We often say, as we said last week, that this blog is not designed to do plaintiffs’ work for them. Thus, we are a heckuva lot more likely to trumpet pro-defense rulings than wrong ones. Still, it is important to know the problem areas out there, and today’s case displays one of them. It
Search results for: personal jurisdiction
A New Talc Personal Jurisdiction Mess
As consumers, and connoisseurs, of personal jurisdiction precedent, we write today to consider the latest jurisdictional mess that has arisen, this time in talc litigation. Two courts, deciding the same jurisdictional issue on the same set of facts in the same week, have reached diametrically opposed decisions. The current contretemps concerns “Shimmer” – a minor…
No Innovator Liability, No Personal Jurisdiction Either in Idaho
We have an update today on a case from Idaho on which we blogged late last year. The issue then was innovator liability, and we gave our enthusiastic stamp of approval to the court’s rejection of “product liability” where the innovator manufacturer neither made nor sold the product that allegedly harmed the plaintiff. As the…
Personal Jurisdiction Win in Pennsylvania
Earlier this year we posted about the decision on defendant’s motion to dismiss in Crockett v. Luitpold Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 2020 WL 433367 (E.D. Pa. Jan. 28, 2020). We called it a “patchwork” decision, meaning we generally liked it but it wasn’t a seamless defense victory. Well, the court ruled on another defense motion just this…
Innovator Liability and Personal Jurisdiction – From Theory to Reality
Sometimes the DDL blog is ahead of the curve. On more than one occasion we’ve advanced the idea that lack of personal jurisdiction should be a good defense to innovator liability in a post-BMS world. After all, BMS held that there was no specific jurisdiction over a plaintiff’s claim just because the defendant allegedly…
The Next Personal Jurisdiction Issue for the Supreme Court
We’ve blogged several times before how the logic of the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court, 137 S. Ct. 1773 (2017), dooms nationwide class actions against corporations – except in jurisdictions where they are “at home.” BMS held, essentially, that a non-resident plaintiff could not sue a non-resident…
D.Utah Rejects Personal Jurisdiction over Parent Company; Trims Claims Against Subsidiary
Don’t stop us if you’ve heard this before, because you have. A plaintiff brings an lawsuit over injuries allegedly from a medical device, sues not only the company that made and marketed the device but also a parent company that did not make or market the device, said parent moves for dismissal for want…
Breaking News – Supreme Court Personal Jurisdiction Certiorari Grants
Today the Supreme Court agreed to take another shot at “stream of commerce” personal jurisdiction in two automotive cases. Here are the case pages at SCOTUSBlog: Ford Motor Co. v. Bandemer, No. 19-369, and Ford Motor Co. v. Montana Eighth Judicial District Court, No. 19-368. The decisions being appealed are Bandemer …
District of Nevada Dismisses Gadolinium Claim, Albeit Without Prejudice, on Personal Jurisdiction and Preemption Grounds
One slushy morning this week, we found ourselves searching for our favorite black duck boots. We found one and put in on, then, after much rummaging in the dark recesses of our closet, found a second. At this point, we were on the edge of missing our train, so we put on the second shoe…
What is Past is Prologue for Personal Jurisdiction (or maybe it’s Not?)
The actual words written by Shakespeare and spoken by Antonio in The Tempest are “Whereof what’s past is prologue.” Antonio is trying to convince Sebastian to murder his father the king and take the crown for himself. When Shakespeare wrote these words, he intended Antonio to convey to Sebastian that everything that had happened in…