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Product Liability

  • August 06, 2025

    Indivior Beats Investor Suit Over Opioid Drug Sales Forecasts

    A Virginia federal judge Wednesday tossed an investor class action accusing drugmaker Indivior PLC of overstating the financial prospects of its drugs used to treat opioid use disorders and its ability to forecast such financial projections, finding, among other things, that the complaint's challenged statements are inactionable.

  • August 06, 2025

    Feds Give Amazon's Zoox Robotaxis Green Light

    Amazon's self-driving car unit, Zoox Inc., has received federal approval to deploy fleets of robotaxis, making the company the first to receive an exemption from Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for U.S.-built autonomous vehicles under a newly expanded program, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Wednesday.

  • August 06, 2025

    Feds Launch Safety Probe Of SEPTA After EV Bus Fires

    The Federal Transit Administration has launched an inquiry into the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority's storage of decommissioned electric buses, which the federal agency said comes after a lithium-ion battery fire in one of SEPTA's yards.

  • August 06, 2025

    Judge OKs Addition Of Kenvue, Janssen To J&J Talc MDL

    A New Jersey federal judge has rejected Johnson & Johnson's challenge to cancer patients' bid to add additional corporate defendants to multidistrict federal litigation over its talcum powder products, finding the additions would not be futile.

  • August 06, 2025

    2nd Circ. Backs J&J Spinoff In 'Rapid Release' Label Suit

    The Second Circuit on Wednesday declined to revive a proposed class action alleging a Johnson & Johnson spinoff company misled consumers by claiming that "Rapid Release" Tylenol gelcaps dissolve faster than other types of Tylenol.

  • August 06, 2025

    Meta Says Section 230 Blocks Teen's Nude Photo Suit

    Meta Platforms Inc. and its affiliates are urging a California state court to throw out a teen's claims against it over a partially nude photograph that his classmates shared over Instagram, saying the case involves "quintessential Section 230-protected publishing activity."

  • August 05, 2025

    Novo Nordisk Lodges Suits Over 'Knockoff' Semaglutide Meds

    Novo Nordisk said Tuesday it has recently filed more than a dozen lawsuits accusing weight loss companies, med spas and pharmacies of tricking patients into purchasing and using unapproved drugs containing semaglutide, which the Danish pharmaceutical company uses in its blockbuster medicines Wegovy and Ozempic.

  • August 05, 2025

    Judge Mulls Sanctioning Hagens Berman In Thalidomide Suits

    The Pennsylvania federal judge presiding over dozens of product liability actions against manufacturers of the morning sickness drug thalidomide Tuesday ordered Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP to explain why it shouldn't be sanctioned for allegedly conducting "grossly inadequate" pre-suit inquiries, obstructing discovery and doctoring evidence.

  • August 05, 2025

    OptumRx Urges Panel To DQ Motley Rice In LA Opioid Suit

    OptumRx told a California appellate panel Tuesday that Motley Rice should be disqualified from representing Los Angeles County in a lawsuit alleging it colluded with drugmakers to fuel the opioid crisis, saying the firm violated state law by using confidential information obtained in the case in other lawsuits it's handling against Optum.

  • August 05, 2025

    Walmart Largely Snuffs Out Exploding Candle Class Action

    An Ohio federal judge has largely thrown out a proposed class action claiming that Mainstays-branded candles sold at Walmart have dangerous defects that can lead to them exploding, finding a long list of deficiencies in the candle purchasers' sprawling complaint.

  • August 05, 2025

    Key Opioid Theory Actually Irrelevant, Drug Cos. Tell 4th Circ.

    With federal judges in West Virginia suddenly split over the central legal theory in opioid litigation, major drug distributors are insisting the theory actually doesn't matter, telling the Fourth Circuit it can uphold their triumph in a landmark trial without even touching the hot-button issue.

  • August 05, 2025

    Tesla Verdict Could Embolden Plaintiffs With Similar Claims

    The $329 million verdict handed down by jurors in Miami on Friday over a fatal Florida Keys crash is the first to find Tesla's autopilot defective and will likely embolden other plaintiffs with similar claims to take them to trial, personal injury attorneys told Law360.

  • August 05, 2025

    Fed. Hazmat Law Doesn't Bar Negligence Suit, 2nd Circ. Says

    A Connecticut federal judge was wrong to find that the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act preempted a propane company's common-law negligence and recklessness claims over damage it suffered from a heating oil spill, the Second Circuit ruled Tuesday in restoring a lawsuit seeking more than $500,000 to cover remediation costs.

  • August 05, 2025

    Lead Kicked From Pharma Investor Case Over Rogue Emails

    The lead plaintiff in a securities class action against Spectrum Pharmaceuticals in Manhattan federal court was removed from the case Tuesday when a federal judge found he broke confidentiality rules by going behind his lawyers' backs in an attempt to push his own settlement plan and fixating on unrelated conspiracy theories.

  • August 05, 2025

    Feds Aim To Shut Off Kids' Challenge To Trump Energy Orders

    A lawsuit filed by youths alleging that President Donald Trump's energy policy directives harm their future by exacerbating climate change should be dismissed because their claims can't be addressed by courts, the federal government said Monday.

  • August 05, 2025

    Shuttered NJ Importer Pleads Guilty To Hiding AC Fire Risks

    A defunct New Jersey importer of consumer appliances pled guilty on Tuesday to one count of willfully violating the Consumer Product Safety Act for its failure to report dangerous defects in more than 33,000 portable air conditioners that have been linked to more than 40 fires and one death, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

  • August 05, 2025

    Calif. City Sanctioned Over Missing Reports In Dow, PPG Case

    A San Francisco Superior Court judge found that a California city that's pursued decades-long litigation against Dow Chemical and PPG Industries over dry cleaning chemicals that allegedly contaminated city sites "committed egregious discovery violations" by destroying and concealing 1991 reports related to the chemicals leaking into the city's groundwater.

  • August 05, 2025

    Utah Judge Blocks 'Bad Faith' Prosecution Of Psilocybin Church

    A Utah federal judge has blocked a state court prosecution of the leader of a church that uses psilocybin in its sacrament, finding the prosecution was initiated in bad faith to harass the church and its members following a ruling against the state in the federal case.

  • August 05, 2025

    Fla. Biz Won't Sell Knockoff Weight Loss Drugs After AG Deal

    A string of Florida companies and their owner have agreed to stop selling what Connecticut authorities called "bootleg" GLP-1 weight loss drugs nationwide and enter into a $300,000 settlement, records in a consumer protection enforcement action show.

  • August 05, 2025

    Tesla Hit With Suit Over Autonomous Vehicle Issues

    A Tesla Inc. investor has launched a proposed securities class action against the company in Texas federal court, claiming it overhyped its autonomous driving vehicles despite flaws that led to regulatory and legal blowback, including a recent $329 million verdict involving the Autopilot feature.

  • August 05, 2025

    Alaska Airlines Can't Nix Flight Attendant's Surgery Win

    A Washington state appeals court won't disturb a jury's finding that a flight attendant was entitled to coverage of a spine surgery for an injury she sustained while working for Alaska Airlines, saying the trial court judge rightly rejected the airline's proposed jury instruction for its confusion.

  • August 04, 2025

    Roundup Judge Threatens Sanctions For Unpaid Plaintiff Fees

    The California federal judge presiding over multidistrict personal injury litigation over Monsanto's Roundup weed killer has threatened to sanction 37 plaintiffs' firms that have not held back a percentage of their recovery fees for a common benefit fund.

  • August 04, 2025

    FCA Juror's Possible Conflict Can't Justify Retrial, Judge Says

    A class action trial against Fiat Chrysler in 2023 was not tainted by a juror whose employer was negotiating a deal with the automaker's parent company Stellantis NV, a Massachusetts federal judge ruled Friday, rejecting a bid by a class of drivers who sued over allegedly defective headrests.

  • August 04, 2025

    MOVEit Data Breach MDL Advances With Slimmed Frame

    A Massachusetts federal judge has pared down but declined to toss sprawling multidistrict litigation over a data breach tied to Progress Software's MOVEIt file transfer tool, with negligence and several other claims allowed to proceed against the software vendor and four bellwether groups of companies that used the tool.

  • August 04, 2025

    Fiat Chrysler, Drivers Seek OK Of Truck Defect Settlement

    A group of Dodge Ram drivers has asked a federal judge to preliminarily approve a class settlement resolving claims that Fiat Chrysler sold trucks with a defect that causes vehicle fires.

Expert Analysis

  • Crisis Management Lessons From The Parenting Playbook

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    The parenting skills we use to help our kids through challenges — like rehearsing for stressful situations, modeling confidence and taking time to reset our emotions — can also teach us the fundamentals of leading clients through a corporate crisis, say Deborah Solmor at the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and Cara Peterman at Alston & Bird.

  • High Court's Ruling May Not Stop Ghost Gun Makers

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    In Bondi v. VanDerStok, a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Gun Control Act applies to untraceable "ghost gun" kits under certain circumstances — but companies that produce these kits may still be able to use creative regulatory workarounds to evade government oversight, says Samuel Bassett at Minton Bassett.

  • Justices' Labcorp Questions Explore Class Cert. Tensions

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    At the recent oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings v. Davis, the justices' questioning highlighted a fundamental tension between constitutional standing requirements, the procedural framework of Rule 23, and the practical challenges of managing large, diverse classes in complex litigation, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

  • 4 Ways To Leverage A Jury's Underdog Perceptions

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    Counsel should consider how common factors that speak to their client's size, power, past challenges and alignment with jurors can be presented to try and paint their client as a sympathetic underdog, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.

  • Why Hiring Former Jurors As Consultants Can Be Risky

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    The defense team's decision to hire former juror Victoria George in the high-profile retrial of Karen Read shines a spotlight on this controversial strategy, which raises important legal, ethical and tactical questions despite not being explicitly prohibited, says Nikoleta Despodova at ND Litigation.

  • What To Watch For As High Court Mulls NRC's Powers

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    If successful, Texas’ challenges to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s authority — recently heard by the U.S. Supreme Court and currently pending before a Texas federal court — may have serious adverse consequences for aspiring NRC licensees, including potential nuclear power plant operators, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From NY Fed To BigLaw

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    While the move to private practice brings a learning curve, it also brings chances to learn new skills and grow your network, requiring a clear understanding of how your skills can complement and contribute to a firm's existing practice, and where you can add new value, says Meghann Donahue at Covington.

  • Top 3 Litigation Finance Deal-Killers, And How To Avoid Them

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    Like all transactions, litigation finance deals can sometimes collapse, but understanding the most common reasons for failure, including a lack of trust or a misunderstanding of deal terms, can help both parties avoid problems, say Rebecca Berrebi at Avenue 33 and Boris Ziser at Schulte Roth.

  • How Attys Can Use A Therapy Model To Help Triggered Clients

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    Attorneys can lean on key principles from a psychotherapeutic paradigm known as the "Internal Family Systems" model to help manage triggered clients and get settlement negotiations back on track, says Jennifer Gibbs at Zelle.

  • Rebuttal

    Mass Arbitration Reform Must Focus On Justice

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    A recent Law360 guest article argued that mass arbitration reform is needed to alleviate companies’ financial and administrative burdens, but any such reform must deliver real justice, not just cost savings for the powerful, says Eduard Korsinsky at Levi & Korsinsky.

  • How Attorneys Can Make The Most Of A Deposition Transcript

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    With recent amendments to federal evidence rules now in effect, it’s more important than ever to make sure that deposition transcripts are clear and precise, and a few key strategies can help attorneys get the most out of a transcript before, during and after a deposition, says Allison Rocker at Baker McKenzie.

  • 3 Steps For In-House Counsel To Assess Litigation Claims

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    Before a potential economic downturn, in-house attorneys should investigate whether their company is sitting on hidden litigation claims that could unlock large recoveries to help the business withstand tough times, says Will Burgess at Hilgers Graben.

  • J&J's Failed 3rd Try Casts Doubt On Use Of 'Texas Two-Step'

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    A Texas bankruptcy court recently rejected Johnson & Johnson's third attempt to use Chapter 11 to resolve liabilities from allegations of injuries from using talcum powder, suggesting that the U.S. Supreme Court's limitations on nondebtor releases, from 2024's Purdue Pharma ruling, may prove difficult to evade, say attorneys at Cadwalader.

  • Series

    Teaching College Students Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Serving as an adjunct college professor has taught me the importance of building rapport, communicating effectively, and persuading individuals to critically analyze the difference between what they think and what they know — principles that have helped to improve my practice of law, says Sheria Clarke at Nelson Mullins.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From DOJ Enviro To Mid-Law

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    Practitioners leaving a longtime government role for private practice — as when I departed the U.S. Department of Justice’s environmental enforcement division — should prioritize finding a firm that shares their principles, values their experience and will invest in their transition, says John Cruden at Beveridge & Diamond.

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