Working with Chinese Clients
May 01, 2016
The difficulties of litigating against a Chinese defendant often begin at the start of litigation, as compliance with the Hague Service Convention is the exclusive means by which service may be accomplished. The entire process can take a good deal of time.
Law Firms Grapple With Cybersecurity Issues and Regulatory Risks
May 01, 2016
Security is always a concern for law firms, and the risks have only grown in recent years. Increasingly, attorneys, staff and clients have become more mobile and rely on an array of laptops, smartphones and tablets to stay connected 24/7. As more data is created and resides in more places, it becomes more vulnerable.
Lead-Paint Claims in VT and GA
May 01, 2016
Thirty years after its introduction, the absolute pollution exclusion continues to be the subject of vigorous litigation, recently reaching the supreme courts of Vermont and Georgia.
Wearable Fitness Tracking Devices
April 01, 2016
As the use of fitness trackers and other personal monitoring devices becomes more prevalent, an increase in consumer litigation over them is inevitable. Because such devices are still cutting-edge in many respects, the opportunities for unexpected manufacturing and design problems is also high. And because some of the data involved may be highly personal, the risk of privacy breach claims is certainly not zero.
Park Doctrine Prosecutions of Corporate Officers Continue: Stay Alert!
April 01, 2016
Individual corporate officers of pharmaceutical, medical device, food and related companies can be prosecuted for violations of the United States Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) under the Park Doctrine. Such prosecutions "tip off" plaintiffs' attorneys to possible areas of product liability litigation to bring against a company.
Sharing Medical Device Mass Tort Actions
April 01, 2016
A medical device case poses numerous pleading problems. However, before one even reaches the pleading stage, there are major hurdles to consider. The major issue facing the plaintiff's lawyer during client intake is to decide which cases to file immediately and which cases can wait. This depends, of course, on the statute of limitations the lawyer determines will be applicable ' and that is no small task.
The Learned Intermediary Doctrine: Uniformity at Last?
April 01, 2016
State and federal courts have long faced the difficulty of adapting purchaser-focused product liability doctrines to the pharmaceutical and medical device areas, where physicians mediate the interaction between the manufacturer and the ultimate consumer, the patient.The learned intermediary doctrine addresses this dilemma by providing that manufacturers of prescription medicines need warn only physicians of the relevant risks associated with their products.
Mobile Medical Apps and Product Liability
April 01, 2016
As mobile medical apps become central to medical care, litigation is inevitable. A threshold issue in such litigation is likely to be whether or not a mobile app is, in the first instance, subject to FDA regulation.
Predicting the Tides
April 01, 2016
It is a fact pattern common to asbestos-related lawsuits: A plaintiff recalls generally working around different products that may or may not have contained asbestos, but cannot pinpoint specific time periods or locations where those products were present and could have exposed the plaintiff to asbestos. Typically, the alleged exposure occurred three or more decades ago, with no potential corroborating documents or witnesses surviving to the present date. This scenario places defendants in the untenable position of defending a claim without access to any information on the products, or the alleged exposure, that will either confirm or deny that the identified products were both present in the plaintiff's workplace and actually contained asbestos.
