Punitive Damages Award Not Remitted In First MDL Pelvic Mesh Trial
Posted on Feb 1, 2015 in Product Liability | Comments Off on Punitive Damages Award Not Remitted In First MDL Pelvic Mesh Trial
In the first jury trial within the seven MDLs related to surgical mesh products to treat pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence assigned to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, a jury awarded a plaintiff $250,000 in compensatory damages and $1.75 million in punitive damages. The defendant drug manufacturer moved the court to remit the...
Plaintiffs’ Product Liability Expert Opinions Scrutinized By Federal Courts
Posted on Jan 9, 2015 in Investigations, Product Liability, Transportation | Comments Off on Plaintiffs’ Product Liability Expert Opinions Scrutinized By Federal Courts
Yesterday, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee and the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska issued opinions addressing challenges to proffered plaintiffs’ expert testimony in product liability cases. In the Nebraska case, which involved injuries sustained from a fall off a ladder, the court excluded the plaintiff’s expert opinion that...
California Federal Court Prevents Product Liability Plaintiff From Changing Case Theory On Eve Of Trial
Posted on Jan 7, 2015 in Investigations, Product Liability | Comments Off on California Federal Court Prevents Product Liability Plaintiff From Changing Case Theory On Eve Of Trial
While installing an industrial switchboard, a California worker sustained serious injuries and brought suit against the switchboard manufacturer alleging defective design. Under California law, a tort claim for strict liability based on design defect can proceed under two theories: the risk-benefit test, which asks whether the benefits of the challenged design outweigh the risk of...
Speculation Of Future Property Damage From Pipeline Leaks Not Enough For Missouri Plaintiffs
Posted on Jan 6, 2015 in Energy/Environmental, Product Liability | Comments Off on Speculation Of Future Property Damage From Pipeline Leaks Not Enough For Missouri Plaintiffs
A group of Missouri plaintiffs brought a putative class action seeking recovery for alleged property damages incurred as a result of several defendants’ ownership, maintenance, and control of a pipeline. The pipeline carried petroleum from 1952 to 1990. In 1994, the pipeline was sold to another company. As part of the sale, a document prepared by the selling company was...
“Any Exposure” Asbestos Theory Rejected By Illinois Federal Court
Posted on Jan 4, 2015 in Energy/Environmental, Investigations, Product Liability | Comments Off on “Any Exposure” Asbestos Theory Rejected By Illinois Federal Court
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois will exclude the opinions of two proffered experts who were going to testify to the “Any Exposure” theory of asbestos exposure in a personal injury case. That theory posits that any exposure to asbestos fibers at all constitutes an underlying cause of injury to the individual exposed. In excluding the...
Mother’s Case Challenging Son’s Settlement Following Workplace Injury Not Barred By Res Judicata
Posted on Jan 3, 2015 in Energy/Environmental, Product Liability, Workplace Safety | Comments Off on Mother’s Case Challenging Son’s Settlement Following Workplace Injury Not Barred By Res Judicata
In a case evaluating whether a seaman’s second personal injury suit against a barge owner was precluded on the grounds of res judicata, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana held that the suit was not precluded where the plaintiff in the second suit attacked the validity of the settlement in the first suit. The court explained that such attacks create an issue...
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