Product Liability

  • September 18, 2024

    VW Can't Nix $4.7M Mechanic's Brake Pad Asbestos Verdict

    A Washington state appeals court has refused to throw out a $4.7 million verdict in favor of the estate of a mechanic who died of mesothelioma he claimed he contracted from asbestos in Volkswagen AG's brake pads, rejecting the automaker's arguments that the evidence didn't support the verdict or that the jury instructions were wrong.

  • September 18, 2024

    Altria's Vape As Popular As Kale Juice, Elf Bar Tells Calif. Court

    Blocking the Chinese companies behind Elf Bar from importing their flavored vapes won't increase the market share of Altria Group subsidiary NJOY's nicotine e-cigarettes, the foreign companies argued, saying it's just as unlikely as consumers going from grape juice to kale juice.

  • September 18, 2024

    Cleanup Worker Wants Full 5th Circ. To Review BP Spill Suit

    A worker who alleges that he was exposed to toxic substances while cleaning up the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 is urging the full Fifth Circuit to review a decision to dismiss his case, saying the panel that upheld the dismissal misconstrued precedent in finding that he needed to show that the discovery he sought was enough to defeat summary judgment.

  • September 18, 2024

    DOJ Says Ship Is Liable For $100M In Baltimore Bridge Collapse

    The U.S. Department of Justice is suing to recover $100 million from the owner and the manager of the cargo ship that slammed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge in March, alleging gross negligence on their part killed six people and destroyed a vital transportation corridor.

  • September 18, 2024

    New Hampshire Residents Push To Save PFOA Class Action

    A class of New Hampshire residents seeking to hold the Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp. liable for the contamination of their properties with a toxic forever chemical is fighting the company's bid for summary judgment.

  • September 18, 2024

    Data Brokers Say NJ Judicial Privacy Law Goes Too Far

    A group of data brokers accused of violating the New Jersey judicial privacy measure Daniel's Law has doubled down on its argument to a federal court that the law cannot survive strict constitutional scrutiny and must be thrown out.

  • September 18, 2024

    GSK Inks 2 Calif. Zantac Deals

    GlaxoSmithKline LLC on Wednesday said that it had reached two settlements in California state court over allegations that its heartburn drug Zantac had caused cancer, although the company did not disclose the deal amounts.

  • September 18, 2024

    Video Game Giants Want Addictive Games Suit Tossed

    Microsoft Corp., Nintendo of America Inc., Activision Blizzard Inc., Roblox Corp. and other well-known companies in the video game industry moved to dismiss a lawsuit alleging they intentionally got users addicted to their games for profit Tuesday, arguing the case is barred by the First Amendment.

  • September 17, 2024

    Texas Fertility Clinic Hid 'Catastrophic' Lab Issue, Couples Say

    Five couples accused a Houston fertility institute of hiding "catastrophic" laboratory issues that affected patients' embryos, saying in a lawsuit that the entity instead injected multiple hopeful mothers with "dead or dying" eggs.

  • September 17, 2024

    GC Base Salaries At Big Companies On The Rise

    General counsel base salaries at companies making $5 billion or more in revenue has increased from last year, while their total compensation has decreased, according to a report released Tuesday by the Association of Corporate Counsel and Empsight International LLC.

  • September 17, 2024

    Licorice Maker KLN Defeats 'Naturally Flavored' Deception Suit

    A California federal judge has dismissed a proposed class action lawsuit alleging the manufacturer of Wiley Wallaby falsely advertised the licorice as "naturally flavored," finding the suit lacked particularity in alleging that the malic acid used in the product was artificial.

  • September 17, 2024

    Blumenauer Pushes House Speaker To Put Pot Bill To Vote

    U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., on Monday urged House Speaker Mike Johnson to bring bipartisan cannabis legislation to a vote following revelations that Richard Nixon admitted privately that marijuana was "not particularly dangerous" while he publicly waged the war on drugs.

  • September 17, 2024

    Instagram Changing Teen Accounts As Pressure Mounts

    Instagram announced changes Tuesday to its user experience for those under age 18 as it faces increasing concern about children's online safety.

  • September 16, 2024

    Mass. Accounting Firm Hit With Data Breach Class Claims

    Accounting firm Katz Nannis + Solomon PC failed to safeguard sensitive client information and enabled a 2023 data breach, according to a proposed class action in Massachusetts federal court.

  • September 16, 2024

    Parent Drops Suit Alleging Video Game Addiction

    An Arkansas parent has dropped their lawsuit alleging popular entertainment company make addictive video games like Fortnite and Call of Duty that they said had drastic negative implications on their 14-year-old child's life.

  • September 16, 2024

    Amazon Faked Discounts On Fire TVs, Suit Says

    Amazon.com Inc. has been hit with a proposed class action in Washington federal court alleging it advertised fake sales and discounts for its Fire TV products, misleading consumers into believing they were getting a bargain.

  • September 16, 2024

    FDA Warns Vape Retailers About Approval Inadequacies

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned a slew of retailers that they are illegally selling vape brands and products, alleging they lack regulatory approval to do so.

  • September 16, 2024

    J&J Cheers Toss Of 'Indefensible' $260M Talc Verdict

    An Oregon state judge rejected a jury's $260 million verdict for a woman who blamed Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder for her cancer diagnosis, a company spokesperson said Monday.

  • September 16, 2024

    Nelson Mullins Grows In Chicago With Ex-Taft Litigator

    Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP has reinforced its Midwest litigation team with a former Taft Stettinius & Hollister partner based in the Windy City.

  • September 13, 2024

    The 2024 Regional Powerhouses

    The law firms on Law360's list of 2024 Regional Powerhouses reflected the local peculiarities of their states while often representing clients in deals and cases that captured national attention.

  • September 13, 2024

    Conn. High Court Snapshot: Firm's Bill Battle Rages In Sept.

    The Connecticut Supreme Court's September case lineup tasks the justices with helping a federal court judge decide if McCarter & English LLP can fetch punitive damages in a billing battle with an ex-client, and if parents suing Target and others can be compensated for the impairment of their relationship with their injured child. Here, Law360 previews some highlights of the high court's argument schedule for the month.

  • September 13, 2024

    Exxon Owes $816M For Man's Cancer After Judge Ups Verdict

    Exxon Mobil Corp. is on the hook for $816 million to a New York service station mechanic who blames the oil giant for his leukemia diagnosis, after a Philadelphia judge upheld a jury's verdict and added delay damages.

  • September 13, 2024

    Judge Orders Mobile IV Co. To Stop Eli Lilly Infringment

    A Colorado-based mobile outfit that administers IV treatments to customers in their homes must stop all advertising and web promotion that gives the impression it offers Eli Lilly medications, according to a settlement approved by a federal judge.

  • September 13, 2024

    NJ Gov. Signs Law To Limit Sale Of 'Intoxicating Hemp'

    New Jersey Governor Philip Murphy on Thursday signed a bill into law aimed at regulating the sale and distribution of intoxicating hemp products in the state, particularly those sold by unauthorized sellers and those sold to people under 21.

  • September 13, 2024

    9th Circ. Ruling Guts Religious Protections, Apaches Say

    The U.S. Supreme Court should stop the federal government from handing over a sacred tribal site in Arizona's Tonto National Forest to a copper mining joint venture owned by Rio Tinto and BHP, the San Carlos Apache Tribe argued, saying that the decision could pose an "existential threat" to Native Americans.

Expert Analysis

  • 6th Circ. Ruling Breathes New Life Into Article III Traceability

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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.

  • Opinion

    Food Safety Bill Needed To Protect Kids From Heavy Metals

    Author Photo

    The recent announcement by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that hundreds of children may have been exposed to unsafe lead levels in applesauce highlights the continuing failure by Congress to pass legislation that would require baby food manufacturers to ensure safer levels of heavy metals in their products, says Vineet Dubey at Custodio & Dubey.

  • Opinion

    3rd-Party Financiers Have Power To Drive Mass Tort Cases

    Author Photo

    The abnormal recovery premium presented by modern mass tort cases coupled with their deemphasized role for attorneys creates an opportunity for third-party financiers to both create and control these cases, says Samir Parikh at Lewis & Clark Law School.

  • Preparing For A New Wave Of Litigation Under Silicosis Rules

    Author Photo

    After the Division of Occupational Safety and Health of California issued an emergency temporary standard to combat noncompliance with assessments of workers' exposure to particles of crystalline silica, companies that manufacture, distribute or sell silica-containing products will need aggressive case-specific discovery to navigate a new wave of litigation, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • Managing Competing Priorities In Witness Preparation

    Author Photo

    There’s often a divide between what attorneys and witnesses want out of the deposition process, but litigation teams can use several strategies to resolve this tension and help witnesses be more comfortable with the difficult conditions of testifying, say Ava Hernández and Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.

  • Reimagining Law Firm Culture To Break The Cycle Of Burnout

    Author Photo

    While attorney burnout remains a perennial issue in the legal profession, shifting post-pandemic expectations mean that law firms must adapt their office cultures to retain talent, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Product Liability archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!