Product Liability

  • October 22, 2024

    Ohio Pension Funds Say Boeing Puts Profits Over Safety

    Two Ohio pension funds joined a Virginia federal lawsuit accusing Boeing executives and board members of putting profits over safety and regulatory compliance, causing a series of catastrophes and losing millions of dollars for investors, the Ohio Attorney General's Office said Tuesday.

  • October 22, 2024

    Buyers Drop Colgate-Palmolive Sunscreen False Ad Suit

    Two women have agreed to drop a proposed class action that claimed Colgate-Palmolive Co. falsely claimed its sunscreen products' only active ingredient is a mineral-based component despite the products containing significant levels of chemical sunscreen ingredients.

  • October 22, 2024

    Appliance Co., Customers Agree To End Stove Pollutant Row

    Luxury kitchen appliance maker Sub-Zero Group Inc. and the customers behind a proposed class action have agreed to drop the litigation, bringing to an end claims the company sold them gas stoves that emit "health-harming" pollutants.

  • October 22, 2024

    Pa. Casino Must Face Suit Over Hand Sanitizer Slip-And-Fall

    A Pennsylvania appeals court on Tuesday revived a woman's slip-and-fall suit against the owners of a Mount Airy casino, saying the evidence in the case can lead a jury to find that the company was negligent in installing hand sanitizer stations meant to address the COVID-19 pandemic over a marble floor.

  • October 22, 2024

    Feds Partner With Osage, Navajo To Tackle Orphaned Wells

    The U.S. Department of Energy said it's inked agreements with the Osage Nation and the Navajo Nation that are aimed at identifying undocumented orphaned wells on tribal lands and addressing their harmful impacts.

  • October 22, 2024

    NJ Justices Create Mass Tort Track For Bard Catheter Suits

    The New Jersey Supreme Court has established a multicounty litigation track for cases seeking to hold C.R. Bard Inc., Bard Access Systems Inc. and Becton Dickinson and Co. liable for injuries allegedly caused by Bard implanted port catheter products, according to a notice to the bar.

  • October 22, 2024

    How Law Firms Get And Keep Elite Status

    For decades, a handful of New York-based law firms thoroughly dominated the national consciousness when it came to power, profitability and prestige. But in today's legal market, increased movement of partners and clients from one firm to the next has begun to shake things up and create opportunities for go-getters to ascend the ranks.

  • October 22, 2024

    The 2024 Prestige Leaders

    Check out our Prestige Leaders ranking, analysis and interactive graphics to see which firms stand out for their financial performance, attractiveness to attorneys and law students, ability to secure accolades and positive legal news media representation.

  • October 22, 2024

    MVP: Keller Rohrback's Gretchen Freeman Cappio

    Keller Rohrback LLP partner Gretchen Freeman Cappio helped consumers reach a $150 million deal over claims that Chevrolet Bolt cars made by General Motors LLC and LG units had battery defects that led to overheating and fires, earning her a spot as one of the Law360 2024 Product Liability MVPs.

  • October 21, 2024

    Eli Lilly Slams 'Dangerous' Knock-Off Weight Loss Drugs

    Eli Lilly & Co. on Monday launched a trio of lawsuits in Indiana, Texas and Washington federal courts accusing three telehealth companies of peddling illicit knockoffs of its weight-loss medications that have not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and that pose a danger to patients.

  • October 21, 2024

    John Deere's Tractor Brake Recall Is Also Defective, Suit Says

    John Deere sold utility tractors with a brake defect that can cause them to crash, and the company's recent recall doesn't guarantee a permanent fix but rather appears to simply "replace defective systems with even more defective systems," according to a proposed class action in South Carolina federal court.

  • October 21, 2024

    Nissan Fights Uphill To Undo Cert. In Sunroof Defect Fight

    Ninth Circuit judges on Monday doubted Nissan's bid to undo an order certification of a class of drivers who allege the Japanese carmaker sold vehicles with panoramic sunroofs that are prone to shattering, telling Nissan's counsel the appeal appears to challenge the claims' merits, and not whether they could be resolved classwide.

  • October 21, 2024

    FDA Tells Court Menthol Cigarette Ban Is Still Under Review

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said it's still evaluating whether to finalize a proposed ban on menthol cigarettes, urging a California federal court to throw out a lawsuit that's attempting a "judicial end-run" around the ongoing review.

  • October 21, 2024

    Truck Asbestos Claims Suit Must Be Arbitrated, Court Hears

    A group of reinsurers is pressing a California federal court to order Truck Insurance Exchange to arbitrate its claim seeking coverage for millions of dollars' worth of asbestos bodily injury claims filed against Kaiser Cement & Gypsum, which was driven into bankruptcy in 2016.

  • October 21, 2024

    Court Kicks Cannabis Consumer Case Back To Conn. State

    Smoke and vape wholesalers accused of illegally selling intoxicating hemp products have lost a bid to keep an unfair trade lawsuit brought against them by the Connecticut attorney general out of state court after a district court judge ruled it doesn't matter if the THC in the vapes was derived from federally legal hemp.

  • October 21, 2024

    Kroger Beats Class Cert. Bid In Pain Patch False Ad Suit

    An Illinois federal judge on Monday denied class certification to consumers who sued Kroger over lidocaine patches they asserted could not stay on long enough to provide up to eight hours of relief as advertised, saying neither of two proposed class representatives purchased the allegedly misleading patches.

  • October 21, 2024

    GOP Pols Want Probe Into FDA Laboratory Safety

    Three Republican lawmakers on Friday sought information from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about its oversight of its laboratory safety practices, following a long investigation over an incident about vials of smallpox virus and other hazards found on a National Institutes of Health campus.

  • October 21, 2024

    Belgium Joins French Courts In Telegram CEO Criminal Probe

    Belgian investigators have joined French law enforcement in the criminal investigation of Pavel Durov, the CEO of encrypted messaging-platform Telegram, who is charged in France with aiding illegal child pornography, fraud and other crimes, the Paris prosecutor's office announced.

  • October 21, 2024

    3M Asks 2nd Circ. To Keep Vermont PFAS Case In Fed Court

    3M Co. is asking the Second Circuit to reverse an order remanding a suit by the state of Vermont over "forever chemical" contamination back to state court, saying that it filed for removal as soon as it learned that the claims involved products from a facility that made products for the military.

  • October 21, 2024

    Boeing Machinists To Vote On New Tentative Wage Deal

    Approximately 33,000 Boeing employees represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers will vote Wednesday on a tentative new labor contract that includes a 35% wage increase over four years, potentially ending a more than monthlong strike that hampered Boeing's production and cash flow.

  • October 21, 2024

    MVP: Seeger Weiss' Chris Seeger

    Founding partner Chris Seeger of Seeger Weiss LLP helped win favorable outcomes in three high-profile mass tort cases, including a $6 billion global settlement to end sprawling litigation over allegedly defective 3M combat earplugs, earning him a spot among the 2024 Law360 Product Liability MVPs.

  • October 21, 2024

    5th Circ. Says Doc's Roundup Cancer Suit Filed Too Late

    The Fifth Circuit won't upend summary judgments in favor of Monsanto Co. in a suit by the family of a doctor who they say died because of his exposure to the weedkiller Roundup, finding that the suit was filed well outside the time limit.

  • October 21, 2024

    High Court Won't Revisit New-Deal Removal Ruling Yet

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to review a case challenging presidential removal protections for commissioners of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, passing up the opportunity to revisit a New Deal-era precedent at the center of the modern regulatory system.

  • October 18, 2024

    Law360 MVP Awards Go To Top Attys From 74 Firms

    The attorneys chosen as Law360's 2024 MVPs have distinguished themselves from their peers by securing hard-earned successes in high-stakes litigation, complex global matters and record-breaking deals.

  • October 18, 2024

    Carrier To Pay $615M Over Kidde-Fenwal Fire Foam Claims

    Carrier Global Corp. revealed in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing Friday that it will pay at least $615 million as part of a settlement in connection to its ownership of bankrupt Kidde-Fenwal Inc., which faces multidistrict litigation arising from its manufacture of firefighting foam with deadly "forever chemicals."

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Playing Golf Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Golf can positively affect your personal and professional life well beyond the final putt, and it’s helped enrich my legal practice by improving my ability to build lasting relationships, study and apply the rules, face adversity with grace, and maintain my mental and physical well-being, says Adam Kelly at Venable.

  • Law Firms Should Move From Reactive To Proactive Marketing

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    Most law firm marketing and business development teams operate in silos, leading to an ad hoc, reactive approach, but shifting to a culture of proactive planning — beginning with comprehensive campaigns — can help firms effectively execute their broader business strategy, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • From Muppet Heads To OJ's Glove: How To Use Props At Trial

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    Demonstrative graphics have become so commonplace in the courtroom that jurors may start to find them boring, but attorneys can keep jurors engaged and improve their recall by effectively using physical props at trial, says Clint Townson at Townson Consulting.

  • Opinion

    The Big Issues A BigLaw Associates' Union Could Address

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    A BigLaw associates’ union could address a number of issues that have the potential to meaningfully improve working conditions, diversity and attorney well-being — from restructured billable hour requirements to origination credit allocation, return-to-office mandates and more, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union

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    As BigLaw faces a steady stream of criticism about its employment policies and practices, an associates union could effect real change — and it could start with law students organizing around opposition to recent recruiting trends, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • How Justices Upended The Administrative Procedure Act

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    In its recent Loper Bright, Corner Post and Jarkesy decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court fundamentally changed the Administrative Procedure Act in ways that undermine Congress and the executive branch, shift power to the judiciary, curtail public and business input, and create great uncertainty, say Alene Taber and Beth Hummer at Hanson Bridgett.

  • How Courts Split On Damages Analysis In Automotive Suits

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    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.

  • 2 Vital Trial Principles Endure Amid Tech Advances

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    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.

  • Classwide Calculations May Get Price Premium Damages Wrong

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    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.

  • Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?

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    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.

  • 6 Factors That Can Make For A 'Nuclear' Juror

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    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.

  • Series

    Playing Dungeons & Dragons Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • Gilead Drug Ruling Creates Corporate Governance Dilemma

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    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.

  • 3 Leadership Practices For A More Supportive Firm Culture

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    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.

  • Rebuttal

    Cancer Research Org. Is Right To Avoid Corporate Influence

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    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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