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Product Liability
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October 01, 2024
9th Circ. Cites 'Sunscreen' Song In Reviving Banana Boat Suit
The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday revived a proposed class action claiming Banana Boat sunscreen contains unsafe levels of benzene, citing a one-hit wonder from an Academy Award nominated director and saying a lower court judge erred by prematurely resolving disputed issues of fact and the merits of the consumer case.
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October 01, 2024
Judge Stays Calif. Locomotive Emissions Rule Challenge
A California federal judge halted litigation brought by rail industry groups challenging a regulation requiring railroads to transition to zero-emission locomotives in the Golden State over the next decade, finding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's upcoming authorization decision will greatly impact the case.
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October 01, 2024
Water Firm Can't End Flint Children's Negligence Claims
The federal judge presiding over Flint, Michigan, water crisis litigation again ruled on Tuesday that an engineering firm won't be able to avoid professional negligence claims related to its consulting work with the city, issuing the 70-page opinion days before jury selection for a bellwether trial begins.
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October 01, 2024
Georgia-Pacific Tells 6th Circ. Rivals Liable In CERCLA Row
Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products LP on Tuesday asked the Sixth Circuit to affirm a Michigan federal judge's ruling that International Paper Co. and Weyerhaeuser Co. can be sued for future cleanup costs of a Michigan Superfund site.
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October 01, 2024
Tesla Dodges Investor Suit Over Self-Driving Tech Claims
A California federal judge has released Tesla Inc. from litigation accusing it of deceiving investors about the capabilities and safety record of its self-driving technology, granting it at least a temporary reprieve from the class action litigation because suing shareholders hadn't shown that CEO Elon Musk knew his statements about the technology were false.
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October 01, 2024
Ford Must Face Trimmed Suit Over Alleged Truck Roof Defects
A Michigan federal judge trimmed a proposed class action alleging Ford Motor Co. knowingly sold defective trucks with weak roofs that collapse in a rollover, tossing certain claims brought on behalf of unrepresented states, but rejecting other defense arguments — including Ford's statute-of-limitations defense — for being premature.
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October 01, 2024
Apple Users Win Partial Cert. In Storage False Ad Suit
A California federal judge granted class certification Monday in a suit accusing Apple Inc. of falsely advertising the storage capacity of older mobile devices, but only for a subclass of certain individuals who purchased 16-gigabyte devices preinstalled with Apple's iOS 8 operating system in the Golden State.
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October 01, 2024
Ga. Industrial Fire Ignites Slew Of Suits From Residents
As a chlorine plant about 20 miles outside of Atlanta continues to belch chemical fumes into the skies in the aftermath of an industrial fire, the company that owns the facility was hit with proposed class actions Monday from residents who say the disaster is already causing dangerous health problems.
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October 01, 2024
Boeing Can't Escape Investors' 737 Max Fraud Suit
An Illinois federal judge trimmed but refused to toss a proposed securities class action against Boeing over claims that it harmed investors by misrepresenting the 737 Max's safety, pushing back against defendants who wanted him to reach the same conclusion as the suit's previously assigned judge.
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October 01, 2024
NC Man Defends $1.6M Verdict Over Vape Battery Explosion
A North Carolina man is asking a state appeals court to affirm his $1.6 million verdict in a suit against a distributor over injuries he suffered when a lithium-ion battery for his vape exploded in his pocket, saying there was plenty of evidence for the jury to conclude the distributor sold the battery in question.
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October 01, 2024
TikTok Petitions 3rd Circ. To Review Section 230 Ruling
TikTok asked for another crack in the Third Circuit on Tuesday, requesting an en banc rehearing of the appeals court's decision holding that its "For You Page" algorithm doesn't enjoy Section 230 immunity and reviving a suit accusing the app of recommending a "blackout challenge" that led to a 10-year-old's death.
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October 01, 2024
Enviro Group Sues Over PFAS In Carefree Menstrual Liners
Makers of the Carefree brand of menstrual liners, Edgewell Personal Care Co., on Monday were sued by an environmental group in California state court over allegations that the personal care products contain a type of so-called forever chemicals.
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October 01, 2024
Monsanto Can't Avoid Vt. Schools' Nuisance Claims Over PCBs
A Vermont federal judge has refused to dismiss nuisance and trespass claims by public school districts asserting their buildings were contaminated with a toxic chemical made by Monsanto Co., finding they plausibly alleged Monsanto knew the products would make their way onto the properties yet chose not to warn the districts.
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October 01, 2024
EBay Beats Gov't Claims Over Sale Of Polluting Products
A New York federal judge Monday tossed a government lawsuit accusing eBay Inc. of hawking illegal automotive, paint removal and pesticide products, holding that the e-commerce giant does not meet the definition of a "seller" and has Section 230 immunity as a publisher of third-party content.
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October 01, 2024
Video Game Cos. Want Gaming Addiction Suit Tossed
Microsoft Corp., Roblox Corp. and Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC moved Monday to dismiss a lawsuit filed against them by a mother who alleges they and other video game creators caused her teenager's mental disorders by deliberately engineering addictive experiences.
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October 01, 2024
Arkansas AG Says YouTube Addicts And Harms Youth Users
The Arkansas attorney general has sued YouTube LLC, Google LLC and their parent company in state court, alleging that the YouTube platform is deliberately designed to addict youth users and shows them harmful content, leading to a mental health crisis that has cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars.
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October 01, 2024
Insurer Says Polaris Gave Late Notice Of Death, Burn Suits
An excess insurer for a manufacturer of off-road vehicles said it should recover the $10 million it spent to help settle two lawsuits against the manufacturer over a fatal vehicle fire, telling a Minnesota federal court it was "severely prejudiced" by the manufacturer's claim notice delay.
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October 01, 2024
Delta Wants Suit Over IT Outage Response Thrown Out
Delta Air Lines is asking a Georgia federal judge to toss a proposed class action brought by customers who claim its botched response to a massive IT outage left them stranded and on the hook for numerous expenses, arguing their claims are barred by a federal deregulation law and its ticket terms.
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October 01, 2024
FanDuel Sued For $250M By Convicted Ex-Jaguars Employee
A former employee of the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars who's in federal prison for embezzling millions to spend on online gambling sued FanDuel for $250 million in New York federal court Tuesday, accusing the betting platform of preying on his addiction to encourage him to continue.
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September 30, 2024
AI Safety Bill Veto Shows Calif. Taking Regulatory 'Baby Steps'
The California governor's rejection of sweeping legislation to ensure the safe deployment of large-scale artificial intelligence models — and his simultaneous embrace of more targeted proposals to regulate the technology — is likely to result in the wider creation of regimes that favor "baby steps" over broad strokes, experts say.
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September 30, 2024
Consumer 'Overslept' On Some Drowsy Cough Syrup Claims
An Illinois federal judge said Monday a consumer can continue her suit alleging Tussin cough syrup's "non-drowsy" label is deceptive because the syrup made her sleepy, but ruled she waited too long to pursue warranty breach claims.
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September 30, 2024
GM's Cruise To Pay $1.5M Penalty Over SF Robotaxi Crash
General Motors Co.'s Cruise LLC agreed to pay a $1.5 million civil penalty for failing to promptly disclose that one of its self-driving vehicles last year had dragged a pedestrian for 20 feet, the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced on Monday.
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September 30, 2024
Big Banks Get Brazilian Pollution Suit Booted From NY
A New York federal judge on Monday dismissed an effort by a Brazilian city and residents to hold several big banks liable for allegedly financing environmentally ruinous mining operations in their region, ruling the matter would be more appropriately heard in Brazil.
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September 30, 2024
Apache Tribe Urges Supreme Court To Take Up Mining Case
The San Carlos Apache Tribe is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a ruling by Arizona's high court that sides with a state agency decision letting a copper mining company discharge treated wastewater from potential future operations into a local waterway.
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September 30, 2024
DOE Plutonium Pit Plan Found To Violate Environmental Law
A South Carolina federal judge on Monday backed antinuclear groups' challenge to a U.S. Department of Energy plan to boost production of plutonium cores used in nuclear weapons, saying the DOE hadn't properly considered the potential environmental impact of the plan.
Expert Analysis
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How Courts Split On Damages Analysis In Automotive Suits
As high-profile vehicle recalls and lawsuits alleging vehicle defects surge, many plaintiffs are turning to choice-based conjoint analysis to calculate damages, but a review of federal district court decisions reveals a range of views on the validity of this methodology, say Joshua Hochberg and Shireen Meer at Berkeley Research.
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2 Vital Trial Principles Endure Amid Tech Advances
Progress in trial technologies in the last 10 years has been transformative for courtroom presentations, but two core communication axioms are still relevant in today's world of drone footage evidence and 3D animations, say Adam Bloomberg and Lisa Walters at IMS Legal Strategies.
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Classwide Calculations May Get Price Premium Damages Wrong
In many consumer class actions, plaintiffs assert that they overpaid for a product because of a misrepresented or defective product feature, and that a single price premium estimate can be applied classwide — but failure to account for differences in price premiums across a putative class may lead to improper damage awards, say economists at Ankura Consulting.
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Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?
A Pennsylvania federal court’s recent dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims in Morgan v. Noss should remind attorneys to avoid the temptation to repackage a claim’s facts and law into a mirror-image counterclaim, as this approach will often result in a waste of time and resources, says Matthew Selmasska at Kaufman Dolowich.
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6 Factors That Can Make For A 'Nuclear' Juror
Drawing from recent research that examines the rise in nuclear verdicts, Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies identifies a few juror characteristics most likely to matter in assessing case risk and preparing for jury selection — some of which are long-known, and others that are emerging post-pandemic.
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Series
Playing Dungeons & Dragons Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Playing Dungeons & Dragons – a tabletop role-playing game – helped pave the way for my legal career by providing me with foundational skills such as persuasion and team building, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.
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Gilead Drug Ruling Creates Corporate Governance Dilemma
If upheld, a California state appellate court's decision — finding that Gilead is liable for delaying commercialization of a safer HIV drug to maximize profits on another drug — threatens to undermine long-standing rules of corporate law and exposes companies to liability for decisions based on sound business judgment, says Shireen Barday at Pallas.
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3 Leadership Practices For A More Supportive Firm Culture
Traditional leadership styles frequently amplify the inherent pressures of legal work, but a few simple, time-neutral strategies can strengthen the skills and confidence of employees and foster a more collaborative culture, while supporting individual growth and contribution to organizational goals, says Benjamin Grimes at BKG Leadership.
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Rebuttal
Cancer Research Org. Is Right To Avoid Corporate Influence
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.
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Attorneys Can Benefit From Reverse-Engineering Their Cases
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.
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How Courts' Differing Views On Standing Affect PFAS Claims
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.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Hyperlinked Documents
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.
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Loper Bright Limits Federal Agencies' Ability To Alter Course
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.
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Series
Teaching Scuba Diving Makes Me A Better Lawyer
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.
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Lawyers Can Take Action To Honor The Voting Rights Act
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.