Articles

In a split decision that bodes ill for manufacturers of safety devices, the Washington Supreme Court ruled today that a cancer-stricken shipyard worker whose job was to clean respirators contaminated with asbestos could sue the respirator manufacturers for failing to warn him about the dangers of such exposure.  The case, Macias v. Saberhagen Hol ...

Today PLF filed an amicus brief in Tincher v. Omega arguing that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court should determine whether manufacturers are liable for injuries caused by defectively designed products under a negligence standard.  Pennsylvania is notorious for litigation abuse—although thanks to a strong push for tort reform in that state, this y ...

Tapping their seemingly endless supply of ingenuity, plaintiffs' lawyers have come up with a new legal theory for reaching deep pockets, and just the name would send chills up the spine of Steve Jobs, Henry Ford, or Jonas Salk.  Under the theory of "innovator liability," manufacturers of brand-name drugs can be held liable for injuries caused by t ...

60 minutes has a fascinating piece that illustrates many of the problems with the civil justice system today.  After the Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010, BP entered into a settlement agreement in which it agreed to pay businesses for losses to that arose following the oil spill.  But plaintiffs' attorneys interpreted that clause to mean that busi ...