Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 316: Spotlight on Torts (Part 1 – Negligence)
Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 309: Listen and Learn -- Felony Murder and Causation (Criminal Law)
Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 260: Listen and Learn -- Elements of a Crime
Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 247: Listen and Learn -- Negligence: Factual Causation
Law School Toolbox Podcast Episode 382: Listen and Learn -- Negligence: Proximate Cause
Second Circuit Decision Potentially Broadens RICO Proximate Cause Element - RICO Report Podcast
Redefining Personal Jurisdiction: SCOTUS rules on the Ford Cases [More with McGlinchey Ep. 19]
Personal Jurisdiction Part 3 – Oral Arguments in the Ford Cases [More with McGlinchey Ep. 12]
K&L Gates Triage: Emergency Preparedness and Response in Long Term Care - Part II
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Newport News Division - In the case of Pecos River Talc LLC v. Emory, plaintiff Pecos River Talc LLC (“Pecos River”) – a corporate entity formed as part of...more
Monsanto has recently settled with families who claimed they were exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at a school near Seattle, ending what had become one of the most closely watched toxic tort cases in recent memory....more
Jurisdiction: United States District Court for the Southern District of New York - Plaintiff Scott Keller alleged that he was exposed to asbestos during his employment on ExxonMobil Oil Company vessels and that he developed...more
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
Amidst mounting per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) regulation and litigation, the Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) judge overseeing the federal litigation related to firefighting foam has scheduled a “Science Day.”...more
Recently, the New Jersey Appellate Division, in Dorrell v. Woodruff Energy, Inc., vacated a 2018 judgment against Chevron U.S.A., Inc. (“Chevron”) that had found Chevron liable for gasoline contamination. More specifically,...more
Borough of Hollidaysburg v. Paul Detwiler (WCAB); No. 739 C.D. 2023; Filed November 19, 2024; Judge Wolf - The claimant was a firefighter who developed chronic myeloid leukemia that was diagnosed in 2014. He learned his...more
Perhaps one of the most quintessential concerns for corporate defendants in the last decade is that of nuclear verdicts. In just a decade, from 2013 to 2022, there were 115 verdicts of $100 million or more. The Institute for...more
As Nobel laureate Richard Feynman once observed, “[w]isdom is knowing when to ask the right questions.” A related proposition is that wise jurists know how to identify and focus on the right questions. Motion practice can...more
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
An expert witness is not supposed to pick a desired result and then reverse engineer inputs and methods that reach that result. As the Ninth Circuit observed 30 years ago, “[c]oming to a firm conclusion first and then doing...more
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
A breast cancer lawsuit based on trace levels of benzene in aerosol antiperspirant was dismissed with prejudice by a federal judge in Louisiana, because causation was not sufficiently pled. In particular, the plaintiffs...more
The question of whether a particular application of herbicide on one property caused damage on another’s property requires expert testimony. When a plaintiff claims that herbicide drift caused reduced crop yields, it is not...more
On opening an opinion, lawyers habitually roll their eyes when they see a table of contents. Even more so when they learn the opinion is over 300 pages. The MDL order granting defense motions to exclude experts and for...more
Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, are synthetic, broadly used chemicals. Frequently referred to as “forever chemicals,” they have been subjected to rigorous scrutiny by the Environmental Protection...more
The nature of advocacy makes it hard sometimes for lawyers to focus solely on the outcome and the bottom line result. How a court gets there may not matter much to the prevailing party in the dispute as they celebrate the...more
Last year, Harris Beach wrote about a federal magistrate judge’s report and recommendation to deny Defendants’ motions for summary judgment in a toxic tort suit arising from occupational exposure to ortho-toluidine...more
Recently, a jury in San Francisco was asked to determine whether “Roundup,” the world’s most popular and widely used herbicide, causes cancer - a question debated in hundreds of studies by oncologists, clinicians, chemists...more
The Pennsylvania Superior Court recently issued an opinion in Walsh v. BASF Corp. addressing the gatekeeper role of the trial judge when reviewing and ruling on the admissibility of expert causation opinions. The PA Superior...more
Illustrating the importance of expert testimony in toxic torts, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit recently dismissed a plaintiff’s appeal after finding that the plaintiff’s expert witness (1) provided a...more
Welcome to California! California is a great place to live and work, and we are fortunate to call it home. But there is no sugarcoating the fact that California presents unique and daunting challenges to product...more
Underscoring the importance of sound science in expert opinions, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit upheld the exclusion of expert testimony that did not adequately draw or extrapolate from reliable...more
Issuing an opinion that could lower the bar for proving toxic tort causation, the Michigan Court of Appeals held that direct expert testimony may not be necessary to prove causation in a toxic tort case and that a plaintiff...more