Mass Torts vs. Class Actions: A Tale of Two Strategies
Tips and Strategies for Successful Mass Tort Management
NGE On Demand: Insurance Issues in Bankruptcy with Jason Frye
IP|Trend: Discovering Source Code
In a landmark 5-4 decision in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma that will significantly reshape corporate bankruptcy practice, the U.S. Supreme Court resolved a circuit split regarding the authority of a bankruptcy court to approve...more
Fourth Circuit Holds That Class Action Waiver Issue Must Be Decided Before Certification and Questions Narrow Issue Classes - In In re Marriott International, Inc., 78 F.4th 677 (4th Cir. 2023), a panel of the U.S. Court...more
Post-TransUnion, A Closer Examination of Threshold for Article III Standing- Class action trials are rare. The potential magnitude of an adverse verdict, even when improbable, makes the risks of trial unpalatable for...more
Now that the United States Supreme Court has agreed to expeditiously hear the U.S. Trustee’s appeal of the plan confirmation and settlement in Purdue Pharma, lawyers following the LTL Management LLC bankruptcy case, version...more
The decision to grant or deny class certification is usually the most pivotal aspect of a putative class action. A denial of class certification frequently disposes of the case altogether, while a grant often leads to...more
Federal Appeals Court Dismisses Challenge to Interim PFAS Guidance, Leaving Important Questions Unresolved - A federal appeals court dismissed a challenge to EPA's interim guidance for PFAS levels in drinking water,...more
In a decision that may provide much-needed boundaries around the permissibility of debtors created from “out-of-the-box” prepetition corporate transactions, on January 30, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the...more
On December 16, 2021, Judge McMahon of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (District Court) issued her decision in In re: Purdue Pharma LP, overturning the bankruptcy judge’s confirmation of...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
Recently, a Mississippi federal judge provided a heartening reminder that, while it may seem all too often ignored, fraud in the mass tort context can carry serious—indeed, criminal—consequences. As we discuss below, victims...more
Opioid litigation is a hot topic in the U.S. legal community. In response to the country’s opioid crisis, several states, individuals, and other local governments have filed lawsuits against various prescription opioid...more
A New Jersey District Court recently addressed several issues in connection with the appointment of a future claims representative (“FCR”). In light of the recent increase in mass-tort bankruptcy cases, exploring these issues...more
Third-party litigation funding has received increased scrutiny over the past several years, particularly in the context of mass torts, class actions, and multidistrict litigation. Most of this scrutiny has focused on...more
On December 6, 2018, in an unreported decision, Maryland’s Court of Special Appeals permitted plaintiffs in product liability litigation in Baltimore City Circuit Court to obtain broad discovery into joint defense agreements,...more
In the wake of asbestos bankruptcies brought on by mass tort liabilities, reorganization plan structures, like that in Johns-Mansville, often funneled asbestos-related claims into a settlement trust, while a “channeling...more
A defendant in a talc jury trial intends on appealing a recent verdict reached in a Missouri case involving twenty-two plaintiffs who claimed that the defendant’s talcum powder contained asbestos and that they developed...more