National Mass Torts: 2024 Year in Review
Harris Beach Murtha attorneys Abbie Fuchs, Dan Strecker, and Alessandra Ash review and analyze key judicial holdings and legal developments in federal court and tort hot spots across the country that...
View ArticleTexas Court Upholds Summary Judgment in Silica Case
The Texas Fourteenth Court of Appeals upheld summary judgment for Exxon Mobil corporation in Stanley Cole v. Exxon Mobil Corp. (No. 14-22-00756-CV), a premises liability case involving alleged exposure...
View ArticleIllinois Jury Finds for Plaintiff in Wrongful Death Action Involving Asbestos...
Jurisdiction: Illinois Circuit Court – Cook County - This lawsuit involved a survival and wrongful death action brought under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) in Illinois. Plaintiff,...
View ArticleNew Strategy is Embraced for Product Identification in Multidistrict PFAS...
The Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF) MDL has taken a significant step forward with the introduction of a new case management program intended to streamline the complex process of product...
View ArticleGeorgia Federal Court Applies “Fungi or Bacteria” Exclusion and Holds Insurer...
In Nationwide Property & Casualty Insurance Company v. Hampton Court, L.P., et al. the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia granted an insurer's motion for judgment on...
View ArticleMass Tort Cases: Challenges for Plaintiff’s and Defense Counsel
Mass tort cases present unique challenges for both plaintiff’s and defense counsel. Unlike a class-action case, where a representative plaintiff stands in for the other members of the class, each...
View ArticleDepo-Provera Litigation Update: Women With Meningioma Brain Tumors Eligible...
A March 2024 study published by The BMJ revealed that women who were injected with Depo-Provera (medroxyprogesterone acetate) are more than five times more likely to be diagnosed with a type of brain...
View ArticleColorado Jury Issues First Defense Verdict after Years of EtO Exposure...
A Colorado jury issued a defense verdict following a six-week trial during which four women alleged their respective cancers were caused by exposure to EtO emitted by the nearby Terumo Blood & Cell...
View ArticleFlorida Jury Awards Plaintiff $18 Million in Asbestos Case against Brake...
Court: Florida – 17th Judicial Circuit Court - Plaintiff, Denise J. Guth Cook alleged asbestos exposure from consumer talc products and automobile parts. She specifically alleged bystander and...
View ArticleLitigation Minute: Emerging Contaminants: Defending Litigation
What You Need to Know in a Minute or Less - Effectively defending emerging contaminant litigation requires counsel capable of navigating extremely complex scientific issues related to causation, while...
View ArticleIARC Classifies Gasoline As a Human Carcinogen – Litigation May Follow
Last month, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) announced its new classification for “automotive gasoline and some oxygenated gasoline additives.” In a result that follows IARC’s...
View ArticleDoes Strict Liability Apply When You’re Injured by Exposure to Toxic Chemicals?
It is becoming almost impossible to avoid being exposed to multiple different chemicals on a daily basis. Companies use them to make their environments look and smell cleaner, to keep pests away, and...
View Article“Occurrence” Provisions Within Excess Policies Support an Exposure Trigger...
Asbestos fibers, chemical fumes, environmental pollutants—what do they have in common? They all involve injuries that manifest over time and are continuously at the center of the complex exposure...
View ArticleU.S. Navy’s Nonadherence to Asbestos Policy Opens Door to Lawsuit
As a sovereign entity, the United States government is immune from suit unless it consents to be sued. However, its sovereign immunity may be waived under certain circumstances under the Federal Torts...
View ArticleLouisiana Asbestos Workers May Qualify for Lung Cancer or Mesothelioma Lawsuits
Asbestos workers in the state of Louisiana who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer or asbestos lung cancer may be eligible to file a lawsuit or bankruptcy trust claim against the companies...
View ArticlePFAS, HFCs and Related Chemicals in the Data Center Industry
Data centers use various chemicals that have recently been the focus of regulatory efforts at the federal and state level. The historic or future use of these chemicals may create liabilities,...
View Article$18 Million Verdict Awarded in Asbestosis Case Following Trial against...
Jurisdiction: Broward County Circuit Court - A Florida jury on April 23 handed down an $18 million verdict in aperitoneal mesothelioma case brought by the law firm of Maune Raichle Hartley French &...
View ArticleA Check on Experts in the Talcum Powder World
On February 7, 2025, Judge Walker, sitting in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, ruled that the Plaintiff (a subsidiary of a parent company engaged in nationwide...
View ArticleMass and Toxic Tort Case Update - Asbestos
Maffei v. A.O. Smith Water Prods. Co. (In re N.Y.C. Asbestos Litigation), 2025 N.Y. Slip Op. 1425 (N.Y. App. Div. 2025) - Valuing asbestos cases can sometimes be complicated but on March 13th, 2025,...
View ArticleRecent Developments in Depo-Provera Litigation: Formation and Progress of...
The legal landscape surrounding Depo-Provera, a long-acting injectable birth control, has entered a pivotal phase. With the growing number of lawsuits alleging that the drug caused serious brain tumors...
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