We were in western Tennessee last week for an argument. We stayed at a beautiful and venerable hotel, most famous for twice-daily “march of the ducks.” Every morning, at 11 a.m. sharp (at least 30 minutes after guests have packed the lobby), an elevator door opens, and a uniformed “duck master” leads a perfect procession
Passive “Gatekeeping” in Biomet Hip Implant Daubert Decision
A couple of years ago, we were overjoyed to learn that our very favorite old-fashioned Broadway musical was being revived. The lead role – a famously brassy female character – was being played by a famously brassy singer and sometime-actress we believed was perfectly cast. We bought tickets the day they went on sale, and
Excellent Infuse Preemption Decision out of Eastern District of Michigan
On our office bulletin board, we keep a post-it listing the states we have not yet visited. We are down to ten, and we expected to cross Oregon off after a deposition last week. But our deponent moved from Bend, Oregon to St. George, Utah. We’ve been to Utah lots of times, and were annoyed
One Step Back: Mixed Personal Jurisdiction Result in Actos Case in EDPa.
Allow us to wax nostalgic for a moment. Decades ago, an improbable series of events led us to Nashville, where we lived for several years, blissfully holding adulthood (and college) at bay and basking in all that the resident music industry provided. Last week, we had a perfectly joyous reunion with the dearest of friends
Most Claims Dismissed with Prejudice in N.D. Cal. Amiodarone Case
Indulge us for a moment as we recount another airline adventure. Recently, we traveled thousands of miles to an important argument. Our first flight boarded right on time, left the gate right on time, and taxied down the runway . . . partway. Then stopped. Enter the inevitable announcement: “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re very sorry,
The Other Shoe Drops: Summary Judgment for Bayer in Mirena IIH MDL
Late last year, we published two posts (here and here) about the gutsy and laudable Daubert decision in the Mirena IIH (idiopathic intracranial hypertension) MDL, in which Judge Paul Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York excluded all seven of the plaintiffs’ general causation experts. At that point, we assumed that it
Zostavax MDL Judge Dismisses 173 Cases and Scolds Plaintiffs’ Lawyers.
As a young associate, we worked for a short time with then soon-to-be-Judge Harvey Bartle. We remember that, although kind and very funny, then-lawyer Bartle had a no-nonsense approach to law practice and a keen ability to discern the correct answer, sweeping aside fluff and obstacles en route to what made sense. We were excited
It’s “Hip” to Be Timely: Plaintiff’s Hip Implant Claims Barred by Texas’s Fifteen-Year Statute of Repose
We just saw a commercial with the tag line, “Life is messy. Clean it up.” It’s true – life is messy, sometimes gloriously so. Rules get broken, scripts get torn up, best-laid plans are tossed aside by the winds of fortune. That’s why we like statutes of repose. They are bulwarks in a system in
That’s The Way We Like It: Stroke Warnings Claims Preempted in Yaz Case Out of Eastern District of Tennessee
We just returned from our annual “girl trip” to a lovely spa in the mountains of Pennsylvania. And we stared our decrepitude full in the face. For the first time, we set off enthusiastically on a bike ride (cool “fat tire” bikes we’d never seen before) and found ourselves falling behind on hills and struggling
Eleventh Circuit Holds Off-Label Marketing Claim Preempted under Buckman, Even When Disguised as “Negligent Marketing” Claim
First of all, in response to some comments on our last post, we wanted to close the loop on our dog show narrative. We liked the Wirehaired Fox Terrier, though we have no explanation for the inordinate number of times this breed has won Best in Show (twenty-two, we think we heard). Truth be told,