people in Myanmar could have realistically investigated Facebook's role in spreading disinformation and called a lawyer, with one judge calling the defense argument "silly" and another judge responding, "yeah right."

  • December 04, 2024

    Quaker Beats 'Simply Granola' False Ad Suit, For Now

    An Illinois federal judge has freed the Quaker Oats Company from a putative class action alleging it deceived consumers into believing its "Simply Granola" product contained only oats, honey, raisins and almonds, saying no reasonable consumer would conclude those were the only ingredients based on the products' label.

  • December 04, 2024

    No Coverage For P&G Environmental Claims, Insurers Say

    A group of Hartford units told an Ohio federal court Wednesday they owe no coverage to Procter & Gamble Co. for three underlying lawsuits accusing the company of contaminating groundwater in New York, and for a separate warehouse fire in Michigan that caused the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to intervene.

  • December 04, 2024

    9th Circ. Mulls Waiting To Weigh In On Amazon Suicide Suit

    A Ninth Circuit panel Wednesday appeared open to waiting for the Washington Supreme Court to clarify the state's duty-to-warn statute before deciding whether to revive allegations Amazon.com negligently sold chemicals used in suicides while one judge observed that Amazon created an algorithm that recommended lethal product-mixes, "so it's intentional."

  • December 04, 2024

    Boeing, Spirit Say Flyers Can't Forum-Shop 737 Blowout Suit

    Boeing, Spirit AeroSystems and Alaska Airlines have blasted an attempt by passengers to redo their suit over January's 737 Max 9 door plug blowout, saying the plaintiffs are improperly forum-shopping when their case is set for a consolidated bench trial in Washington federal court.

  • December 04, 2024

    Columbia Univ., Publisher Face Suit Over Reading Program

    Columbia University Teachers College and the creators and publishers of two widely used reading instructional programs have ignored concerns about their effectiveness for years, leaving many children functionally illiterate, a proposed class action filed Wednesday in Massachusetts state court alleges.

  • December 04, 2024

    Consumers Agree To Throw Out Diaper Genie False Ad Case

    A group of consumers who claimed Diaper Genie ads falsely advertised that the products' refill packs contained a year's worth of diapers have dropped their proposed class action in a joint motion filed with brand owners Angelcare and Playtex.

  • December 04, 2024

    FTC Slams IntelliVision's Facial Recognition Bias Claims

    The Federal Trade Commission has ordered artificial intelligence facial recognition software maker IntelliVision Technologies to stop misrepresenting that its software was free of racial and gender bias.

  • December 04, 2024

    Ethylene Oxide Suits Sent Back To Ill. State Court

    An Illinois federal judge said Tuesday that lawsuits accusing several companies of polluting the air with ethylene oxide were improperly removed to federal court, despite a state judge's statement that two defendants reaching settlements was cause for removal.

  • December 04, 2024

    DuPont Asks Court For Pause In $1 Billion Pollution Suit

    Chemours and E.I. du Pont de Nemours urged a New Jersey state court to pause a small town's billion-dollar lawsuit over pollution from the former DuPont Chambers Works facility in order to appeal a recent ruling, arguing clarity from the Appellate Division is necessary.

  • December 03, 2024

    Monsanto Expert Says No PCB Link To Kids' Conditions

    Monsanto began its defense case Tuesday in the latest PCB trial with an OB/GYN who said he didn't believe that any of three sisters' skin problems or premature puberty stemmed from exposure to the chemical.

  • December 03, 2024

    Pizza Chain Insurer Owes Share Of Salmonella Deal, Suit Says

    An insurer told a Washington federal court that a Liberty Mutual subsidiary must contribute to a settlement reached by their mutual insured, a "take 'n' bake" pizza restaurant, arising out of allegations that customers purchased raw cookie dough tainted with Salmonella bacteria.

  • December 03, 2024

    5th Circ. Judge Doubts Deepwater Horizon Claims Can Survive

    A Fifth Circuit judge on Tuesday questioned whether cleanup workers' claims following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill can survive in the face of a demanding evidence standard adopted from toxic tort cases.

  • December 03, 2024

    J&J's Neosporin Forever Discolored Man's Groin, Suit Says

    Johnson & Johnson and its consumer health spinoff were sued in California state court over claims that Neosporin antibiotic ointment badly infected a Los Angeles man's scrotum and permanently discolored his groin.

  • December 03, 2024

    Sanctions Stick Against Colorado Gear Seller And Its Attys

    A Washington appellate court has upheld about $500,000 in sanctions against an equipment manufacturer and its former counsel, Sinars Slowikowski Tomaska LLP, for failing to disclose information in a dispute over a rock climber's fall at a Seattle gym — including a defense attorney's 38 visits to the accident site.

Expert Analysis

  • Rebuttal

    Cancer Research Org. Is Right To Avoid Corporate Influence

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    While a previous Law360 guest article criticizes the International Agency for Research on Cancer's processes, its reliance on peer-reviewed literature is proper and its refusal to allow corporate influence is sound science, say Lance Oliver and Ridge Mazingo at Motley Rice.

  • Attorneys Can Benefit From Reverse-Engineering Their Cases

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    Trial advocacy programs often teach lawyers to loosely track the progression of a lawsuit during preparation — case analysis, then direct examination, then cross-examination, openings and closings — but reverse-engineering cases by working backward from opening and closing statements can streamline the process and also improve case strategy, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • How Courts' Differing Views On Standing Affect PFAS Claims

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    Two recent opinions from New York federal courts — in Lurenz v. Coca-Cola, and Winans v. Ornua Foods North America — illustrate how pivotal the differing views on standing held by different courts will be for product liability litigation involving per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, particularly consumer claims, say attorneys at Hollingsworth.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Hyperlinked Documents

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    Recent rulings show that counsel should engage in early discussions with clients regarding the potential of hyperlinked documents in electronically stored information, which will allow for more deliberate negotiation of any agreements regarding the scope of discovery, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Loper Bright Limits Federal Agencies' Ability To Alter Course

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to dismantle Chevron deference also effectively overrules its 2005 decision in National Cable & Telecommunications Association v. Brand X, greatly diminishing agencies' ability to change regulatory course from one administration to the next, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

  • Series

    Teaching Scuba Diving Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    As a master scuba instructor, I’ve learned how to prepare for the unexpected, overcome fears and practice patience, and each of these skills – among the many others I’ve developed – has profoundly enhanced my work as a lawyer, says Ron Raether at Troutman Pepper.

  • Lawyers Can Take Action To Honor The Voting Rights Act

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    As the Voting Rights Act reaches its 59th anniversary Tuesday, it must urgently be reinforced against recent efforts to dismantle voter protections, and lawyers can pitch in immediately by volunteering and taking on pro bono work to directly help safeguard the right to vote, says Anna Chu at We The Action.

  • 3rd Circ. Ruling Shows Benefits Of IP Licenses In Bankruptcy

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    The Third Circuit’s recent ruling in Mallinckrodt’s Chapter 11 filing, which held that Mallinckrodt could sever its obligations to pay Sanofi royalties on sales of an autoimmune disease drug, highlights the advantages of structuring transactions as nonexclusive licenses for developers of intellectual property, say Gregory Hesse and Kaleb Bailey at Hunton.

  • How 3rd Circ. Raised Bar For Constitutional Case Injunctions

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    The Third Circuit's decision in Delaware State Sportsmen's Association v. Delaware Department of Safety & Homeland Security, rejecting the relaxed preliminary injunction standards many courts have used when plaintiffs allege constitutional harms, could portend a shift in such cases in at least four ways, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • Opinion

    Expert Witness Standards Must Consider Peer Review Crisis

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    For nearly two decades, the so-called replication crisis has upended how the scientific community views the reliability of peer-reviewed studies, and it’s time for courts to reevaluate whether peer review is a trustworthy proxy for expert witness reliability, say Jeffrey Gross and Robert LaCroix at Reid Collins.

  • How To Grow Marketing, Biz Dev Teams In A Tight Market

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    Faced with fierce competition and rising operating costs, firms are feeling the pressure to build a well-oiled marketing and business development team that supports strategic priorities, but they’ll need to be flexible and creative given a tight talent market, says Ben Curle at Ambition.

  • Series

    Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step

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    From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Weight-Loss Drugs May Spur Next Major Mass Tort

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    With lawsuits concerning Ozempic and similar weight-loss drugs potentially becoming the next major mass tort in the U.S., companies should consider key defense strategies ranging from alternate dispute resolution to enhanced drug safety, say Dino Haloulos and Jarif Khan at Foley & Mansfield.

  • What Cos. Should Know About New Global Plastics Regs

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    As the global regulatory landscape for plastics and recycling changes rapidly — with new policies coming into effect in California, at the federal level, in the European Union and at the United Nations — businesses that operate across jurisdictions must stay informed to remain compliant, mitigate legal risk and achieve stewardship goals, say attorneys at O'Melveny.

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