2BInformed: Engaging with EPA, OSHA’s New Regulation, and Asbestos
Last week’s Privilege Point described an opinion requiring a corporate party’s witness to disclose communications with his Latham & Watkins lawyers, because he confirmed with that firm his own “commercial understanding” about...more
The US Supreme Court ruled that an insurer with financial responsibility for bankruptcy claims is a “party in interest” under Bankruptcy Code §1109(b) that “may raise and may appear and be heard on any issue” in a Chapter 11...more
Companies faced with numerous mass tort claims, such as asbestos claims, often seek bankruptcy protection. Reorganization plans may include § 524(g) channeling injunctions in which insurance assets are put into a trust to pay...more
The Supreme Court of the United States issued three decisions today: Becerra v. San Carlos Apache Tribe, No. 23-250: This case concerns the funding the Indian Health Service (“IHS”) must provide to Indian tribes that...more
The Supreme Court reversed the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of insurance companies in a unanimous decision written by Justice Sotomayor. In short, the United States Supreme Court held today that insurers facing...more
Another Three-for Thursday at the Supreme Court, with none of the decisions a landmark but each of utmost relevance to legal specialists and technicians in the fields of bankruptcy, estate taxation, and Indian affairs....more
The shipping industry is an extensive and foundational mode of global transportation and resource distribution. The men and women who work aboard the U.S. fleet are routinely exposed to varying types of cargo, machinery, and...more
Court: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana - In the case of Matherne v. Huntington Ingalls Inc., plaintiffs moved for partial summary judgment regarding the Avondale Interests’ government...more
As 2024 rapidly approaches, we look back at some of the key decisions, trends, and developments impacting the U.S. insurance industry in 2023 and look ahead at some trends and cases to watch in 2024. Insurers continue to...more
With more than two dozen jury trials scheduled over the next year involving contaminated talc claims related to its ubiquitous baby powder, discussions are already at Johnson & Johnson to puts its talc unit, LTL Management,...more
Rulings by the United States Supreme Court profoundly impact insurers as businesses and corporate citizens. Additionally, decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court can also influence claims and policyholders' liabilities for...more
The United States Supreme Court agreed today to review a Fourth Circuit decision that denied an insurer standing to object to an asbestos producer’s Chapter 11 reorganization plan, on the basis that the insurer’s interests...more
Reaffirming Delaware’s position on medical monitoring claims apart from its neighboring states, the Delaware Supreme Court answered a question certified to it by the Third Circuit ruling that there must be a manifestation of...more
The Mallory v. Norfolk case—currently pending before the US Supreme Court—could potentially overturn recent rulings on issues related to personal jurisdiction and impact many businesses across the country....more
In Murphy v. Viad Corporation, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan recently considered the issue of specific personal jurisdiction in the context of asbestos claims under the standard set...more
On June 1, 2021, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) appeal to overturn a $2.12 billion dollar damages award to 22 female plaintiffs who alleged their ovarian cancer was caused by J&J’s...more
On July 7, 2021, U.S. District Court Judge Eduardo C. Robreno, who oversees the asbestos multi district litigation (MDL 875) in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, applied a new standard set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court...more
On June 1, 2021, the United States Supreme Court announced it would not accept Johnson & Johnson’s petition for certiorari seeking to overturn a $2.12 billion dollar damages award rendered in Missouri to twenty-two Missouri...more
JBS, the world’s largest meat processor, shuttered operations at locations throughout the U.S. and Canada on Tuesday after a ransomware attack that also impacted its Australian operations. The White House has confirmed that...more
Under the Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability § 5, Comment b (1998), the supplier of a product generally must warn about only those risks associated with the product itself, not those associated with the...more
On January 3, 2020, in Mary Ellerbrock, Individually, and as Special Administrator of the Estate of Alex Kaszynski, Deceased, v. A.O. Smith Corp., et. al. (case No. 18-L-1434), the Third Judicial Circuit Court in Madison...more
A last-minute deal between defendants McKesson, Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, and Teva and plaintiffs’ attorneys means that multidistrict opioid epidemic litigation set to kick off in Ohio federal court today will not...more
Welcome to the second 2019 issue of Product Lines – our quarterly e-newsletter that focuses on toxic torts and products liability issues. For this edition, we are reporting on several important and timely legal issues. As...more
Colleagues and clients frequently pose the question whether after more than forty years the asbestos litigation juggernaut has finally neared its inevitable conclusion. The United States Supreme Court’s recent decision in...more
On March 19, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court in Air & Liquid Systems Corp. v. Devries held that, under maritime law, a product manufacturer has a duty to warn of asbestos or other hazardous parts when its own product, although...more