Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 105: Listen and Learn -- Public and Private Nuisance
Earlier this month, the Law Court weighed in on a hot-button legal issue—the potential liability of opioid manufacturers for the costs of the drug epidemic. In Eastern Maine Medical Center v. Walgreen Company, the Law Court...more
Los Angeles County Counsel Dawyn Harrison sued PepsiCo and Coca-Cola on October 30, 2024, alleging responsibility for the impacts of plastic packaging littered in Los Angeles County. The next day, a New York State judge...more
Tennessee AG Jonathan Skrmetti is suing more than 20 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) manufacturers, including 3M and DuPont, seeking injunctive and monetary relief under the state’s public nuisance and uniform...more
In what has been earmarked as the largest government enforcement PFAS action to date, California’s attorney general last month filed an historic lawsuit against more than a dozen per-and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS)...more
Around the country, creative plaintiffs' lawyers have been repackaging product liability claims as public nuisance claims to avoid dismissal. Plaintiffs have used this maneuver to attempt an end-run on important product...more
In August 2018, the Province of British Columbia (Province) commenced a class action on behalf of itself and other provincial and federal governments against approximately 50 pharmaceutical manufacturers, wholesalers, and...more
The past year saw several attempts to apply new applications of the public nuisance doctrine to the opioid crisis. While in the past, public nuisance claims typically sought recovery for damages in connection with land use in...more
On November 9, 2021, the Oklahoma Supreme Court set aside a $465 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson (J&J) in State ex rel. Hunter v. Johnson & Johnson, 2021 OK 54. In 2017, the State of Oklahoma sued three opioid...more
Welcome to the fall edition of the Class Action & MDL Roundup, covering significant decisions and settlements from the third quarter of 2020. In this edition, cosmetics get reused, garbage stinks to high heaven (at least...more
In the final week of March 2019, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) took two unusually broad actions regarding contamination caused by poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). On March 25, 2019,...more
A California appeals court has breathed new life into the public nuisance doctrine, largely affirming a more than $1 billion trial court judgment against certain manufacturers of lead paint on the grounds that they knowingly...more
Last year, we told you about a lawsuit brought by three California cities against Monsanto Company, alleging that Monsanto is liable for PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) contamination in San Francisco Bay. The cities—San Jose,...more
Last week, a federal court dismissed claims brought by three California cities against Monsanto that were aimed at forcing Monsanto to pay for polychlorinated biphenyl (“PCB”) contamination in San Francisco Bay. The...more