As if our reputation as curmudgeonly and heartless defense lawyers needed burnishing, our post today gripes about how the Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of two related cases brought by a decedent’s estate. This griping arguably ignores the sage advice we have received from a few trial judges to sit down and stop arguing after
Last month Bexis filed his 134th, and probably last, amicus brief in the Pennsylvania Superior Court in a non-drug/device product liability case involving firearms. Now edging into semi-retirement, Bexis is no longer in the business of drafting documents with footnotes. Bexis final won/loss total is:
Wins – 65 Losses – 38 Other
Last week we reviewed our 2020-25 Best and Worst lists to see if any patterns emerged in terms of the federal circuits. Our tentative conclusions were that the Fifth Circuit is pretty defense-friendly and that the Third Circuit is pretty active, both good and bad.
This week we surveyed state court cases from the
Above the Law used to be a forum largely dedicated to law firm associates bemoaning their treatment at their “TTT” (third-tier toilet). But now the Above-the-Law substack does a splendid job of covering law industry topics. David Lat is a knowledgeable and fair-minded commentator. He is smart. He did, after all, work at Wachtell. He
No, not that case. The appeal of the FIFRA preemption rulings in glyphosate litigation is still pending. This decision is Hencely v. Fluor Corp., No. 24-924, 2026 U.S. Lexis 1868 (U.S. Apr. 22, 2026), which involves the preemption of negligence claims against a military contractor in connection with a terrorist attack on the Bagram
In a pair of decisions, Express Scripts, Inc. v. Anne Arundel County, ___ A.3d ___, 2026 WL 797872 (Md. March 23, 2026), an opioid case, and Mayor & City Council of Baltimore v. B.P. P.L.C., ___ A.3d ___, 2026 WL 809501 (Md. March 24, 2025), a climate change case, the Supreme Court of
In truth, this post is not so much a review as a full-throated endorsement. We are telling colleagues that they need to read Elizabeth Chamblee Burch’s The Pain Brokers (One Signal Publishers 2026). Two things drive our enthusiasm for this book: cynicism and pride.
First, let’s indulge our cynicism. The Drug and Device Law
Last month we were one of the first on the web with a review of the new Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence, Fourth Edition. Since it was nearly 1700 pages long – literally longer than “War & Peace” – we did only the most cursory of analyses, describing differences in topics and authors
Today we have a guest post on some recent developments on whether strict liability applies to software, apps, artificial intelligence, and other forms of electronic data, which depends, as this 50-state survey addresses, on whether such intangible items meet the common-law definition of “product.” It is by Reed Smith attorneys (and repeat guest posters) Mildred
Cordero v. Olson Assocs. P.C., 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91994, 2025 WL1383217 (D. Utah May 13, 2025), is just another FDCA case. Except it is not the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act that is in controversy, but, rather, the Fair Debt Collection Act. The plaintiff sued several defendants, including law firms, for allegedly unlawful debt