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Treble Economic Damages Now Available Under RICO Act in Personal Injury Cases

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) was principally intended as a mechanism to combat organized crime. However, RICO’s scope is significantly broader than its anti-crime origin. The statute also...more

Plaintiffs Cannot Defeat Federal Removal Jurisdiction by Artful Pleading

The allegations of a plaintiff’s complaint do not control when evaluating removal under the federal officer removal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1442(a)(1), and instead the court must credit the defendant’s theory of the case when...more

National Mass Torts: 2024 Year in Review

Harris Beach Murtha attorneys Abbie Fuchs, Dan Strecker, and Alessandra Ash review and analyze key judicial holdings and legal developments in federal court and tort hot spots across the country that have affected the...more

NY Court of Appeals Addresses Labor Law § 200 “Means and Methods” Cases

For participants in New York’s construction industry, the distinction between possession of supervisory authority, on the one hand, and the exercise of that authority, on the other, may have significant implications for their...more

Defending Benzoyl Peroxide Acne Product/Benzene Litigation

This year, a laboratory issued a report wherein it claims to have tested over-the-counter and prescription acne products containing benzoyl peroxide and found what it deemed to be “unacceptably high” levels of benzene. In...more

AFFF MDL Bellwether Process Extended to Claims for Thyroid and Liver Cancer Caused by PFAS

The court in the aqueous film-forming foams (“AFFF”) multidistrict litigation recently established a bellwether process to address personal injury claims alleging that polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in AFFF caused thyroid...more

Petition Highlights Problem of Third-Party Litigation Funding

Litigation is expensive. Litigants may turn to third-party funding for support. Such litigation financing can raise ethical concerns and has been criticized for exploiting litigants (personal injury plaintiffs in particular)...more

EPA Proposes Rules for Regulating PFAS under RCRA

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently released two proposed regulations that would classify nine per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as “hazardous constituents” and expand oversight of waste facilities to...more

National Mass Torts: 2023 Year in Review

Sixth Circuit Rejects Overly Ambitious PFAS Class Action - Hardwick v. 3M Co. (In re E.I. du Pont de Nemours), No. 22-3765, 87 F.4th 315 (6th Cir. Nov. 27, 2023) - The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit...more

Defendants Can Leverage IARC Statement on Two PFAS Compounds, PFOA AND PFOS

PFAS defendants can use the International Agency for Research on Cancer’s (IARC’s) recent statement on the carcinogenicity of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) in support of causation and...more

Results in Toxic Exposure/Product Liability Trials Continue Trend of Irrational "Nuclear" Verdicts

“Nuclear” verdicts are awards that are exceptionally high, eclipsing what would be a rational, reasonable, or expected amount based on the evidence. Three recent jury verdicts awarding unreasonably large compensatory and...more

Defense Verdict in Alleged $40 million Connecticut Benzene Product Liability Case

After a nine-day trial, a state court jury in Stamford, Connecticut, returned a unanimous defense verdict in a case where the plaintiff alleged exposure to benzene in gasoline caused leukemia. The verdict shows how defendants...more

Sixth Circuit Rejects Overly Ambitious PFAS Class Action

The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit vacated a district court’s order certifying a class of 11.8 million people whose blood is allegedly contaminated with PFAS/PFOA and directed the lower court to dismiss...more

Hair Relaxer MDL Proceeds Despite Limited Support

Plaintiffs’ claims in the hair relaxer multi-district litigation (“MDL”) will move forward, according to a decision by the Northern District of Illinois. The decision exemplifies the liberalities sometimes permitted under...more

Illinois Legislation Expands Access to Punitive Damages and Expedited Trials

Recently passed Illinois House Bill 219 and Illinois Senate Bill 1748 expand access to punitive damages and expedited trials, respectively. Illinois House Bill 219 allows for the recovery of punitive damages in all wrongful...more

California Holds Employers Have No Duty to Protect Employees’ Households from COVID-19

The California Supreme Court has answered in the negative the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ certified question regarding “take-home” COVID-19 exposure (see Federal Appeals Court Asks California If Covid-19 “Take Home” Suits...more

Proposed FRCP 16.1 Provides a Framework for Initial Management of MDL Proceedings

Use of multi-district-litigation (“MDLs”) to jointly manage discovery in toxic tort and product liability suits involving the same subject matter but filed in disparate jurisdictions is ever increasing. At present there are...more

NY Governor Vetoes Grieving Families Act and other Amendments to Expand New York’s Wrongful Death Cause of Action

As of January 30, 2023, Governor Hochul vetoed the New York State Grieving Families Act, which would have overturned century-old law that bars plaintiffs in wrongful death suits from recovering damages to compensate them for...more

National Mass Torts: 2022 Year in Review

Harris Beach attorneys Abbie Eliasberg Fuchs, Bradley M. Wanner and Daniel R. Strecker review and analyze key judicial holdings and legal developments in New York, the federal arena and across the country that have affected...more

NY Law Permits Claims by Nursing Home Patients’ Representatives and Estates

On August 18, 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law a bill amending Section 2801-d of New York’s Public Health Law to expressly provide the legal representative or estate of a nursing home resident the right to bring a...more

Federal Appeals Court Asks California If Covid-19 "Take Home" Suits Can Proceed

In Corby Kuciemba, et al. v. Victory Woodworks, Inc., the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has asked the California Supreme Court to evaluate if employers have an enforceable legal duty to non-employees for non-employees’...more

California Appellate Court Provides Relief to Defendants by Reining in Misapplication of Punitive Damages

Mass tort defendants frequently defend lawsuits in venues like Los Angeles County, California, which are favored by plaintiff firms due to their plaintiff-favorable law and propensity for large verdicts. In a recent decision...more

California Supreme Court Decision Gives Relief to Defendants Seeking to Prevent their Prior Discovery Depositions from Being used...

When defending litigation in one state, mass tort defendants must consider other jurisdictions’ rules. For example, while some states generally prohibit a plaintiff from using a defendant’s discovery deposition as part of...more

Amendments to Comprehensive Insurance Disclosure Act, CPLR 3101(f), Mitigate Burden to Civil Defendants

At the beginning of 2022, New York state enacted the Comprehensive Insurance Disclosure Act (“CIDA”), imposing significant new burdens on defendants in civil ligation. We outlined the original provisions of the law in an...more

Appellate Decision Permits COVID-19 "Take-Home" Suit to Proceed

A California appeals court permitted a Los Angeles County wrongful death lawsuit for COVID-19 “take-home” liability to proceed. The plaintiff claims that plaintiff’s employer’s negligence resulted in plaintiff’s transmitting...more

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