The actual words written by Shakespeare and spoken by Antonio in The Tempest are “Whereof what’s past is prologue.” Antonio is trying to convince Sebastian to murder his father the king and take the crown for himself. When Shakespeare wrote these words, he intended Antonio to convey to Sebastian that everything that had happened in
Consulting an Attorney Triggers Statute of Limitations
A complaint is a plaintiff’s opening argument. It has to contain enough substance to get plaintiff out of the gate. Plaintiff doesn’t have to necessarily prove anything in his complaint, but he has to have factual support to back up what he hopes to prove. Logically, any fact added to a complaint is intended to
Eleventh Circuit Allows Trial by Ambush and Bad Science
We aren’t pulling any punches. We think Taylor v. Mentor Worldwide LLC, — F.3d –, 2019 WL 4941936 (11th Cir. Oct. 8, 2019) is a candidate to be one of this year’s DDL Blog bottom ten cases. Not only was plaintiff’s expert allowed to change his opinion at trial, plaintiff was allowed to
Defendants Bat .400 in Gadolinium Case
The last baseball player to reach a .400 batting average for a season was Ted Williams in 1941. In a sport that probably keeps more stats than any other, baseball sees records broken and milestones reached all the time. Some marks, however, appear to be set in stone. One of these is Ted Williams’s 1941
PMA Preemption Win That Checks All the Boxes
Did you ever read something and think – I couldn’t have said it better myself. Sometimes we read opinions that give us just that feeling. A decision that ticks all of the boxes and leaves us wondering why everybody doesn’t see how easy it is to reach the right conclusion. Brooks v. Mentor Worldwide, LLC
National Advertising Not Enough for General Jurisdiction
You can buy almost anything you want on line – and a whole lot of stuff you didn’t know you wanted until you saw it online. And, if you can think of something you want that you can’t find online, there are DIYers online just waiting to make you whatever it is you’ve dreamed up.
Eleventh Circuit Finds Difference of Opinion Not Enough for an FCA Claim
Today’s case doesn’t involve prescription drugs or medical devices. But it is a circuit court opinion that we thought warranted bringing to the attention of our readers who deal with False Claims Act (“FCA”) claims. We’ve discussed FCA claims as an “awkward vehicle” in pharmaceutical cases here and we hold true to that belief. But,
Court Tosses Cookie Cutter Allegations
One size does not in fact fit all. Cookie cutters are great for ensuring uniformity. The type of uniformity you want on a beautiful dessert tray. Uniform size, shape, and color appeal to the eye. It’s precise. It’s inviting. And while the term “mass tort” may conjure up the image of complaint after complaint stamped
Georgia Court Makes Short Work of PMA Medical Device Case
This post is from the non-Reed Smith side of the blog.
It’s not a long decision – but there’s still a lot to it. Maybe that’s because there wasn’t a lot to plaintiff’s complaint. Regardless, Sharp v. St. Jude Medical, S.C., Inc., 2019 WL 3821895 (N.D.GA Aug. 14, 2019) makes some key defense rulings.
Tenth Circuit Finally Shuts the Door Completely on Cerveny
We’ve been posting about this case since 2016 when the district court first dismissed plaintiff’s failure to warn claim as preempted on the grounds that there was clear evidence the FDA would have rejected the warning plaintiff sought. We celebrated again in 2017 when the Tenth Circuit affirmed that decision. Since then we’ve been