Product Liability

  • January 24, 2025

    Syngenta, Chevron Headed For October Paraquat Bellwether

    An Illinois federal judge has set an October date for Syngenta and Chevron's first trial in a multidistrict litigation alleging that the pesticide paraquat causes Parkinson's disease, after the previous dismissal of trial-selected plaintiffs and the disqualification of an expert.

  • January 24, 2025

    Justices To Clarify Article III Standing For Certified Classes

    The U.S. Supreme Court granted LabCorp's request on Friday to clarify federal law regarding whether district courts can certify class actions when some members of the proposed class may lack a cognizable injury in fact.

  • January 24, 2025

    Ill. Justices OK Workers' Injury Suits Over Dormant Diseases

    The Illinois Supreme Court answered the Seventh Circuit's call on Friday to clarify the state's Workers' Occupational Diseases Act in a widow's wrongful death lawsuit against Goodrich Corp., finding the statute can apply to claims for asbestos-related cancer and other diseases that manifest belatedly despite the statute's other temporal restrictions.

  • January 24, 2025

    IVF Patients Want CooperSurgical Embryo Loss Suits Joined

    Four product liability lawsuits targeting the maker of recalled culture media for in vitro fertilization should be consolidated and sent to the Connecticut Superior Court's complex litigation docket, the parties have agreed, but defendant CooperSurgical Inc. wants them kept out of Stamford.

  • January 24, 2025

    Ford Fails To Block Evidence Of Other Crashes In Death Trial

    A Georgia federal judge refused to block evidence of similar crashes from being presented at a trial over the deaths of a couple in a rollover wreck of their Ford Motor Co. vehicle, but he limited the number of incidents that the plaintiffs can present from the 110 that the plaintiffs proposed to 50.

  • January 24, 2025

    Chemical Co. Says Insurer Owed Defense For Birth Defect Suit

    A chemical supplier said a Liberty Mutual unit unreasonably denied coverage for an underlying suit brought by workers at a Seattle-area Boeing facility who blame their son's birth defects on chemicals they were exposed to on the job, according to a suit removed to Washington federal court.

  • January 24, 2025

    FDA's Premium Cigar Regulations Overturned By DC Circ.

    A D.C. Circuit panel ruled on Friday that the Food and Drug Administration acted arbitrarily when subjecting premium, hand-rolled cigars to the same regulations as other tobacco products, saying the agency was wrong to overlook two studies about infrequent premium cigar use.

  • January 24, 2025

    Philip Morris Settles Tobacco Liability Trial After Openings

    Philip Morris and a supermarket chain have reached a settlement with the family of a Massachusetts woman who died of lung cancer in 2022 after decades of smoking the company's Marlboro cigarettes, ending the case a day after trial began.

  • January 23, 2025

    Fitbit To Pay $12M Fine For Ionic Smartwatch Burns

    Fitbit has agreed to pay a $12.25 million fine to resolve the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's allegations it failed to immediately report that its Ionic smartwatches were overheating and leaving some consumers with second- and third-degree burns, the consumer safety agency announced Thursday.

  • January 23, 2025

    Atty Hit With TCPA Class Action Over Camp Lejeune Calls

    A North Carolina plaintiffs firm was hit with a proposed class action accusing it of making unsolicited calls to a number on the National Do Not Call Registry in an effort to secure a client in the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune toxic drinking water case — at least the fourth firm to face similar claims.

  • January 23, 2025

    Marlboro Smoker Was Target Of Deception, Jury Hears

    Philip Morris targeted a Massachusetts preteen as a "replacement" customer for others who were dying of lung disease, a Springfield jury heard Thursday, though the company's lawyer said the woman had free will and knew enough to stop smoking.

  • January 23, 2025

    Conn. High Court Snapshot: Atty's Bonus, Burn Verdict

    In its next term starting Monday, the Connecticut Supreme Court will hear an appeal from an acupuncturist who doesn't want to share liability for a judgment paid to a burn victim, and consider whether to reverse a seven-figure verdict for a private equity management firm's founder, who claims other members improperly cut him out.

  • January 23, 2025

    Vape Maker Seeks Exit From Suit Over Delta-9 THC Levels

    An Illinois-based vape maker urged a federal judge to toss a lawsuit accusing it of fraudulently passing off illicit Delta-9 products as legal Delta-8 ones, saying the suit lacks fundamental details, such as which products were purchased and what laboratory tested them.

  • January 23, 2025

    NJ Town Loses Bid To Join NYC Congestion Pricing Suit

    A federal judge on Thursday rebuffed a bid from the mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey, to be heard in the ongoing litigation surrounding this month's implementation of the congestion pricing toll program in Manhattan.

  • January 23, 2025

    Calif. Kids' Privacy Law Ignores 1st Amendment, Judge Says

    A California federal judge appeared open Thursday to preliminarily blocking for the second time a landmark California law requiring tech giants to bolster privacy protections for children, telling the state's counsel that nothing shows the Legislature "cared one whit about the Constitution," and "now you're trying to reverse engineer it."

  • January 23, 2025

    Suncor Says Enviro Groups' Suit Duplicates Gov't Enforcement

    Suncor USA Inc. told a Colorado federal judge that environmentalists suing it for allegedly violating emissions standards have improperly tied their claims to events that are already resolved or are being investigated by federal and state governments.

  • January 23, 2025

    Federal Agencies Must Order Full Return To Office By Friday

    Federal agencies will order employees to return to the office by Friday at 5 p.m. to end the "national embarrassment" that remote work policies have fueled, the Office of Personnel Management said, following President Donald Trump's executive order.

  • January 23, 2025

    Meta Wants Mass. Justices To Intervene In AG's Suit

    Meta Platforms has urged Massachusetts' highest court to take up its challenge to a pending lawsuit brought by the state attorney general's office, which accused the social media company of intentionally designing Instagram to be addictive to children and teenagers.

  • January 23, 2025

    15 States Reach $7.4B Settlement With Sackler Family

    A bipartisan coalition of states on Thursday announced a $7.4 billion settlement in principle with the Sackler family and their company Purdue Pharma Inc., representing the largest settlement to date with the family accused of contributing significantly to the opioid epidemic.

  • January 22, 2025

    J&J Seeks To Defeat $30M Punitive Bid After Conn. Talc Trial

    Johnson & Johnson has blasted a bid requesting that it pay $30 million in punitive damages on top of a $15 million jury award to a real estate developer who allegedly contracted mesothelioma from the company's talc, telling a Connecticut state court that, "at most," it should pay $5 million.

  • January 22, 2025

    Apple Sued Over Alleged PFAS In Smartwatch Wristbands

    Apple Inc. is at least the second smartwatch maker to be hit with a proposed class action lawsuit accusing it of knowingly using toxic forever chemicals in manufacturing the devices' wristbands, according to a complaint filed in California federal court.

  • January 22, 2025

    Boeing Rips Investors' Class Cert Bid In 737 Max Blowout Suit

    Boeing told a Virginia federal judge that pension funds cannot reverse-engineer sweeping securities fraud claims based on last year's Alaska Airlines midair blowout incident, saying their bid to certify a class of investors who were purportedly misled by Boeing's assurances of the 737 Max jets' safety must be rejected.

  • January 22, 2025

    Justices Urged To Affirm Texas Nuke Waste Site Ruling

    Several states, Texas politicians and landowner groups threw their support behind the Lone Star State's fight against a temporary nuclear waste storage facility, telling the U.S. Supreme Court the federal government doesn't have the power to authorize the site.

  • January 22, 2025

    Toy Co. Not Covered In Unpaid Judgment Suit, Judge Says

    A Berkshire Hathaway insurer has no duty to defend a toy company accused of using legal proceedings to evade payment of an $8.5 million default judgment for false advertising, a Minnesota federal court ruled, finding that abuse of process claims are not covered under the policy.

  • January 22, 2025

    Judge Won't Toss Bulk Of Chrysler Minivan MDL Claims

    A Michigan federal judge has declined to significantly pare back multidistrict litigation over a risk of spontaneous explosion in certain Chrysler plug-in hybrid minivans, denying Chrysler's bid to toss fraud and other claims.

Expert Analysis

  • 2 Options For Sackler Family After High Court Purdue Ruling

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court recently blocked Purdue Pharma's plan to shield the family that owns the company from bankruptcy lawsuits, the Sacklers face the choice to either continue litigation, or return to the bargaining table for a settlement that doesn't eliminate creditor claims, says Gregory Germain at Syracuse University.

  • In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State

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    On June 28, the modern administrative state, where courts deferred to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, died when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — but it is survived by many cases decided under the Chevron framework, say Joseph Schaeffer and Jessica Deyoe at Babst Calland.

  • Revisiting Scalia's 'What's It To You?' After Kaiser Ruling

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser allows insurers to be considered "parties in interest" in Chapter 11 cases, they still need to show they would face an injury in fact, answering the late Justice Antonin Scalia's "what's it to you?" question, say Brent Weisenberg and Jeff Prol at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts

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    As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

  • Calif. Ruling Heightens Medical Product Maker Liability

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    The California Supreme Court's decision in Himes v. Somatics last month articulates a new causation standard for medical product manufacturer liability that may lead to stronger product disclosures nationwide and greater friction between manufacturers and physicians, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

  • Purdue Ch. 11 Ruling Reinforces Importance Of D&O Coverage

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma, holding that a Chapter 11 reorganization cannot discharge claims against a nondebtor without affected claimants' consent, will open new litigation pathways surrounding corporate insolvency and increase the importance of robust directors and officers insurance, says Evan Bolla at Harris St. Laurent.

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • After Chevron

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    Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard in June, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 37 different rulemaking and litigation areas.

  • Opinion

    Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem

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    The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.

  • Parsing Justices' Toss Of Purdue's Controversial Ch. 11 Plan

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent nixing of OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma's Chapter 11 proposal prevents the Sackler family from settling thousands of civil opioid lawsuits without the consent of all of the plaintiffs, and holds profound implications for bankruptcy cases, say attorneys at MoloLamken.

  • Calif. Long-Tail Ruling Continues Policyholder-Friendly Trend

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    The California Supreme Court's recent ruling in Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Cement & Gypsum, rejecting horizontal policy exhaustion, was the latest in a string of its decisions involving insurance coverage for continuous or progressive injury claims that favor policyholders, say Billie Mandelbaum and David Goodwin at Covington.

  • FTC Focus: Competition And The Right To Repair

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    If the Federal Trade Commission includes commercial and industrial products as part of copyright exemptions that allow consumers to modify or repair products, then businesses and affected rights holders will need to consider copyrights' impact on infringement issues, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Series

    Skiing And Surfing Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I’ve learned while riding waves in the ocean and slopes in the mountains have translated to my legal career — developing strong mentor relationships, remaining calm in difficult situations, and being prepared and able to move to a backup plan when needed, says Brian Claassen at Knobbe Martens.

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