Products Liability Prof Blog: Academic

Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Academic Blogs

OR PHONE (866) 635-1838 for Bankruptcy Help, (866) 635-6190 for Divorce,
(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense

Find a Local Lawyer

Bankruptcy (866) 635-1838
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402

Academic

Products Liability Prof Blog

A Member of the Law Professor Blogs Network

Post Frequency: 0.5/day

Last Entry: August 16, 2009 at 14:17:18

Fifth Circuit Applying Mississippi Law Concludes Beryllium Sensitization is Not a Compensable Injury

Posted on January 14, 2009
Harris v. Brush Wellman, Inc., a Fifth Circuit negligence, product liability, and breach of warranty case applying Mississippi law, arose out of claims by the plaintiffs alleging that Brush's beryllium-containing products sold to the plaintiffs' employers caused personal injuries to...

Product Liability Prevention (PLP) in Tough Economic Times

Posted on January 07, 2009
Company personnel involved in safety and quality are usually the first to be laid off in tough economic times. In the late 70's, when I was a young in-house lawyer, my company laid off all PLP staff except for the...

CPSIA

Posted on January 07, 2009
New CPSC law has continued to turn into a big mess. See my CPSIA article that is current as of today. Includes a discussion of CPSC actions taken yesterday on various proposals concerning lead and testing requirements. Also discusses what...

Big fight over effective date of phthalate ban

Posted on January 01, 2009
There is a fascinating legal fight going on over the effective date of the phthalate ban as enacted by Congress in the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act that was signed by the President on August 14, 2008. The Act says...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Publisher recalls book because of errors

Posted on December 31, 2008
On December 30, 2008, a publisher announced a recall of its book on how to electrically wire a house. The book contains several errors in the technical diagrams that could lead consumers to incorrectly install or repair electrical wiring, posing...

CPSC files suit for late reporting

Posted on December 30, 2008
The CPSC rarely tries to fine companies for late reporting safety issues to them. And, when they do, the manufacturer and CPSC usually agree on a fine. It is extremely rare for the CPSC and manufacturer to not agree. In...

No Preemption of Deceptive Advertising Claims Against Cigarette Manufacturers

Posted on December 18, 2008
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that state-law-based claims for deceptive advertising brought by smokers of "light" or "low tar" cigarettes are not preempted by the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act. Writing for the majority in Altria Group v...

Recent Developments in Safety Law for Foreign-Sourced Products

Posted on December 09, 2008
Facing an increasingly global supply chain, Congress and various states have enacted a number of changes in the country's product safety codes designed to protect consumers. Walk down the aisle of any department store today and you're likely to find....

Impact of Management & Operational Processes on Product Quality

Posted on December 02, 2008
This following comments are from Tom Taormina, a forensic business pathologist and expert witness: There is an aspect to proving design and manufacturing defects little known to attorneys practicing products liability tort. The root cause of defects leading to injury...

Too Many Warnings?

Posted on November 25, 2008
I couldn't resist sharing this humorous article about a serious problem: How does a manufacturer effectively convey warnings to consumers who are over-warned? Dave Barry wrote this story for the Greene County Dailies in response to a Washington Post story...

US, EU, and China Reach Toy Safety Agreement

Posted on November 24, 2008
According to Reuters (11/17), the consumer chiefs of the European Union and the United States called on China on Monday to crack down on unsafe products, especially toys, ahead of Christmas. It's been a rough year for the toy industry,...

Restatement 10th Anniversary Symposium at Brooklyn Law School

Posted on November 17, 2008
The Brooklyn Law School's symposium commemorating the 10th anniversay of the Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability was held on November 13 - 14 at Brooklyn Law School. In attendance were the Reporters for the Restatement, Aaron Twerski and Jim...

Illinois Supreme Court Addresses Design Defect Standards

Posted on October 22, 2008
In Mikolajczyk v. Ford Motor Co., the Illinois Supreme Court considered the relationship between the consumer-expectation and risk-utility standard in a design case that arose when a Ford Escort James Mikolajczyk was driving was rear-ended by a vehicle whose driver...

American Association for Justice on Preemption

Posted on October 15, 2008
In a release today the American Association for Justice reports on its findings of a coordinated efffort at the highest levels of the Bush administration to achieve preemption of state safety laws. Click here to read the report. MKS

Geogia Supreme Court Finds Vaccine Suit in Autism Case Not Preempted

Posted on October 09, 2008
The Georgia Supreme Court, in a ruling that conflicts with two federal district courts and state courts in New York and Pennsylvania, has concluded that a suit brought by parents of an autistic child against a vaccine manufacturer is not...

Implementation of National Motor Vehicle Title Information System Ordered

Posted on October 08, 2008
On September 29, 2008, in Public Citizen v. Mukasey, Judge Marilyn H. Patel of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ordered the Justice Department to implement the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System, which was enacted...

First Monday in October - First Preemption Case

Posted on October 07, 2008
The U.S. Supreme Court opened its October 2008 term yesterday by hearing arguments in Altria Group v. Good, No. 07-562, a case in which the issue is whether a suit alleging that claims of reduced tar and nicotine in so-called...

Illinois Law Does Not Require Motor Vehicle Manufacturers to Consider Risk to Occupants of Other Vehicles

Posted on October 07, 2008
Illinois law does not impose a duty on automakers to design a vehicle which is safe to crash into, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Rennert v. Great Dane LP, 7th Cir., No. 07-2989, 9-11-08,...

Paxil Suit Not Pre-Empted

Posted on September 04, 2008
A suit brought by the family of a teenager who committed suicide in 2002 after taking the anti-depressant drug Paxil may proceed because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had not yet taken a position on whether there was...

Ken Ross's Summary of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act

Posted on September 03, 2008
The new U.S. Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act is neatly summarized by Ken Ross,Of Counsel, Bowman and Brooke LLP here. MKS

Alaska Supreme Court Decides the Case of the Collapsing Law Office Chair

Posted on September 03, 2008
Burnett v. Covell. Burnett, who weighed approximately 330 pounds, visited Covell?s law office to participate in a meeting with Covell and one of Covell?s clients. When he attempted to sit in one of the chairs in Covell?s office, the chair...

Cornell Law Review Symposium - U.S. Food and Drug Regulation in Its First Century and Beyond

Posted on August 26, 2008
The recently published Cornell Law Review Symposium, "U.S. Food and Drug Regulation in Its First Century and Beyond," includes the following articles: James T. O'Reilly, Losing Deference in the FDA's Second Century: Judicial Review, Politics & a Diminished Legacy of...

The Tobacco Law Consortium's Newsletter, Legal Update, Is Now Online

Posted on August 25, 2008
The new issue of Legal Update, the Tobacco Control Legal Consortium's newsletter, is now available online. It features the Consortium's most recent publication, ?Workplace Smoking: Options for Employees and Legal Rights for Employers.? MKS

The FDA and Risk Communication

Posted on August 22, 2008
The FDA This Week: Andy's Take, is written by Randall Lutter, Ph.D., Deputy Commissioner for Policy of the Food and Drug Administration. His focus is on the importance of risk communication, and his take is that that activity is as...

Medical Devices - Pleading to Avoid Preemption

Posted on August 21, 2008
An Illinois federal district court suggested two possible ways to get around a federal preemption ruling even as it dismissed a medical device product liability complaint on preemption grounds (Heisner v. Genzyme Corp., N.D. Ill., No. 08-C-593, 7/25/08), The court...

Texas Plaintiffs' Claims Preempted by Buckman

Posted on August 12, 2008
The judge overseeing multidistrict litigation regarding the bone-building drugs Aredia and Zometa dismissed plaintiffs' claims finding that a Texas law shields manufacturers of Food & Drug Administration-approved drugs from liability for failure to warn...

Consumer Expectation Test Applied to Airbag Defect Claim

Posted on August 11, 2008
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit overturned a summary judgment ruling in favor of Honda Motor Company in a case involving a non-deploying airbag. The court said that since the plaintiff stated her expectation about the airbag...

When is a Product Seller a "Seller" for Strict Liability Purposes?

Posted on August 07, 2008
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has certified an important question of state product sliability law to the New York Court of Appeals. A worker suffered a serious hand injury while working for Glenville Universal Packaging and...

Tennessee Supreme Court Sustains Punitive Damages Award Against DaimlerChrysler Corp.

Posted on July 25, 2008
Flax v. DaimlerChrysler Corp. arose out of the death of eight-month old Joshua Flax when the Dodge Grand Caravan his grandfather was driving was rear-ended by a pickup truck that was traveling at an excessive rate of speed. Joshua's mother,...

A New Essay by Prof. Sharkey on the Impact of Riegel on FDA Preemption of State Law Claims

Posted on July 23, 2008
Click here to see Professor Catherine Sharkey's recently posted essay in Northwestern Colloquy, "What Riegel Portends for FDA Preemption of State Law Products Liability Claims." MKS

Previous | Next

Related Law Bulletins

Insurance Department Issues Second Annual Ohio Medical Liability Closed Claim Report
COLUMBUS — The Ohio Department of Insurance has issued its secon...

While accident victim recovers $2 million from franchisor on vicarious liability claim
In contrast, Chicken Kitchen USA, LLC recently paid $2 million to...

Massachusetts Supreme Court Says Doctor's Liability Goes Beyond Patient
From The Boston Globe today: "BOSTON — A doctor who failed to wa...

Consumer Product Safety Commission Reports Increase In Nursery Products-Related Infant Deaths
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a report that st...

U.S. Supreme Court Deals Blow to Lawsuits Against Defective Products
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that private lawsuits agai...