We will not get into the details of why, but we have been thinking recently about the issue of mechanisms for shifting costs and fees. The European “loser pays” rules—into which we will not delve, either—are often cited as one of the reasons why there is so much less product liability and other personal injury
Narrowing The Scope Of Preemption-Related Discovery
Discovery can be very expensive. Defendants really like to win on motions to dismiss in part because they get to avoid the costs of discovery. We can pile on these shockingly obvious statements with two more. From a defense perspective, a narrow scope of discovery tends to be a good thing. If narrow discovery leads
Protecting A Veterinarian’s Speech: A Model For Communications On Off-Label Use?
Way before we were lawyers, we read a good chunk of the writings of James Herriot, the nom de plume of a rural English veterinarian who chronicled his exploits in helping All Creatures Great and Small (the title of a movie and TV series about him). The veneration of his seemingly altruistic and tireless work
Differential Diagnosis At Its Worst In Vaccine Litigation
Recently, when we have spoken of vaccine litigation, it has mostly been about challenges to public health policies requiring vaccination against COVID-19 for healthcare workers, students at public universities, etc. We have been pleased to report that these challenges have been failing without lingering too long at the trial court level, like here, here
Unintended Consequences for Software Liability?
We have been following the issue of potential product liability for software, including in connection with medical devices, for a while. Much of our attention, predictably, has been on FDA regulation of device software, including issues related to resistance to hacking to obtain information or cause harm. Like here, here, here, and
Discovery Rule Does Not Save Plaintiff From Her Lack Of Diligence
We tend not to post much on appellate statute of limitations decisions. There are a few reasons for that. First, they are often very fact-specific, rarely delivering holdings with clear applications to other cases. Second, because they can be fact-specific and plaintiffs are known to plead around defenses, good decisions on motions to dismiss are
Another University Win On A Challenge To A COVID-19 Vaccine Policy
We have tried to be pretty balanced in addressing a number of decisions over the last few months relating to lawsuits brought by the euphemistically labeled “vaccine hesitant” and their brethren who advocate aggressively for entitlement to “alternative” medical treatments like anti-parasitic (veterinary) drugs. We have been restrained in treating these lawsuits as having been
Conclusory Allegations Don’t Cut It In External Pacemaker Case
As we age, we sometimes forget how things used to be. It is not just age-related deterioration of the synapses in our hippocampi. (We do question why hippocampi and hippopotamuses are the preferred plural forms these days and why more anatomic structures are not named for things like seahorses.) There is also a recency effect.
Exclusion of Expert Causation Evidence Sounds Familiar
After eschewing our blogging duties during a very long trial—followed by short deliberations and a verdict for the good guys—we are back at it. Normally, a significant criterion in how we select a case for a post is the length of the decision—the shorter, the better for our normally busy work lives. After trial, there
RICO Claims Whacked In Another Zantac Ruling
It has been a while since we saw a movie in a theater. That is one aspect of the oft-discussed return to normality that appeals to us. When we saw a trailer recently for The Many Saints of Newark, a prequel to old HBO mainstay The Sopranos, it piqued our interest. It even made us