Product Liability Law

Missouri appeals court tosses $72M talcum powder verdict, says suit was filed in wrong state

A $72 million verdict in a suit contending that talcum powder causes cancer has been overturned as a result of a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June that limited the jurisdictional reach of state courts. The Missouri Court of Appeals on Tuesday overturned the verdict obtained by the family of…

Oct 17, 2017 1:55 PM CDT

Illinois Supreme Court removes judge from a second case after alleged ‘rolling inquisition’

The Illinois Supreme Court has removed a Chicago judge from a case after a lawyer alleged the judge had engaged in a two-year “rolling inquisition” in a desperate bid “to find a conspiracy where none exists.” It wasn’t the first time Judge Daniel Lynch of Cook County was removed from…

Oct 4, 2017 10:59 AM CDT

Emailed photo that arrived as talc trial began among new evidence credited in $417M cancer verdict

An emailed photo and negative evidence about witnesses supporting Johnson & Johnson’s safety claims may have influenced jurors who awarded $417 million to a woman diagnosed with ovarian cancer after using the company’s talcum powder for decades, according to one of her lawyers. Eva Echeverria, 63, said she began using…

Aug 22, 2017 1:08 PM CDT

Riding the Trend: The rise of Uber and Lyft inspires a liability practice

“I saw a lot of people on Twitter and on various blogs that were uncertain of what the rules, regulations and legalities were and are for ride-shares,” says Bryant Greening, an associate at Aleksy Belcher in Chicago. “I realized that there was a niche area that was not represented and wanted to fill that void.”

Aug 1, 2017 12:50 AM CDT

Tort suits in state courts are ‘down sharply’ as contract claims grow

The conventional wisdom that state courts are awash in tort lawsuits is wrong.

Tort lawsuits are “down sharply,” raising concerns among some judges that Americans no longer see the courts as a way to achieve justice in garden-variety civil cases, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports.

Jul 26, 2017 7:00 AM CDT

Chemerinsky: Two end-of-term decisions close the courthouse doors to those who have been injured

Amid the flurry of end-of-term decisions, two are very troubling. Although the cases arose in different contexts, they both have the same effect: closing the courthouse doors to those who have suffered serious injuries.

Jul 6, 2017 8:30 AM CDT

Who’s to blame when self-driving cars crash?

The law, as it stands now, is simple. Human beings cannot delegate driving responsibility to their cars. In self-driving cars, a human must be ready to override the system and take control. But this rule has to be updated, according to the NHTSA’s September 2016 report on autonomous vehicles.

Jul 1, 2017 1:40 AM CDT

$110M award in talcum powder case is largest award in suits claiming link to ovarian cancer

Jurors in St. Louis have awarded $110 million to a Virginia woman who claimed talcum powder sold by Johnson & Johnson caused her ovarian cancer. The verdict is the largest so far in litigation over the cancer link, report the Wall Street Journal Law Blog, Bloomberg, Reuters and Law.com (sub.…

May 5, 2017 1:24 PM CDT

BigLaw partner’s widow is awarded $3M in suit claiming antidepressant caused his suicide

The widow of a former Reed Smith partner was awarded $3 million in a lawsuit contending that the maker of the antidepressant Paxil covered up the drug’s link to an increased risk of suicide. The amount was less than the $39 million sought by Wendy Dolin, the widow of Stewart…

Apr 21, 2017 8:22 AM CDT

Tesla responds to lawsuit by claiming it has no duty to design a fail-safe car

A lawsuit against Tesla, the maker of high-end fully electric cars, alleges that its Model X and Model S vehicles have a software flaw that creates unintended acceleration that lead to accidents, Ars Technica reported Monday—but Tesla “disputes that there is a legal duty to design a fail-safe car.” The…

Apr 5, 2017 4:39 PM CDT

Ikea settles lawsuit over children killed by falling furniture for $50M

The parents of three toddlers crushed by Ikea dressers have settled their wrongful-death cases with the Swedish furniture company for $50 million. Ikea knew that the dressers, which were its Malm model, posed a danger, plaintiffs allege. Feldman Shepherd Wohlgelernter Tanner Weinstock Dodig LLP in Philadelphia was the firm which…

Dec 22, 2016 10:10 AM CST

Jurors award more than $1B in hip implant case

Federal jurors in Dallas on Thursday awarded $1.041 billion to six California plaintiffs who sued Johnson & Johnson for a hip implant device with alleged design defects. The awarded included more than $1 billion in punitive damages, report the National Law Journal (sub. req.), Reuters and Bloomberg. Jurors found that…

Dec 2, 2016 9:33 AM CST

Law firm says it got nearly 26,000 calls after multimillion-dollar talcum powder verdicts

An Alabama law firm that won $127 million in two talcum powder lawsuits says it has gotten nearly 26,000 calls since the verdicts earlier this year. Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles says it has 867 cases pending against Johnson & Johnson over its talcum powder products, Alabama Media…

Sep 2, 2016 8:00 AM CDT

If a self-driving car equipped with an AI-driven conscience gets in an accident, who’s liable?

Self-driving cars, equipped with artificial intelligence, can perhaps make ethical decisions in the face of an accident, but the outcome could be strongly influenced by opinions of engineers who wrote the software, Wired reports. “Even if a machine makes the exact same decision as a human being, I think we’ll…

Jun 13, 2016 3:15 PM CDT

Shook Hardy names first woman leader of the firm

Shook, Hardy & Bacon has elected its very first female leader in firm history. On Monday, the firm announced that Madeleine McDonough has been elected chair. McDonough, whose five-year term will begin Jan. 1, 2017, will replace John Murphy, who has led the firm for the past 15 years. McDonough,…

Jun 13, 2016 1:10 PM CDT