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Product Liability
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July 15, 2024
Polaris Throttle Defect Blamed For Paralyzing Off-Road Crash
Polaris has been hit with a negligence suit in Washington federal court by an Evergreen state couple who say the motorsport manufacturer is to blame for a throttle malfunction that caused the husband's off-road vehicle to ram into a tree, paralyzing his lower body.
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July 15, 2024
6th Circ. Unsure If Philips Glass Pollution Suit Time-Barred
A Sixth Circuit panel considered Monday whether there was any reason to throw out a jury's verdict clearing Philips Electronics of releasing harmful pollution in a Kentucky town, with the judges seemingly leaning different ways on whether the jury properly found the property owners missed their window to sue.
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July 15, 2024
SoulCycle Must Face Suit Over Fall From Exercise Bike
A New Jersey appeals panel on Monday revived a woman's claims against SoulCycle Inc. alleging an instructor's negligence led to her falling from a stationary exercise bike, finding the waivers she'd signed were ambiguous and unenforceable.
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July 15, 2024
State Troopers Settle Ford Interceptor Suit After Sanctions
A group of Washington state troopers have settled claims alleging they were "poisoned" by Ford Motor Co.'s Interceptor vehicles, according to a docket note Monday, less than a week after the troopers' attorney failed to show up for a sanctions hearing on missed discovery deadlines.
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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.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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Legislative And Litigation Trends In Environmental Advertising
Companies that tout their products' environmental benefits can significantly reduce the risk that they will face allegations of greenwashing by staying up to date on related Federal Trade Commission guidance, state requirements and litigation trends, say Raqiyyah Pippins and Kelsie Sicinski at Arnold & Porter.
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Considering The Logical Extremes Of Your Legal Argument
Recent oral arguments in the federal election interference case against former President Donald Trump highlighted the age-old technique of extending an argument to its logical limit — a principle that is still important for attorneys to consider in preparing their cases, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Reducing The Risk Of PFAS False Advertising Class Actions
A wave of class actions continues to pummel products that allegedly contain per- or polyfluoroalkyl substances, with plaintiffs challenging advertising that they say misleads consumers by implying an absence of PFAS — but there are steps companies can take to minimize risk, say attorneys at Keller and Heckman.
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6th Circ. Ruling Breathes New Life Into Article III Traceability
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.
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Storytelling Strategies To Defuse Courtroom Conspiracies
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.
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Aviation Watch: 737 Max Blowout Raises Major Safety Issues
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.
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3 Principles For Minimizing The Risk Of A Nuclear Verdict
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.
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Series
Coaching High School Wrestling Makes Me A Better Lawyer
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.
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Opinion
New Rule 702 Helps Judges Keep Bad Science Out Of Court
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.
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SG's Office Is Case Study To Help Close Legal Gender Gap
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.
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Opinion
Proposed Rule Could Impair MDL Flexibility, Harm Plaintiffs
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.
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Googling Prospective Jurors Is Usually A Fool's Errand
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.