We have long thought that “direct filing” procedures in multidistrict litigation were a solution in search of a problem. We also think direct filing procedures in MDLs pose significant waiver risks without a corresponding upside. Alas, our inclinations were confirmed recently when the Seventh Circuit ruled that a mass tort defendant’s acquiescence to complaints filed
“Location, location, location” isn’t a mantra only for real estate agents. Location also matters to lawyers. In Axline v. 3M Co., 2021 WL 3411822 (8th Cir. Aug. 5, 2021), whether the Bair Hugger product liability case could go forward turned on the choice of law between Minnesota and Ohio. The Eighth Circuit affirmed the
Bexis has just returned from a week’s vacation in Acadia National Park in Maine. After being rained out for a couple of days due to a stray hurricane, he climbed four mountains in three days – the Precipice Trail up Mt. Champlain; the West Face Cadillac Mountain trail up that mountain, and the Jordan Cliffs/Deer
In Knapp v. Zoetis Inc., 2021 U.S. Dist. Lexis 63783 (E.D. Va. March 31, 2021), the plaintiff alleged that administration of an equine antibiotic caused his horse, Boomer, to experience “persistent lameness” and permanent damage to the “musculature in his neck.” Boomer was not okay. His condition was far from stable.
The plaintiff claimed
It may be tempting to dismiss as boilerplate the “choice of law” discussion that precedes the “standard of review” in a typical brief. But while choice of law may not always be challenging or pivotal, just as often it is both. Today’s case, Peterson v. C.R. Bard Incorporated, 2021 WL 799305 (D. Or. Mar.
Procedural considerations often decide cases. Sometimes, weighty legal issues are reached through quirky procedural routes. When it comes to whether state tort law provides medical monitoring as a remedy for people who do not have a present compensable injury, that is a legal (and policy) issue. We have written many times that we think foundational
Every now and then something happens that’s unique. It’s hardly unique for defense counsel to send us a case, with his/her client’s consent and invite us to blog about it – but only once in twelve years has that happened where the result was a loss. That decision was Mantgem v. Spinal Kinetics, No.
It’s pretty easy to find well-known references to home. Home is where the heart is. Home Sweet Home. Homeward Bound. Lassie Come Home. ET phone home. Home is meant to strike up feelings of warmth, safety, happiness. No wonder it’s all over our songs, movies, and television. And, perhaps at no time more so then
We’d like the answer to that question to be – most of the time. But that’s too much to hope for. After all, lawsuits are brought in California. With its plaintiff-friendly laws, indeed, California is an often sought after venue by mass tort products liability plaintiffs. But, according to a recent California appellate court
This post is from the Reed Smith side of the blog only.
Yesterday was National Punctuation Day; it is a good time to administer a semi-colonic to turgid prose. Today we apply an exclamation mark to our unhappiness with judges whose choice of law principles seem not so, er, principled.
Last Thursday, Bexis commented on