People have long been fascinated by robots. Way before the term was coined in a 1920 play or Isaac Asimov popularized it, there were stories about machines that acted like living things. The droids of Star Wars universe are famed for the likeability and pluck. However, there is still the specter that some of those
It’s a short work week, and we’ve got a short case for today’s discussion. Ebrahami v. Mentor Worldwide LLC, 2020 WL 2510760 (9th Cir. May 12, 2020), eats up only one page when we set our printer to double-sided (which we always do now, since the pandemic work-at-home routine gobbles up paper and ink
This post is solely by the non-Reed Smith side of the Blog.
There are lots of great pairings. Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute. Rum and coke. Chocolate and peanut butter. Chocolate and pretzels. Chocolate and strawberries. Chocolate and wine. We
If you have read more than a few posts on this Blog, then there is a good chance that you realize we have strong views on preemption. You might have also picked up that we think the way an issue is analyzed, not just the ruling after the analysis, matters. We have talked about the
More than ten years since the Supreme Court wrote Twombly and Iqbal, the power of those two decisions remains strong enough to roll over almost any claims that dare to show up without supporting facts. The plaintiff in Shapiro v. NuVasive, Inc., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 191373, at *4-5 (S.D. Fla. Nov. 5,
A couple of weeks ago we compared New Jersey litigation with New Jersey food and decided we liked the food better. No aspersions were intended. After all, we grew up in New Jersey and still worship at the altars of Seton Hall Prep, Bruce Springsteen, and the New York football Giants. Anyway, we might need
In a significant PMA preemption win, the Ninth Circuit rejected a plaintiff’s attempt, in a breast implant case, to base a “parallel” violation claim on nothing more than a res ipsa loquitur inference. Weber v. Allergan, Inc., ___ F.3d ___, 2019 WL 5090757 (9th Cir. Oct. 11, 2019). Weber involved a Class III breast
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
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
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