Product Liability Law

Feds investigate Chrysler over recall of more than 1 million trucks

Federal safety regulators have opened a probe into Chrysler Group’s recall of nearly one million Dodge Ram pickup trucks. Last November, the car company issued the recall for approximately 1.2 million light- and heavy-duty Ram Pickup trucks, citing a potential chassis problem that could affect steering. Reuters reported on Monday…

Oct 27, 2014 1:05 PM CDT

‘Vaudeville’ closing argument with pill-a-day song doesn’t warrant sanction, 2nd Circuit says

A $2,500 sanction was imposed on a New York plaintiffs lawyer because he “insidiously sought to inject” the issue of punitive damages into his closing argument even though they were not at issue in the case, but an appeals court has determined he will not have to pay the sanction.…

Oct 23, 2014 8:43 AM CDT

Over 100 died from GM ignition-switch issues, survivors claim

When General Motors announced a compensation plan for those injured and killed because of ignition-switch issues in vehicles manufactured by the automaker, the company confirmed 13 deaths. However, claims have now been made concerning more than 100 deaths in the first month of a compensation program administered by disaster master…

Aug 27, 2014 5:04 PM CDT

Lead-paint liability without proof of specific maker doesn’t violate due process, 7th Circuit says

A federal appeals court has upheld a legal theory that holds lead-paint manufacturers liable for neurological problems in children who lived in homes with the product, even without proof of the specific maker of the paint that caused the harm. The Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that…

Jul 25, 2014 12:18 PM CDT

2 lawyers who rejected $9.5M attorney fee in Prempro case will get $21.8M

Two lead lawyers in long-running litigation over Pfizer’s Inc.’s Prempro menopause drug have more than doubled their own payout by challenging a plan to allocate them less than $10 million of a $62 million common-benefit fund for attorney fees. Federal court filings in Little Rock, Arkansas, say fellow plaintiffs lawyers…

Jul 23, 2014 8:20 PM CDT

Company co-founder is personally liable for Buckyballs recall refunds

The Consumer Product Safety Commission yesterday announced a formal recall of Buckyballs—and the refunds will be paid by a co-founder and former head of the now-defunct company that developed the desk toy. The recall effort began in 2012. According to the New York Times, the BB-sized magnetic toys that stack…

Jul 18, 2014 5:01 PM CDT

As leaders blame GM lawyers for ignition woes, lawmaker asks: Why wasn’t general counsel fired?

During a Thursday hearing before a U.S. Senate commerce subcommittee, top General Motors Co. officials blamed in-house lawyers for the company’s delay in dealing effectively with a deadly ignition-switch issue that caused 54 accidents and at least 13 deaths over the course of a decade. But that led the subcommittee’s…

Jul 17, 2014 8:55 PM CDT

Prove GM fraud on court, if you can, bankruptcy judge tells lawyers in ignition-switch cases

Plaintiffs lawyers in dozens of cases filed against General Motors Co. over the diminished value of vehicles because of ignition-switch recalls have been arguing that a bankruptcy-court bar to such liability prior to 2009 should not apply. That’s because GM allegedly knew about the defect and didn’t disclose it to…

Jul 3, 2014 5:50 PM CDT

GM cites ‘pattern of incompetence,’ fires 15 including legal execs, will pay ignition-switch victims

An internal probe of General Motors found “a pattern of incompetence and neglect” but no intentional cover-up of ignition-switch issues that resulted in a massive vehicle recall this year after a decade of problems including at least 13 fatal accidents. Fifteen employees were fired as a result of the investigation…

Jun 5, 2014 3:30 PM CDT

Posner tosses ‘scandalous’ settlement, says judge didn’t heed danger signs

Updated: A federal appeals court has rejected an “inequitable—even scandalous” class-action settlement, removed the lead lawyer and reinstated “defrocked” lead plaintiffs who had objected to the deal. Judge Richard Posner wrote the June 2 opinion (PDF) for a panel of the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. “Almost every…

Jun 3, 2014 1:44 PM CDT

Pradaxa suits will be settled for about $650M, drugmaker says

German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim has announced it will pay about $650 million to settle lawsuits targeting its blood thinning drug Pradaxa. Plaintiffs had claimed the company did not provide sufficient warning about the risk of severe bleeding and death for patients who take Pradaxa. The company said the settlement will…

May 28, 2014 3:43 PM CDT

Did firecracker or defect cause Hyundai crash? ‘Bombshell’ evidence is suddenly noticed during trial

Lawyers for plaintiffs suing Hyundai complained to a Montana judge last Wednesday that the automaker “clearly tried to drop a bombshell” when its expert noticed an object in a photograph that had apparently been overlooked for 34 months. The families of two teenage cousins who died in a crash of…

May 12, 2014 10:45 AM CDT

A risky move? GM heads to bankruptcy court today in effort to head off ignition class actions

Lawyers for General Motors go back to bankruptcy court today in a bid to ban class-action lawsuits over faulty ignition switches. General Motors said in a filing last week with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it is aware of 59 would-be class actions filed on behalf of car owners…

May 2, 2014 2:25 PM CDT

GM seeks bankruptcy court ban on class actions alleging lost value due to car ignition-switch issues

In a Monday filing, General Motors asked a federal bankruptcy court in New York to put the kibosh on nearly 50 class actions. They allege that owners of small cars manufactured by the automaker have seen their vehicles’ value diminish recently because of news about a massive recall over ignition-switch…

Apr 22, 2014 4:55 PM CDT

GM seeks court ruling it is protected from ignition-switch suits under bankruptcy law

Amidst a recall of at least 2.6 million vehicles over ignition-switch issues and a growing number of would-be class actions claiming that company officials knew of defects for years, General Motors is seeking a freeze on the litigation and a court ruling that it is protected from liability by bankruptcy…

Apr 16, 2014 6:15 PM CDT