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Product Liability
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July 15, 2024
Military Families Fight Gov't Bid To Slash Fuel Leak Payout
Military family members and civilians have fired back at the federal government's attempt to dramatically undercut their request for damages following a bellwether bench trial in litigation stemming from fuel leaks tied to a now-shuttered Navy storage facility at Pearl Harbor.
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July 15, 2024
Mich. Judge Recuses Himself From Ford Engine Fire Suit
A Michigan federal judge has recused himself, without explanation, from overseeing a proposed class action alleging that Ford Motor Co. concealed a defect in some of its engines that caused fires.
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July 15, 2024
Lighting Company Not Liable For Fire At Cannabis Farm
A Maryland federal judge has dismissed a lighting company from an insurer's suit alleging that lamps sold by its predecessor company caused a fire at a cannabis farm, saying it can't be held liable as a successor under Maryland law.
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July 15, 2024
BMW, Customer Agree To Drop Motorcycle Gear Display Fight
BMW of North America and a customer who brought a proposed class action against the company, alleging it sold motorcycles with defective gear indicators, have agreed to drop their dispute from New Jersey federal court, according to a joint stipulation.
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July 12, 2024
Law360 Names 2024's Top Attorneys Under 40
Law360 is pleased to announce the Rising Stars of 2024, our list of 158 attorneys under 40 whose legal accomplishments belie their age.
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July 12, 2024
Opioid MDL Plaintiffs Atty Fee Awards Upheld
The Ohio federal judge overseeing the multidistrict litigation over the opioid epidemic denied several law firms' requests to amend the share of legal fees they received in the case, except an appeal from Spangenberg Shibley & Liber, reasoning that one of its attorneys' work has been "invaluable."
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July 12, 2024
2nd Circ. Revives 'Whole Wheat Flour' Cracker Label Suit
Advertising which emphasized "organic whole wheat flour" in a box of crackers when white flour was the primary ingredient was misleading and "arguably false," according to the Second Circuit, which revived a lawsuit accusing Back to Nature Foods Co. of tricking its customers.
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July 12, 2024
Plaintiffs Want Opioid MDL Bellwethers Cut For Lost Emails
Plaintiffs in the multidistrict litigation arising from the opioid epidemic again asked an Ohio federal court on Friday to sever two of four bellwethers, accusing pharmacy benefit managers of preferring to "foster a sideshow" to further draw out litigation after learning of deficiencies in evidence preservation by some of the cities and counties that initiated cases.
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July 12, 2024
Tire Cos. Can't Pause Fish-Harming Chemical Suit
A California federal judge rejected a group of tire companies' efforts to stay an Endangered Species Act suit accusing the companies of killing fish on the West Coast with their use of a rubber additive, saying that waiting for a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rulemaking on the additive "makes little sense."
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July 12, 2024
Delta Slams Flyers' Facebook Data Sharing Class Action
Delta Air Lines has asked a California federal judge to dump a proposed class action alleging it unlawfully shared customers' sensitive personal data with Meta's Facebook through online tracking tools embedded in its website, saying its contract of carriage clearly discloses its digital advertising practices.
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July 12, 2024
Judge Questions Zuckerberg's Bid To Dodge Liability In MDL
A California federal judge voiced doubt Friday about Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's arguments for axing corporate-officer liability claims from multidistrict litigation over the allegedly addictive designs of social media, saying that while many CEOs are hands-off, "it's not clear to me that Mr. Zuckerberg is one of them."
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July 12, 2024
No Injury In Suit Targeting J&J Asset Shuffles, Talc Unit Says
Johnson & Johnson wants a New Jersey federal judge to toss a proposed class action alleging that the company has tried to intentionally prevent talc claimants from getting their day in court through a scheme of fraudulent corporate transactions, arguing that the cancer patients failed to show how any of the challenged transactions left it unable to pay its talc claims.
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July 12, 2024
Tribes, Enviro Orgs. Say Mining Exec's Retirement Moots Suit
Native American tribes and environmental groups have dropped their suit asking Montana's environmental regulator to curtail Hecla Mining Co.'s operations, telling a federal court that their complaint was based on the leadership of now-retired CEO Phillips Baker Jr.
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July 12, 2024
Widower Drops Suit Over Surgical Robot-Related Death
A widower agreed Thursday to drop his suit against Intuitive Surgical Inc. over an alleged defect in its da Vinci surgical robots that allowed electricity to arc during his wife's surgery, burning her small intestine and leading to her death.
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July 12, 2024
Litigation Funding 'Abuses' Targeted By Federal Lawmakers
Federal lawmakers are seeking to put the reins on third-party investors bankrolling litigation, with Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., introducing legislation that would require disclosure of third-party financing deals in civil lawsuits, and Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., asking Chief Justice John Roberts on Friday to have the Judicial Conference review the practice.
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July 12, 2024
Biggest Washington Decisions Of 2024: A Midyear Report
The first half of 2024 in Washington courts was punctuated by a fizzled startup's $72 million trial win against The Boeing Co., and Monsanto Co.'s appellate reversal of a $185 million verdict in one of a series of high-profile PCB poisoning cases. Here is a closer look at some of the biggest decisions in Washington state and federal courts in the first half of 2024.
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July 12, 2024
Dick's, Customer Want Golf Net Suit Stayed For Mediation
Dick's Sporting Goods Inc. and a man who claims he suffered permanent eye damage because of a defective golf practice net bought from the company are asking a Georgia federal judge to keep his litigation on hold while they pursue mediation.
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July 12, 2024
Biggest Illinois Decisions Of 2024: A Midyear Report
State and federal courts have handed down rulings so far this year that limited the reach of a federal bribery law commonly used to prosecute Illinois corruption, laid out a framework to challenge so-called mootness fees and clarified the scope of Illinois defamation and antitrust law. Here's a look at some of the biggest Illinois decisions in the first half of 2024.
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July 11, 2024
TikTok's Bid For Users' Device Data Found Overbroad
A California federal magistrate judge overseeing discovery in multidistrict litigation over claims that social media is addictive denied TikTok's request Thursday for "full" forensic images of all personal devices bellwether plaintiffs used to access its platform, telling defense counsel that he's concerned about the "overbreadth" of the request and privacy issues.
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July 11, 2024
Disney Beats Suit Over Post-Pandemic Park Pass Restrictions
A Florida federal judge Thursday tossed a lawsuit accusing Disney World of cheating customers who held pricey "Platinum" passes for its Sunshine State parks by imposing new restrictions on their use after the pandemic hit, saying the two women who sued could have canceled their passes and received a refund.
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July 11, 2024
Judge Grants Tesoro Injunction In Pipeline Fight With Feds
A North Dakota federal judge has granted a Marathon Petroleum Corp. subsidiary's request for an injunction to block an Interior Department order vacating several decisions related to a pipeline crossing through part of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.
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July 11, 2024
Premium Baby Bottles Leach Microplastics, Suit Says
A proposed class action filed against Newell Brands Inc. this week alleges that the company's Nuk brand of baby bottles, advertised as BPA-free, are, in fact, prone to leaching millions of particles of microplastics through routine use.
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July 11, 2024
Opiate MDL Judge Flags Evidence Preservation Shortfall
An Ohio federal judge has said "at least some" of the plaintiff local government entities in four chosen bellwether cases against pharmacy benefit managers for the multidistrict litigation over the opioid epidemic failed to preserve documents and evidence for trial, warning the parties he may replace those cases.
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July 11, 2024
GSK Asks Judge To Rule In Teva IP Case, Citing Opioid Deals
A GlaxoSmithKline lawyer has urged a Delaware federal judge to make up his mind about a nearly $400 million patent case against Teva Pharmaceuticals in light of unrelated "opioid-related cases" that the Israeli generic-drug maker has been settling in the billions of dollars.
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July 11, 2024
Hershey, Walgreens Sued For 'One Chip Challenge' Death
The Hershey Co. and its businesses that created and negligently marketed the "One Chip Challenge" to eat an ultra-spicy tortilla chip are responsible for the wrongful death of a Massachusetts 14-year-old, whose death coincided with the product being pulled from the shelves, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday by the boy's mother.
Expert Analysis
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5 Ways To Hone Deposition Skills And Improve Results
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Depositions must never be taken for granted in the preparations needed to win a dispositive motion or a trial, and five best practices, including knowing when to hire a videographer, can significantly improve outcomes, says James Argionis at Cozen O'Connor.
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The Challenges Of Measuring Harm In Slack-Fill Cases
A recent California federal court partial class certification ruling was a rare victory for plaintiffs in a case over slack-fill empty space in packaged products, indicating that damages arguments may be important at the certification stage, say Sushrut Jain and Valentina Bernasconi at Edgeworth Economics.
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Series
Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.
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Opinion
High Court Should Endorse Insurer Standing In Bankruptcy
In Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Gypsum, the U.S. Supreme Court will examine bankruptcy standing doctrine as applied to insurers in mass tort cases, and should use the opportunity to eliminate spurious standing roadblocks to resolving insurer objections on their merits, says Frank Perch at White and Williams.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC
The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts
Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.
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How Echoing Techniques Can Derail Witnesses At Deposition
Before depositions, defense attorneys must prepare witnesses to recognize covert echoing techniques that may be used by opposing counsel to lower their defenses and elicit sensitive information — potentially leading to nuclear settlements and verdicts, say Bill Kanasky and Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.
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Proposed RCRA Regs For PFAS: What Cos. Must Know
Two rules recently proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would lead to more per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances being regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and would increase the frequency and scope of corrective action — so affected industries should prepare for more significant cleanup efforts, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.
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7 Common Myths About Lateral Partner Moves
As lateral recruiting remains a key factor for law firm growth, partners considering a lateral move should be aware of a few commonly held myths — some of which contain a kernel of truth, and some of which are flat out wrong, says Dave Maurer at Major Lindsey.
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Series
Cheering In The NFL Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Balancing my time between a BigLaw career and my role as an NFL cheerleader has taught me that pursuing your passions outside of work is not a distraction, but rather an opportunity to harness important skills that can positively affect how you approach work and view success in your career, says Rachel Schuster at Sheppard Mullin.
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Using Arbitration And Class Waivers As Privacy Suit Tools
Amid a surge in data breach class actions over the last few years, several federal court decisions indicate that arbitration clauses and class action waiver provisions can be possible alternatives to public court battles and potentially reduce the costs of privacy litigation, say Mark Olthoff and Courtney Klaus at Polsinelli.
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6 Pointers For Attys To Build Trust, Credibility On Social Media
In an era of information overload, attorneys can use social media strategically — from making infographics to leveraging targeted advertising — to cut through the noise and establish a reputation among current and potential clients, says Marly Broudie at SocialEyes Communications.
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Why Fla. High Court Adopting Apex Doctrine Is Monumental
The Florida Supreme Court recently solidified the apex doctrine in the Sunshine State, an important development that extends the scope of the doctrine in the state to include both corporate and government officials, and formalizes the requirements for a high-level corporate official to challenge a request for a deposition, says Laura Renstrom at Holland & Knight.
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A Post-Mortem Analysis Of Stroock's Demise
After the dissolution of 147-year-old firm Stroock late last year shook up the legal world, a post-mortem analysis of the data reveals a long list of warning signs preceding the firm’s collapse — and provides some insight into how other firms might avoid the same disastrous fate, says Craig Savitzky at Leopard Solutions.
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Retailers Must Be Mindful Of Sale Ads As Class Actions Rise
A recent uptick in class actions filed against retailers over a breadth of allegedly deceptive pricing practices — including misleading reference prices for sales and discounts offered on a perpetual basis — show no sign of slowing down, indicating that class counsel are laser-focused on challenging advertising strategies, say Louis DiLorenzo and Paavana Kumar at Davis+Gilbert.