Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Product Liability
-
July 29, 2024
Avon Hit With $24M Verdict For Janitor's Talc Exposure
A Cook County Circuit Court jury has awarded more than $24 million to the family of a former janitor who worked in one of Avon Products' Illinois facilities in the 1980s, finding the company negligently exposed him to asbestos-contaminated talc that caused him to develop mesothelioma.
-
July 29, 2024
7th Circ. Affirms Defective Protein Pouch Suit Came Too Late
The Seventh Circuit on Friday upheld a Wisconsin federal court's decision to dismiss a suit brought by a protein powder maker founded by a bodybuilder over the manufacturer of zipper pouches on the grounds that statutes of limitations and other laws barred its claims.
-
July 29, 2024
Railroads Ask 11th Circ. To Void New Train Crew Size Rule
Rail giants have told the Eleventh Circuit that the Federal Railroad Administration overstepped with its new two-person train crew rule, saying rail labor costs would surge if "one of the most consequential rulemakings in the history of American railroading" were allowed to stand.
-
July 29, 2024
Subcontractor Partially Nixes Claims Over Defense Of MDL
A subcontractor facing consolidated personal injury claims over a chemical leak at a LyondellBasell facility in La Porte, Texas, voluntarily tossed its coverage claims against one of its insurers in Texas federal court, while noting it's still pursuing its coverage demands against two other insurers.
-
July 29, 2024
4 Takeaways After Courts Block ERISA Advice Regs
Two Texas federal judges' takedowns of the U.S. Department of Labor's recently expanded definition of a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act has limited the agency's authority to oversee certain kinds of retirement investment advice, attorneys say, including some rollover situations. Here, Law360 looks at four things benefits lawyers have taken away from the decisions.
-
July 29, 2024
EPA, Army Reveal Joint PFAS Sampling Project
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army unveiled a joint national project to test private drinking water wells near Army installations for per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, identifying 235 locations where they will carry out their more in-depth investigation.
-
July 29, 2024
Magistrate Eyes Cuts To Norfolk Southern Investors' Suit
A New York federal magistrate judge has recommended tossing a portion of a securities suit filed against Norfolk Southern Corp. in the wake of the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment, reasoning that the retirement funds serving as lead plaintiffs fell short of pleading standards.
-
July 29, 2024
Senate To Vote On Bills To Protect Kids Online
The Senate is poised to vote on Tuesday on a package of two major bipartisan bills to protect children online that could represent a watershed moment in technology regulation.
-
July 29, 2024
Gun Owner Says He Legally Carried When Sig Sauer Shot Him
A gun owner suing Sig Sauer Inc. alleging a faulty pistol went off in his holster and shot him in the leg is asking a North Carolina federal court to reject the gun company's bid to add a defense that he was breaking the law when it went off by concealing the weapon.
-
July 29, 2024
Legalization Org Taps Cannabis Atty As New Treasurer
The pro-legalization advocacy organization Marijuana Policy Project announced Monday that a preeminent member of the cannabis bar had been tapped as the group's newest treasurer.
-
July 29, 2024
GSK Settles Ill. Zantac Cancer Suit
GlaxoSmithKline said Monday it has settled a lawsuit brought by an Illinois man who took the heartburn medication Zantac or its generic counterpart for more than 20 years and claimed the drug caused his prostate cancer.
-
July 29, 2024
Law Firm Can't Nix $2.9M Judgment Over Concussion Fees
A law firm that represented National Football League players in a multidistrict litigation over the league's handling of concussions can't avoid a litigation funding agency's $2.9 million judgment against it, after a Pennsylvania federal judge shot down Mitnick Law Office's arguments that the fees being garnished fell under various exceptions.
-
July 29, 2024
NC Attys Dismissed From Malpractice Suit Over Missed Filing
A pair of North Carolina-based attorneys involved in a legal malpractice suit filed by the parents of two children who died in a car fire were voluntarily dismissed from the family's suit against their former firm.
-
July 29, 2024
6th Circ. Revives Challenge Of Clean Water Rule
Just 11 days after oral arguments, the Sixth Circuit on Monday revived Kentucky and industry groups' challenges to a federal government rule defining the scope of the Clean Water Act, finding a district court judge had improperly dismissed the case.
-
July 26, 2024
Product Liability Cases To Watch 2024: A Midyear Report
Litigation over claims that social media addict children and harm mental health continues to hold attorneys' attention, along with claims that "forever chemicals" are a source of cancer.
-
July 26, 2024
Abbott Owes $495M In Baby Formula Bellwether Trial
A Missouri jury awarded $95 million in compensatory damages and $400 million in punitive damages Friday over bellwether claims that Abbott Laboratories' baby formula caused a premature baby to suffer a fully disabling condition.
-
July 26, 2024
EV Group Seeks To Defend Fuel Economy Rule In 6th Circ.
A coalition of electric vehicle manufacturers and suppliers want in on a consolidated challenge in the Sixth Circuit to the U.S. Department of Transportation's new fuel economy standards for passenger cars and light trucks, saying the EV industry's future viability banks on the stringent new standards.
-
July 26, 2024
Indivior To Pay $86M To Settle Opioid Claims By 5 States
Indivior will pay $86 million to settle claims by a group of state attorneys general over the drugmaker's alleged contributions to the American opioid crisis.
-
July 26, 2024
Tyco Inks Deal With Insurer Over Foam MDL Coverage
Firefighting foam maker Tyco Fire Products LP told a South Carolina federal judge Friday that it reached a tentative settlement with one of several of its insurers to resolve its fight to score coverage in sprawling multidistrict litigation over pollution from so-called forever chemicals.
-
July 26, 2024
Hearing Set Over Bid To Recuse Judge In Philly Zantac Cases
A Philadelphia judge will hear arguments next month over a recusal motion filed by plaintiffs' counsel in the city's Zantac mass tort program that argues the judge should remove himself from the proceedings after he disclosed his wife is a partner at Reed Smith, which represents GlaxoSmithKline, a manufacturer of the drug.
-
July 26, 2024
Washington Cases To Watch 2024: A Midyear Report
Two Washington tribes are testing whether they can hold Big Oil companies accountable in state court for climate change-related catastrophes, the attorney general is defending a ban on large-capacity gun magazines, and a key test of the state's anti-patent troll law is set for trial.
-
July 25, 2024
3rd Circ. Again Tosses J&J Talc Unit's 'Texas Two-Step' Ch. 11
The Third Circuit on Thursday affirmed the dismissal of the reworked Chapter 11 case of Johnson & Johnson's talc unit that used a controversial "Texas two-step" maneuver, saying the company still hasn't displayed the financial distress required to justify bankruptcy protection.
-
July 25, 2024
Seattle, Monsanto Ink $160M Deal Over PCBs In Duwamish
Bayer AG's Monsanto Co. has agreed to pay $160 million to resolve allegations that it contaminated Seattle's stormwater and drainage systems as well as the Lower Duwamish Waterway with polychlorinated biphenyls, the city attorney's office announced Thursday.
-
July 25, 2024
Monsanto Says Appellate Win Should Stave Off Next PCB Trial
Monsanto told a Washington state court its recent appellate victory left another set of chemical poisoning plaintiffs without key testimony tying their health conditions to polychlorinated biphenyls, hoping to avoid the next trial in a group of cases involving a single school site.
-
July 25, 2024
Boeing's 737 Max Plea Deal: Monitorship, Gov't Contracts
Boeing will be branded with a felony criminal conviction after pleading guilty to conspiring to defraud U.S. regulators over the 737 Max 8's development, an ignominious distinction with fresh complications for the embattled American aerospace titan as it overhauls its corporate culture under a compliance monitorship.
Expert Analysis
-
Opinion
Requiring Leave To File Amicus Briefs Is A Bad Idea
A proposal to amend the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure that would require parties to get court permission before filing federal amicus briefs would eliminate the long-standing practice of consent filing and thereby make the process less open and democratic, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation and DRI Center.
-
4 Ways To Motivate Junior Attorneys To Bring Their Best
As Gen Z and younger millennial attorneys increasingly express dissatisfaction with their work and head for the exits, the lawyers who manage them must understand and attend to their needs and priorities to boost engagement and increase retention, says Stacey Schwartz at Katten.
-
How Purdue Pharma High Court Case May Change Bankruptcy
The U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming ruling in Purdue Pharma may be the death of most third-party releases in Chapter 11 cases, and depending on the decision’s breadth, could have much more far-reaching effects on the entire bankruptcy system, say Brian Shaw and David Doyle at Cozen O'Connor.
-
Series
Serving As A Sheriff's Deputy Made Me A Better Lawyer
Skills developed during my work as a reserve deputy — where there was a need to always be prepared, decisive and articulate — transferred to my practice as an intellectual property litigator, and my experience taught me that clients often appreciate and relate to the desire to participate in extracurricular activities, says Michael Friedland at Friedland Cianfrani.
-
Fears About The End Of Chevron Deference Are Overblown
While some are concerned about repercussions if the U.S. Supreme Court brings an end to Chevron deference in the Loper and Relentless cases this term, agencies and attorneys would survive just fine under the doctrines that have already begun to replace it, say Daniel Wolff and Henry Leung at Crowell & Moring.
-
Former Minn. Chief Justice Instructs On Writing Better Briefs
Former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea, now at Greenberg Traurig, offers strategies on writing more effective appellate briefs from her time on the bench.
-
California Shows A Viable Way Forward For PFAS Testing
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has no good way of testing for the presence of specific per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances in food packaging — but a widely available test for a range of fluorine compounds that's now being used in California may offer a good solution, says Vineet Dubey at Custodio & Dubey.
-
Stay Interviews Are Key To Retaining Legal Talent
Even as the economy shifts and layoffs continue, law firms still want to retain their top attorneys, and so-called stay interviews — informal conversations with employees to identify potential issues before they lead to turnover — can be a crucial tool for improving retention and morale, say Tina Cohen Nicol and Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey.
-
Calif. High Court Ruling Has Lessons For Waiving Jury Trials
The California Supreme Court’s recent decision in TriCoast Builders v. Fonnegra, denying relief to a contractor that had waived its right to a jury trial, shows that litigants should always post jury fees as soon as possible, and seek writ review if the court denies relief from a waiver, say Steven Fleischman and Nicolas Sonnenburg at Horvitz & Levy.
-
Take AG James' Suit Over Enviro Claims As A Warning
New York Attorney General Letitia James' recent suit against JBS USA Food Co. over allegedly misleading claims about its goal to reach net zero by 2040 indicates that challenges to green claims are likely to continue, and that companies should think twice about ignoring National Advertising Division recommendations, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.
-
SC Ruling Reinforces All Sums Coverage Trend
A South Carolina state court's recent ruling in Covil v. Pennsylvania National is the latest in a series of decisions, dating back to the 2016 New York Court of Appeals ruling in Viking Pump, that reject insurers' pro rata allocation argument, further supporting that all sums coverage is required whenever a loss could be covered under a policy in any other year, say Raymond Mascia and Thomas Dupont at Anderson Kill.
-
And Now A Word From The Panel: Benefits Of MDL Transfers
A recent order from the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation highlights a critical part of the panel's work — moving cases into an existing MDL — and serves as a reminder that common arguments against such transfers don't outweigh the benefits of coordinating discovery and utilizing lead counsel, says Alan Rothman at Sidley Austin.
-
What New Waste Management Laws Signal For The Future
Several states have enacted extended producer responsibility and recycling labeling laws that will take effect in the next few years and force manufacturers to take responsibility for the end of life of their products, so companies should closely follow compliance timelines and push to innovate in the area, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
-
Series
Spray Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My experiences as an abstract spray paint artist have made me a better litigator, demonstrating — in more ways than one — how fluidity and flexibility are necessary parts of a successful legal practice, says Erick Sandlin at Bracewell.
-
2nd Circ. Baby Food Ruling Disregards FDA's Expertise
The Second Circuit's recent decision in White v. Beech-Nut Nutrition, refusing to defer litigation over heavy metals in baby food until the U.S. Food and Drug Administration weighs in on the issue, provides no indication that courts will resolve the issue with greater efficiency than the FDA, say attorneys at Phillips Lytle.