Articles

In 2007, the expectant mother of twins used a generic form of an asthma medication for the off-label purpose of preventing pre-term labor. Novartis innovated, developed and manufactured the brand-name version of the medication, then sold its rights to the product in 2001. The twins were diagnosed with autism in 2012, allegedly tied to the medicatio ...

Last week, in Montemayor v. Sebright Products, Inc., a 4-3 majority of the Minnesota Supreme Court held that any "close" tort case must go to a jury. This case involves a tragic accident that led to the serious bodily injury of Nereus Montemeyer as a result of his employer's misuse of an industrial extruder and its failure to adequately train em ...

Last Thursday, the New York Court of Appeals unanimously relieved a drug-treatment halfway house of liability for a former resident's subsequent assault on his mother's boyfriend. The case, Oddo v. Queens Village Committee for Mental Health for Jamaica Community Adolescent Program (JCAP), arose when Sean Velentzas violated JCAP's rules by drinking ...

Sean Velentzas resided at Queens Village Committee for Mental Health for Jamaica Community Adolescent Program as an alternative to incarceration. He violated the facility's rules by drinking alcohol and assaulting another resident. Queens Village told him that, as a consequence, he was being discharged from the program. When Velentzas became enrage ...

In Sherman v. Hennessy Industries, the California Court of Appeal held that the manufacturer of an "arcing machine"—essentially a highly calibrated saw used to customize brake linings—is liable for injuries caused by asbestos dust released by certain brake linings even though the machine itself contains no asbestos. The decision creates a broad exc ...

caption id="" align="alignright" width="191" USGS photo/caption Environment & Endangered Species Act -- 60-day notice filed for the Kangaroo Rat As required by the Endangered Species Act, we filed a sixty-day notice on intent to sue with the United States Fish & Wildlife Service over the Service's failure to act on our petition to del ...

Johnny Kesner was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2011.  Because this is an asbestos-related illness, he cast a wide net and sued 19 companies, most of whom were Kesner's former employers where Kesner was exposed to asbestos on the premises, but also including Pneumo Abex Co., which employed his uncle.  Kesner claims that his uncle left work with as ...

Timothy Bostic died from mesothelioma, which he alleged was caused by his exposure to asbestos from a variety of sources, including his use of asbestos-containing joint compound manufactured by Georgia-Pacific Corporation when he was a child and teenager helping his father on weekend drywall projects.  He originally sued dozens of defendants and, i ...

Today, the New Mexico Supreme Court decided in Rodriguez v. Del Sol Shopping Center that when a court decides whether a property owner has a duty to protect people from harm on the premises, the court must never consider whether the harm was foreseeable. PLF has long argued in premises liability cases that foreseeability cannot be dispositive, beca ...