We have always puzzled over why pre-service removals are the least bit controversial. We are referring to what are known as “snap removals,” or removals to federal court before any forum defendant has been served. They are one way to comply with the removal statute’s forum defendant rule. It’s pretty simple: Even when you have
This Is The Correct Standard For Judging Predominance In Class Actions
The Third Circuit issued a gem of an opinion on class certification last month, and we like it because it puts a laser focus on what a plaintiff has to prove to get a class certified and the district court’s duty to examine and resolve disputes at the class certification stage. In In re Lamictal
California Lotion Class Action Slides into Federal Preemption
Are moisturizing lotions cosmetics or drugs? They say on TV that lotions “lift and moisturize,” but does that move them into the “Drug” column of the “Food Drug and Cosmetic” ledger? We will hazard a guess that lotions are usually cosmetics, but what if the manufacturer adds an SPF factor? We would then say that
Gadolinium Plaintiff Runs Into Preemption Wall in Louisiana
The recent spate of gadolinium cases brought by patients with normal kidney function are looking like fertile ground for federal preemption, and we are not saying that just because we like the results. Our point is that if you had to come up with an example of a case where federal law ought to preempt
The Sun Shines on Heightened Pleading Standards in Arizona
We don’t write a lot about our neighboring state of Arizona, but a recent hip replacement case in the District of Arizona caught our eye. We lived in Arizona for a year back in the mid-1990s, and it is a genuinely interesting and underestimated place. The 2010 census results have Phoenix as the sixth largest
No Physician Testimony, No Causation in Georgia and Delaware
This is a quick-hit post bringing you two first-of-their-kind orders on proving causation in cases alleging inadequate drug or medical device warnings. In orders applying Georgia’s and Delaware’s versions of the learned intermediary doctrine, two different federal courts have held that a plaintiff alleging inadequate warnings cannot meet his or her burden of proving causation
General Causation Experts Excluded In Viagra/Cialis MDL
The Ninth Circuit has not been great for us on Daubert. I suppose it is more accurate to say that the Ninth Circuit has not been great for those who oppose the introduction of unreliable scientific expert opinions. But that is usually us, the defendants resisting plaintiffs’ efforts to get to juries with scientific
Another Good Pradaxa Preemption Ruling—This One In California
We were going back through some old cases the other day and came across a gem from our hometown court right here in in San Francisco. It caught our eye because it deals with an angle of federal preemption on which we have written before and which we think is underappreciated, so we’re going to
Tolling Agreement’s Clear Language Saves The Day
We don’t often write about statutes of limitations because the cases tend to be fact bound and not all that illuminating on larger points of law and/or practice. However, a case in California struck a chord with us recently because it highlights a point that we think every litigator should understand: Tolling agreements should not
Sweet And Low In Chicago
Today is Friday, December 20, 2019, the last day on which many of our readers will be in the office before settling their brains for a long winter’s nap. We wish you all the very best, and our holiday gift to you today is a case about candy. Not just any candy. Today we bring