Product Liability

  • April 30, 2026

    Wash. Tribes Beat Big Oil's Bid To Dismiss Climate Suits

    A Washington state judge refused on Wednesday to dismiss two Native American tribes' lawsuits accusing ExxonMobil, Chevron and other major oil companies of concealing climate change risks related to fossil fuels, rejecting the companies' arguments that federal law blocks the tribes' claims.

  • April 30, 2026

    Wash. Justices Split Asbestos Claims Against Insulation Biz

    The Washington Supreme Court on Thursday said the estate of an oil refinery maintenance worker cannot bring certain construction-related claims against an insulation company over his asbestos exposure, yet it can still bring claims over the company's role as a seller of asbestos-containing products.

  • April 30, 2026

    GM Keyless-Theft Suit Trimmed, Core Claims Survive

    A proposed class of drivers who claim General Motors hid a design flaw that allows thieves to easily access their vehicles saw their claims trimmed by a Texas federal judge, but he allowed most drivers to proceed with their core unjust enrichment claims.

  • April 30, 2026

    New Mexico AG Calls Meta Threat To Leave State 'PR Stunt'

    New Mexico's attorney general responded Thursday to Meta Platforms' threat to pull social media products from the state if an upcoming bench trial over potential mandates to increase child safety goes poorly for the company, calling it a "PR stunt" that is "showing the world how little it cares about child safety."

  • April 30, 2026

    Monsanto Keeps Trial Win In Roundup Cancer Case

    A California state appeals court has affirmed a defense verdict for Monsanto in a Roundup cancer lawsuit, saying the trial court did not allow improper regulatory evidence concerning the herbicide.

  • April 30, 2026

    Ga. Panel Scraps Sanctions Over Special Master's Unpaid Bill

    A Georgia appellate panel threw out Thursday a contempt order entered against plaintiffs suing a host of chemical companies for toxic tort claims after they failed to pay a special master's legal fees, ruling that a trial court wrongly disregarded their protests that they couldn't afford his services.

  • April 30, 2026

    DC Fights Federal Challenge To Assault Weapons Laws

    The District of Columbia government is urging a federal judge there to dismiss the U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit targeting its assault weapons laws, claiming in a new response brief that the Trump administration is misusing a federal police misconduct law that was never intended to challenge criminal statutes.

  • April 30, 2026

    Boeing Set To Face 2nd Ill. Jury Over Ethiopian Air Crash

    Boeing is set to face another round of Illinois jurors as the aerospace giant and the family of an Ethiopian Air crash victim head for what could be the second wrongful death trial kicking off next week in consolidated litigation stemming from the tragedy.

  • April 30, 2026

    Jury Begins Mulling If Doctors Are Liable For Fatal Overdose

    A Philadelphia jury on Thursday began deliberations in a lawsuit accusing two doctors of enabling a 26-year-old man with chronic back pain to become hooked on opioid painkillers and fatally overdose.

  • April 30, 2026

    Mosaic's Radioactive Road Case Not Moot, Enviro Group Says

    The Center for Biological Diversity told the Eleventh Circuit on Thursday that there are still remedies to pursue if the appeals court revives its challenge to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's approval of a road that contains radioactive phosphogypsum that has already been completed.

  • April 30, 2026

    XAI's Suit Is 'Jurisdictional Bullying,' Musk Child's Mom Says

    The mother of one of Elon Musk's children is urging a Texas federal court to throw out a suit from his artificial intelligence company alleging she breached its terms of service by suing it in New York, saying the case is "jurisdictional bullying" and trying to weaponize a forum selection clause to preempt her own case.

  • April 30, 2026

    Ga. Power Says Ford, Union Carbide Must Stay In Cancer Suit

    Georgia Power urged a state appellate court Thursday to reverse a trial court's order letting Ford and Union Carbide out of a construction worker's cancer claims, arguing that under the state's 2025 tort reform law, their dismissal would unjustly leave the utility company to face the suit alone.

  • April 30, 2026

    J&J Says Ill. Ruling Backs Beasley Allen's DQ From Talc Suits

    Johnson & Johnson told a New Jersey federal court that a recent ruling in Illinois backs the Beasley Allen Law Firm's disqualification from multidistrict litigation over its talcum powder.

  • April 30, 2026

    Purdue's $125M McKinsey Deal Gets OK Ahead Of Ch. 11 Exit

    Purdue Pharma LP on Thursday secured a New York bankruptcy judge's approval of a $125 million agreement with McKinsey & Co. that settles claims tied to the consulting firm's work advising Purdue on the sale and marketing of opioids, clearing the way for the pharmaceutical company to exit Chapter 11 and put its $7.4 billion bankruptcy plan into effect.

  • April 30, 2026

    Kroger's Health Plan Tobacco Fee Shirks ERISA, Suit Says

    Supermarket giant Kroger violated federal benefits law by requiring workers to pay an extra fee through their health plan if they used tobacco while failing to give them a fair opportunity to avoid the charge, according to a proposed class action filed in Ohio federal court.

  • April 30, 2026

    Kratom Seller Sanctioned For Deleting Blog During Suit

    A California federal judge has sanctioned Ashlynn Marketing Group Inc. in a suit alleging it hid kratom's dangerous and addictive effects, finding that it deliberately deleted a blog containing statements about kratom after the suit was filed.

  • April 29, 2026

    1st Circ. Revives Suit Over Child's Resort Bed Death

    Parents of a 5-year-old who was killed by a falling Murphy bed at a Quebec resort have convinced the First Circuit to reverse the dismissal of their wrongful death lawsuit, with the panel saying there is a real possibility that the company that manages the attached water park could be held liable.

  • April 29, 2026

    Tech Group Aims To Halt Minn. Social Media Warning Mandate

    A Minnesota law that requires social media platforms to prominently display mental health warning labels to all users has become the target of the latest First Amendment challenge being pressed by tech trade group NetChoice, which argued in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that the state is using public health concerns to create an unlawful "backdoor" to regulate protected speech. 

  • April 29, 2026

    Conagra Not Off The Hook Over '100% Whole Fish Fillets' Label

    Conagra customers can proceed with their proposed class action alleging some of the food company's fish fillets are deceptively labeled as "100% whole fish" despite containing industrial filler and extra water, after an Illinois federal judge said Wednesday the customers offer a plausible reading of the label, enough to state a claim.

  • April 29, 2026

    Bipartisan Bill Would Give Parents Control Over Kids' AI Use

    A group of Democratic and Republican senators introduced legislation that would allow parents to keep a better eye on their children's use of chatbots by requiring artificial intelligence companies to establish safeguards the lawmakers say will help protect kids' mental health and social development.

  • April 29, 2026

    J&J, Neutrogena Say FDA Signed Off On Benzene Products

    Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. and Kenvue Inc. are calling for a permanent end to a multistate consumer lawsuit claiming their Clean & Clear and Neutrogena acne treatments degrade into the cancer-causing chemical benzene, arguing in New Jersey federal court that federal regulators have already determined that the key ingredient is safe.

  • April 29, 2026

    Uber's Latest Bellwether Loss Could Portend Trouble For Co.

    Uber was recently hit with another unfavorable verdict in the second bellwether trial in multidistrict litigation over driver sex assaults, and another determination that the ride-hailing company can be liable for its drivers' negligence does not bode well for the company, experts said.

  • April 29, 2026

    Colo. Judge Stays $9M Multicooker Verdict Pending Appeal

    A Colorado federal judge has granted Sunbeam Products Inc. and Newell Brands Inc.'s ask for the court to stay the execution — pending appeal — of a $9 million jury award in favor of a woman injured by one of their multicookers.

  • April 29, 2026

    OpenAI Sued Over ChatGPT Role In Canada School Shooting

    Seven families of the victims of one of the deadliest mass shootings in Canadian history on Wednesday hit OpenAI with suits in California federal court alleging that ChatGPT's design is inherently dangerous and that the artificial intelligence company decided not to warn law enforcement about the shooter's violent interactions with ChatGPT.

  • April 29, 2026

    Trader Joe's 'Low Acid' Coffee Still Acidic, Woman Claims

    A New York woman is suing Trader Joe's Co. in federal court, alleging that its "low acid" dark roast coffee is still nearly as acidic as regular coffee and has roughly half the caffeine despite not being labeled as decaffeinated or half-caff.

Expert Analysis

  • AI Product Safety Insights May Expand Foreseeability

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    Product liability law has long held that companies are responsible for risks they knew about or should have known about — and with AI systems now able to assess and predict hazards during the design process, companies should expect that courts will likely treat such hazards as foreseeable, says Donald Fountain at Clark Fountain.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Educating Your Community

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    Nearly two decades prosecuting scammers and elder fraud taught me that proactively educating the public about the risks they face and the rights they possess is essential to building trust within our communities, empowering otherwise vulnerable citizens and preventing wrongdoers from gaining a foothold, says Roger Handberg at GrayRobinson.

  • How A 9th Circ. False Ad Ruling Could Shift Class Certification

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    The Ninth Circuit's July decision in Noohi v. Johnson & Johnson, holding that unexecuted damages models may suffice for purposes of class certification, has the potential to create judicial inefficiencies and crippling uncertainties for class action defendants, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • 5 Crisis Lawyering Skills For An Age Of Uncertainty

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    As attorneys increasingly face unprecedented and pervasive situations — from prosecutions of law enforcement officials to executive orders targeting law firms — they must develop several essential competencies of effective crisis lawyering, says Ray Brescia at Albany Law School.

  • Compliance Tips Amid Rising FTC Scrutiny Of Minors' Privacy

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    The Federal Trade Commission has recently rolled out multiple enforcement actions related to children's privacy, highlighting a renewed focus on federal regulation of minors' personal information and the evolving challenges of establishing effective, privacy-protective age assurance solutions, say attorneys at Nelson Mullins.

  • Insights From Recent Cases On Navigating Snap Removal

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    Snap removal, which allows defendants to transfer state court cases to federal court before a forum defendant is properly joined and served, is viewed differently across federal circuits — but keys to making it work can be drawn from recent decisions critiquing the practice, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For The Judiciary To Fix Its Cybersecurity Problem

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    After recent reports that hackers have once again infiltrated federal courts’ electronic case management systems, the judiciary should strengthen its cybersecurity practices in line with executive branch standards, outlining clear roles and responsibilities for execution, says Ilona Cohen at HackerOne.

  • Tips For Cos. Crafting Enforceable Online Arbitration Clauses

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    Recent rulings from the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California indicate that courts are carefully examining the enforceability of online arbitration clauses, so businesses should review the design of their websites and consider specific language next to the "purchase" button, say attorneys at DTO Law.

  • Identifying The Sources And Impacts Of Juror Contamination

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    Jury contamination can be pervasive, so it is important that trial teams be able to spot its sources and take specific mitigation steps, says consultant Clint Townson.

  • Why This Popular Class Cert. Approach Doesn't Measure Up

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    In recent class certification decisions, plaintiffs experts have used the in-sample prediction approach to show that challenged conduct harmed all, or almost all, proposed class members — but this approach is unreliable because it fails two fundamental tests of reliable econometric methods, say consultants at Cornerstone Research.

  • Key Lessons From Youths' Suit Against Trump Energy Orders

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    A Montana federal court's recent decision in Lighthiser v. Trump, dismissing a challenge by a group of young plaintiffs to President Donald Trump's executive orders promoting fossil fuels, indicates that future climate litigants must anchor their suits in discrete, final agency actions and statutory text, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Series

    Writing Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Writing my debut novel taught me to appreciate the value of critique and to never give up, no matter how long or tedious the journey, providing me with valuable skills that I now emphasize in my practice, says Daniel Buzzetta at BakerHostetler.

  • SDNY OpenAI Order Clarifies Preservation Standards For AI

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    The Southern District of New York’s recent order in the OpenAI copyright infringement litigation, denying discovery of The New York Times' artificial intelligence technology use, clarifies that traditional preservation benchmarks apply to AI content, relieving organizations from using a “keep everything” approach, says Philip Favro at Favro Law.

  • What 9th Circ.'s Rosenwald Ruling Means For Class Actions

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Rosenwald v. Kimberly-Clark has important implications around the Class Action Fairness Act and traditional diversity jurisdiction — both for plaintiff-side and defense-side class action litigators — and deepens the circuit split concerning the use of judicial notice to establish diversity, says Grace Schmidt at DTO Law.

  • What EPA's Continued Defense Of PFAS Rule Means For Cos.

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent decision to continue defending a Biden-era rule designating two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances as Superfund hazards may provide the EPA with significant authority over national PFAS cleanup policy — and spur further litigation by both government and private parties, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

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