We are careful when discussing discovery sanctions, particularly spoliation, for a simple reason. The companies we represent that make medical products tend to have allegations about failing to produce discoverable information in the course of the litigation against them. Indeed, there is a style of litigating against drug and device companies, and other corporate defendants,
Delaware Court Weighs In On Texas Law And Dismissal Ensues
Delaware is having something of a moment in the sun. Although the state’s license plates have long announced it as “The First State,” that refers to being the first to ratify the U.S. Constitution. It is the second smallest in size and sixth smallest in population of the current fifty states. The casual peruser of
A Mixed R&R From The Abilify MDL
Outside of the law, if you hear “R&R,” you might think of “rest and relaxation” or the original military term “rest and recuperation.” For many of us, the last year has had plenty of rest, but maybe not much true relaxation or recuperation. As in-person trials are set and the world inches toward a “return
Vermont Learned Intermediary Law Prediction And Quirky Application In Pelvic Mesh Remand Case
In addition to having Green Mountains, maple syrup, lake houses, an ice cream company run by summer camp buddies, a mitten wearing Senator, and a history of low COVID rates, Vermont has a history of being a legal outlier. Some of its positions might be considered progressive or regressive. The legislation discussed here is a
Generic Drug Claims Chopped Up With Great Efficiency
It is starting to feel like spring. For those with a poetic or philosophical bent, spring may bring thoughts of renewal and the cyclical rhythms of the planet, among other things. For those interested in more practical things, perhaps the need to do a spring cleaning or plan for some plantings outside. Clutter does have
Eighth Circuit Affirms Refusal To Create A Contraceptive Exception To Nebraska’s Learned Intermediary Doctrine
Given the events of the last eleven months or so, we give ourselves and other legal commentators a preemptive pass for the following situation: you read a case, you think about how you would describe it, and you see that you have described similar cases in a similar way more than once. This could be
Pleading Preemption As A Defense In A Privacy Class Action
Critics have been known to accuse us of being too hard on product liability plaintiffs and too forgiving of defendants who develop medical products. We all have our biases, especially after many collective decades of representing the latter group, but we do think the table is often tilted in favor of the former group. One
Design Claims Fail Under Consumer Expectations Test With An Adequate Warning
Plaintiffs tend to assert a bunch of different claims. For prescription medical device cases, setting aside preemption, our experience is that plaintiffs do best—that is, avoid summary judgment and directed verdict—with design defect (strict liability or negligence) claims. One reason for that is that it tends not to be hard to make up some theory,
A New Year And An Old Issue: Warnings Claims Based On A Known Acceptable Risk Fail
In very general terms, posts on specific court opinions fall into three categories: 1) ones we think are correct, 2) ones we think are incorrect, and 3) ones we think are mixed bags. Not terribly profound. Digging a bit deeper, we sometimes pick cases to discuss because we feel the need to vent about the
Foreseeing Risks With Off-Label Use
A long time ago in a law school relatively far away, we took torts as a first year law student. Many of the cases about which we learned (or were supposed to have learned) were from even longer ago and we had no idea how much some of those old cases would inform our practice.