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Product Liability

  • July 28, 2025

    PBMs Can't Escape NY State Law Claims In Opioid MDL

    Two UnitedHealth subsidiaries cannot escape claims that they exacerbated the opioid crisis by providing data analytics and consulting services to drugmakers, a federal judge overseeing the multidistrict litigation ruled on Monday, saying the New York state municipalities have adequately alleged RICO by claiming they were part of the same criminal conspiracy.

  • July 28, 2025

    Hawaii Fights Back Against US Bid To Block Climate Suit

    Hawaii on Friday asked a federal judge to throw out the Trump administration's "extraordinary and unprecedented" effort to block the state's climate change lawsuit against major energy companies.

  • July 28, 2025

    Amazon Looks To Ax Claims Of Heavy Metals In Rice Products

    Amazon urged a Washington federal court to dismiss proposed class litigation seeking to hold the company responsible for rice products sold through its online store that contain toxic metals such as lead and mercury, saying there's no allegation the levels are "above any applicable legal or regulatory thresholds."

  • July 28, 2025

    Splenda-Maker Says Emails Show NC Scientist Ignored Data

    The makers of Splenda said new emails and documents unearthed in discovery for its defamation lawsuit against a scientist show that she ignored and manipulated experiment data to suggest that the artificial sweetener is dangerous for humans.

  • July 28, 2025

    Coca-Cola Looks To Drain '100% Natural Flavors' False Ad Suit

    Coca-Cola urged a California federal judge to drain a proposed class action alleging it deceptively labels its Sprite sodas as made with "100% natural flavors" despite containing citric acid, arguing Friday the plaintiff doesn't plausibly allege the citric acid is artificial, and that her claims are preempted by federal law.

  • July 28, 2025

    Widow Asks 4th Circ. To Revive Freight Broker Claim

    A woman whose husband was killed in a 2022 South Carolina trucking accident told the Fourth Circuit on Monday that freight brokers cannot evade state-based requirements to exercise reasonable care in selecting safe motor carriers to transport shipments.

  • July 28, 2025

    Electrolux Range's Defect Led To Fire, Insurer Tells Court

    Three Electrolux companies manufactured ranges with a foreseeable defect that allowed the products to unintentionally activate, a property insurer told a Connecticut federal court as it sought to recover the claim payout for a homeowner's kitchen fire.

  • July 28, 2025

    2nd Abbott Baby Formula Bellwether Falls Before Trial

    An Illinois federal judge handed Abbott Laboratories summary judgment on Monday in the second bellwether that had been set for trial in multidistrict litigation over allegations its cow's milk-based formula can cause severe gastrointestinal illness in premature babies, while saying she will leave the door open to revive and later try the case.

  • July 28, 2025

    Eli Lilly Alleges Pharmacy Sells Knockoff Weight-Loss Drugs

    Eli Lilly and Company is accusing a Houston pharmacy of selling knockoff versions of two of its Ozempic-like weight-loss drugs.

  • July 28, 2025

    Peloton Looks To Snuff Out Investors' Recall Suit Again

    Peloton hopes to extinguish a second attempt by investors at finding the company and its executives at fault for the way the company handled a recall of its defective bicycle seats, telling a New York federal judge Monday that the amended complaint does not cure deficiencies that led to the lawsuit's initial dismissal.

  • July 28, 2025

    Rising Star: Goldman Ismail's Allyson Miller Julien

    Allyson Miller Julien of Goldman Ismail Tomaselli Brennan & Baum LLP helped Merck win a major victory in multidistrict litigation over its Gardasil HPV vaccine, earning her a spot among the product liability law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • July 28, 2025

    J&J Loses Bid To Probe Beasley Allen Talc Litigation Funding

    A special master found Monday there is no reason to believe third-party funders are influencing Beasley Allen Law Firm's decisions in a massive talc litigation in New Jersey, defeating a subpoena from Johnson & Johnson digging into alleged third-party litigation funding.

  • July 28, 2025

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    A Delaware vice chancellor last week sent several coordinated derivative suits seeking millions of dollars in damages from AT&T to trial and also chose a boutique firm to lead a potential "blockbuster" suit challenging a take-private deal of a sports and entertainment group after "heated" attacks between competing counsel.

  • July 28, 2025

    Novo Nordisk Faces Possible Mass Tort Over Ozempic In NJ

    Over 20 plaintiffs who have sued Novo Nordisk in New Jersey state court alleging its popular weight loss drugs caused them to lose their vision have filed an application to designate their cases as multicounty litigation, according to a notice to the bar posted on Monday.

  • July 25, 2025

    Social Media Cos. Score Toss Of 2022 Mass Shooting Suit

    A divided New York state appeals court on Friday dismissed a lawsuit that sought to hold Meta, Google and other social media companies liable for a fatal 2022 mass shooting that targeted Black people in Buffalo, New York, saying federal law shielded the companies from liability for the shooter's acts.

  • July 25, 2025

    ​In New Twist, W.Va. Judges Suddenly At Odds In Opioid Suits

    A new ruling in West Virginia opioid crisis litigation is revealing sharp divisions among the Mountain State's federal judges regarding a pivotal legal theory, potentially boosting a Fourth Circuit appeal by beleaguered municipalities aiming to erase a landmark win for drug distributors.

  • July 25, 2025

    4th Circ. Revives Kraft Heinz Suit Over Safety Complaints

    The Fourth Circuit on Friday overturned a win for Kraft Heinz Inc. in a suit by a former worker at a meatpacking plant who alleged that he'd been fired for reporting safety issues, saying the district court wrongly concluded that a separate disciplinary investigation was the sole reason he was terminated.

  • July 25, 2025

    Calif. Air Board Faces New Suit Over Carbon Fuel Standard

    Environmental and public interest groups hit the California Air Resources Board with another lawsuit in Golden State court Friday, alleging that the state's recent amendments to the Low Carbon Fuel Standard will have the perverse effect of incentivizing large-scale factory farms, which pose significant environmental and public health risks.

  • July 25, 2025

    Drivers Ask 9th Circ. To Revive Fiat Chrysler Gear Shift Suit

    Chrysler drivers are asking the Ninth Circuit to revive their proposed class action alleging defective gear shifters in Fiat Chrysler vehicles, in a bid to overcome a California federal court's finding that the injury is hypothetical.

  • July 25, 2025

    Sports & Betting Cases To Watch In The Second Half Of 2025

    Certain court cases have become staples on both the midyear and end-of-year must-watch lists in sports and betting at Law360. One that seemed best positioned to finally fall off the list, as it turns out, is far from over: the multibillion-dollar NCAA settlement regarding name, image and likeness payments and revenue sharing with hundreds of thousands of college athletes. A handful of other suits from past years will also continue to bear watching through the end of 2025.

  • July 25, 2025

    Helicopter Crash Suit Belongs In New Zealand, Calif. Court Says

    Survivors of a helicopter crash cannot sue the U.S.-based companies that manufactured the aircraft in Los Angeles County, a California appeals court said Thursday, affirming a trial court's finding that it makes more sense for New Zealand courts to handle the case because that's where the crash happened and where the passengers live.

  • July 25, 2025

    Feds Redirect First Phase Of Atomic Bomb Waste To Texas

    Radioactive waste from the development of the first atomic bomb will no longer be sent to a landfill in Wayne County, Michigan, after a group of nearby communities sued to block the landfill from accepting 6,000 cubic yards of the material. 

  • July 25, 2025

    Insurers Seek Quick Win Over Meta Social Media Suits

    Various Hartford and Chubb units told a Delaware state court they should have no duty to defend Meta Platforms Inc. in thousands of pending lawsuits accusing the social media giant of deliberately designing its platforms to be addictive to adolescents, arguing there was no insurable "accident" that allegedly occurred.

  • July 25, 2025

    Fluoride Fans Tell 9th Circ. To Preserve Drinking Water Use

    A pro-fluoride group is supporting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's fight to overturn a California federal judge's ruling that current limits on the chemical in drinking water aren't protective enough.

  • July 25, 2025

    Minnesota Regulators Sue Retailer Over Cannabinoid Wares

    Minnesota's cannabis regulator has brought a state court action seeking an order compelling a retailer to destroy hemp-derived cannabinoid products that are allegedly noncompliant under the state's laws.

Expert Analysis

  • ABA Opinion Makes It A Bit Easier To Drop A 'Hot Potato'

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    The American Bar Association's recent ethics opinion clarifies when attorneys may terminate clients without good cause, though courts may still disqualify a lawyer who drops a client like a hot potato, so sending a closeout letter is always a best practice, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

  • Canadian Suit Offers Disclosure Lesson For US Cannabis Cos.

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    A Canadian class action asserting that Aurora Cannabis failed to warn consumers about the risk of developing cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome may spawn copycat filings in the U.S., and is a cautionary tale for cannabis and hemp industries to prioritize risk disclosure, says Ian Stewart at Wilson Elser.

  • Tesla's Robotaxi Push Exposes Gaps In Product Liability Law

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    As Tesla's deployment of robotaxis on public roads in Austin, Texas, faces regulatory scrutiny and legislative pushback, the legal community confronts an unprecedented challenge: how to apply traditional fault principles, product liability laws and insurance practices to vehicles that operate as rolling computers, says Don Fountain at Clark Fountain.

  • Series

    My Opera And Baseball Careers Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Though participating in opera and the world of professional baseball often pulls me away from the office, my avocations improve my legal career by helping me perform under scrutiny, prioritize team success, and maintain joy and perspective at work, says Adam Unger at Herrick Feinstein.

  • 8 Ways Lawyers Can Protect The Rule Of Law In Their Work

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    Whether they are concerned with judicial independence, regulatory predictability or client confidence, lawyers can take specific meaningful actions on their own when traditional structures are too slow or too compromised to respond, says Angeli Patel at the Berkeley Center of Law and Business.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Communicating With Clients

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    Law school curricula often overlook client communication procedures, and those who actively teach this crucial facet of the practice can create exceptional client satisfaction and success, says Patrick Hanson at Wiggam Law.

  • One Year On, Davidson Holds Lessons On 'Health Halo' Claims

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    A year after the Ninth Circuit's Davidson v. Sprout Foods decision — which raised the bar for so-called health halo claims — food and beverage companies can draw insights from its finding, subsequently expanded on by other courts, that plaintiffs must be specific when alleging fraud in healthfulness marketing, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Justices' NRC Ruling Raises New Regulatory Questions

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    In Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court avoided ruling on the NRC's authority to license private, temporary nuclear waste storage facilities — and this failure to reach the merits question creates new regulatory uncertainty where none had existed for decades, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From US Rep. To Boutique Firm

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    My transition from serving as a member of Congress to becoming a partner at a boutique firm has been remarkably smooth, in part because I never stopped exercising my legal muscles, maintained relationships with my former colleagues and set the right tone at the outset, says Mondaire Jones at Friedman Kaplan.

  • Opinion

    Senate's 41% Litigation Finance Tax Would Hurt Legal System

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    The Senate’s latest version of the Big Beautiful Bill Act would impose a 41% tax on the litigation finance industry, but the tax is totally disconnected from the concerns it purports to address, and it would set the country back to a time when small plaintiffs had little recourse against big defendants, says Anthony Sebok at Cardozo School of Law.

  • 3 Juror Psychology Principles For Expert Witness Testimony

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    Expert witnesses can sometimes fall into traps when trying to teach juries complex topics by failing to consider the psychology of juror comprehension, but attorneys can help witnesses avoid these pitfalls with a deeper understanding of cognitive lag, chunking and learning styles, says Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.

  • In NRC Ruling, Justices Affirm Hearing Process Still Matters

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Texas safeguards the fairness, clarity and predictability of the regulatory system by affirming that to challenge an agency's decision in court, litigants must first meaningfully participate in the hearing process that Congress and the agency have established, says Jonathan Rund at the Nuclear Energy Institute.

  • Series

    Performing As A Clown Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    To say that being a clown in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has changed my legal career would truly be an understatement — by creating an opening to converse on a unique topic, it has allowed me to connect with clients, counsel and even judges on a deeper level, says Charles Tatelbaum at Tripp Scott.

  • Focusing On Fluoride: From FDA To Class Action

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    A class action filed two days after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced plans to remove ingestible fluoride prescription drug products for children from the market may be the tip of the iceberg in terms of the connection between government pronouncements on safety and their immediate use as evidence in lawsuits, says Rachel Turow at Skadden.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Rejecting Biz Dev Myths

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    Law schools don’t spend sufficient time dispelling certain myths that prevent young lawyers from exploring new business opportunities, but by dismissing these misguided beliefs, even an introverted first-year associate with a small network of contacts can find long-term success, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.

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