Commercial Law & Contracts, Personal Injury, Products Liability

California Court Addresses Horizontal Exhaustion Requirement

by Traub Lieberman Straus & Shrewsberry LLP on 4/16/2013

In the recent decision Kaiser Cement & Gypsum Corp. v. Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania 2013 Cal. App. LEXIS 269 (2nd Dist. April 8, 2013), the California Court of Appeal considered whether horizontal or...more

California Court of Appeal Again Finds No Stacking of Liability Policy Limits

by Larry Golub | Barger & Wolen on 4/15/2013

Nearly two years ago, the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District issued a decision that upheld the concept of horizontal exhaustion of primary liability policy limits before triggering the obligation of...more

Illinois Appeals Court Reaffirms Zurich v. Raymark, Strengthens All Sums Precedent Under Illinois Law

by Mickey Martinez, Mark Packman, Kami Quinn | Gilbert LLP on 3/19/2013

In a significant victory for policyholders, the Illinois Appellate Court reversed a trial court decision that John Crane, Inc. (“Crane”) had no excess coverage for asbestos bodily injury claims. By so ruling, the appeals...more

Bronchiolitis Obliterans Claims Expand to New Industries

by J. David Brittingham, Michael Gray | Dinsmore & Shohl LLP on 3/19/2013

Bronchiolitis obliterans, once viewed a problem unique to the microwave popcorn and flavoring industries, is quickly expanding to become a widespread phenomena in many workplaces. Researchers continue to expand the list of...more

Fisher-Price Warns Consumers Regarding Mold on Baby Recliners

by Demas Law Group on 1/11/2013

For decades, Fisher-Price has been one of the industry leaders with regards to all sorts of products that are geared towards infants, toddlers and young children. The company has continued to dominate this marketplace, but...more

Florida Court Allows Extrinsic Facts for Determining Duty to Defend

by Traub Lieberman Straus & Shrewsberry LLP on 10/16/2012

In its recent decision in Composite Structures, Inc. v. Cont'l Ins. Co., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147320 (M.D. Fla. Oct. 12, 2012), the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida considered if and when an...more

Washington Supreme Court Makes a Surprising About-Face in Third-Party Asbestos Liability

by Sedgwick LLP on 10/1/2012

The Supreme Court of Washington recently decided the case of Macias v. Saberhagen Holdings, Inc. – a decision that flows against the trend of courts ruling that manufacturers of non-asbestos containing products cannot be held...more

BLG Monthly Update for September 2012

by Neil Guthrie on 9/19/2012

Welly-wanging, Elvis memorabilia, insider trading and the usual neat contracts cases -- all this and more in the BLG Monthly Update for 2012!...more

Insurance Coverage for Food and Beverage Contamination

by King & Spalding on 9/5/2012

Damages owed from illness and death claims resulting from actual or alleged food and beverage contamination, along with the cost of recalls of potentially contaminated products, present serious financial risk to companies...more

Mock Trial Arbitrations and Mediations: A New Approach To Case Resolution

by Cantor Stoneburner Ford Grana & Buckner on 8/30/2012

In many cases, the stumbling block to settlement is the parties’ polar opposite views of what the likely jury verdict will be. Impasse is typically reached in these situations when the parties dig their heels in, often...more

Mock Trials and Focus Groups: How Are They Conducted?

by Cantor Stoneburner Ford Grana & Buckner on 8/30/2012

The goal of the trial lawyer in using a mock trial or focus group in his or her case is to obtain objective information from a group of individuals demographically similar to the real jurors. Consequently, the mock trial or...more

Florida Court Finds No Coverage for Chinese Drywall Claim

by Traub Lieberman Straus & Shrewsberry LLP on 7/18/2012

In its recent decision in First Specialty Insurance Corp. v. Milton Construction Co., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97972 (S.D. Fla. July 16, 2012), the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida had occasion...more

Appellate Division Rules That, Under New York Law, Multiple Asbestos Claims May Constitute a Single Occurrence if Insurance...

by K&L Gates LLP on 7/12/2012

Five years ago, the New York Court of Appeals held in Appalachian Insurance Company v. General Electric Company, 8 N.Y.3d 162, 831 N.Y.S.2d 742 (2007) (“Appalachian”), that asbestos claims against a policyholder constituted...more

Settling the Settlement Negotiation Privilege

by Sedgwick LLP on 6/6/2012

Most litigation is settled before it reaches trial. When negotiating a settlement, parties should consider whether statements made in the course of those negotiations (which may take either written or oral form) are subject...more

A Double Dose of Preemption

by Dechert LLP on 5/9/2012

In medical device cases, preemption will hunt you down. In Hinkel v. St. Jude Medical, S.C. Inc., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56322 (E.D. La. April 23, 2012), the plaintiff survived removal and discovery only to be caught by...more

Product Liability Update -- April 2012

by Foley Hoag LLP on 4/19/2012

In This Issue: *United States Supreme Court Holds Federal Locomotive Inspection Act Preempts Entire Field of Regulating Locomotive Equipment, Including State Law Claims Alleging Defective Design or Failure to Warn Based...more

Missouri Court Holds That Economic Loss Doctrine Bars Plaintiff's Tort Claims

by Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP on 3/20/2012

A Missouri district court recently ruled that a negligent misrepresentation claim was barred by the economic loss doctrine in a case involving a merchant-to-merchant sale of allegedly defective products. The plaintiff,...more

Liability for Investigational Drugs That Work (Perhaps Too Well)

by Dechert LLP on 3/15/2012

On a number of occasions – more during the first couple of years of the blog than recently – we opposed causes of action that would impose liability on drug/device manufacturers for investigational drugs that worked, and...more

No Liability for Raw Materials Under the Component Parts Doctrine

by Sedgwick LLP on 3/12/2012

The California Court of Appeal has reinforced a series of prior decisions, finding that a supplier of raw materials cannot be held liable under theories of negligence and strict product liability for injuries claimed to arise...more

Social Media as Evidence

by Peter J. Gregory on 3/5/2012

With hundreds of millions of users worldwide, the social media revolution has arrived. Generally, social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn allow their members to share information to enable interpersonal...more

Raw Material Suppliers Not Liable for Worker Injuries

by Dechert LLP on 2/10/2012

A California appeals court ruled last week that several raw material suppliers could not be held liable for injuries allegedly sustained by a worker as a result of using their raw materials. See John Maxton...more

Dismissal of Actimmune Proposed Class Action Affirmed

by Dechert LLP on 1/11/2012

The Ninth Circuit late last month upheld the dismissal of a proposed class action concerning alleged off-label marketing of the drug Actimmune. In re: Actimmune Marketing Litigation, Nos. 10-17237 and 10-17239 (9th Cir....more

California Court of Appeal Clarifies Breach of Warranty Law in Class Actions and Vacates Order Certifying Class of Consumers in...

by Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 12/12/2011

In American Honda Motor Company, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County, 199 Cal. App. 4th 1367 (2011), the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District clarified that, under California law, a party...more

Strict Liability Does Not Apply to Medical Devices

by Dechert LLP on 12/7/2011

Another court has recognized that strict liability or breach of implied warranty claims do not lie against medical device makers. Horsmon v. Zimmer Holdings Inc., No. 11-1050 (W.D. Pa., 11/10/11). Plaintiff had a total...more

Standard of Care for Engineers - the Jury Instruction (law note)

by Melissa Dewey Brumback on 10/27/2011

I’ve previously talked about the standard of care for design professionals on construction projects. As you should be aware, the standard is reasonableness, not perfection. To illustrate the point, consider a standard...more

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Commercial Law & Contracts › Personal Injury › Products Liability