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Mealey's Personal Injury

  • September 21, 2023

    Man Appeals Summary Judgment Grant, Expert Exclusion In Gun Design Defect Case

    OKLAHOMA CITY — A man who accidentally shot himself while removing a handgun from its holster filed a notice of appeal to the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals after a district court granted the gun manufacturer summary judgment and excluded his experts, who opined that the accident could have been prevented if the gun had been equipped with a manual safety.

  • September 20, 2023

    Health Care Provider Loses Bid To Exclude Causation Expert In Deadly Fall Case

    PHOENIX — An Arizona federal judge on Sept. 19 denied a motion for summary judgment after finding that a causation expert retained by the estate of an elderly woman who died after a fall while in the care of an in-home health aide can testify.

  • September 20, 2023

    Texas Federal Judge Agrees To Limit Expert Testimony In Slip-And-Fall Case

    HOUSTON — A doctor testifying on behalf of a woman who is suing after a fall in a Home Depot store can discuss his diagnosis and treatment plan but cannot opine on causation, a federal judge in Texas ruled.

  • September 20, 2023

    Arizona Federal Judge Rules On Dueling Motions To Exclude In Design Defect Case

    PHOENIX — A federal judge in Arizona has resolved challenges to three experts retained in a lawsuit alleging that a couple were injured when a tire on the recreational vehicle they were traveling in ruptured and the RV burst into flames.

  • September 20, 2023

    J&J: Asbestos-Talc Verdict Tagged Wrong Party, Lacked Causation Evidence

    LOS ANGELES — In post-trial briefing after an $18.8 million verdict, Johnson & Johnson told a California judge that it wasn’t the party responsible for the talcum powder in question and that there is insufficient evidence that asbestos can cause pericardial mesothelioma.

  • September 18, 2023

    Government Urges High Court To Uphold ‘Bedrock Principle’ Of Chevron Deference

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. secretary of Commerce, two National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) officials and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively, the government) urge the U.S. Supreme Court in a Sept. 15 brief to not overrule the doctrine of Chevron deference in a challenge to fishery regulations that were upheld by the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, writing that doing so could “cause disruption” to complex federal regulatory schemes.

  • September 18, 2023

    Ga. Federal Judge:  Medical Examiner Can Testify That Taser Caused Man’s Death

    VALDOSTA, Ga. — The manufacturer of a Taser device on Sept. 15 lost its bid to exclude testimony from a medical examiner who opines that the deployment of the weapon was a contributing cause of a man’s death after a federal judge ruled that the testimony was not speculative and would be helpful to a jury.

  • September 13, 2023

    Judge Says Insurer Has No Duty To Defend In Wrongful Death Suit Against Architect

    TAMPA, Fla. — A Florida federal judge granted an insurer’s request for declaratory judgment that it has no duty to defend or indemnify its insured architect in a wrongful death suit filed against the architect by the family of a man who died while working on a construction project, finding that the architect “made material misrepresentations on the policy application that voided the policy under the rescission doctrine.”

  • September 13, 2023

    Judge Rules On 4 Motions To Exclude, Denies Summary Judgment In Injury Case

    SEATTLE — A Washington federal judge ruled that certain motions filed by Home Depot in a slip-and-fall case were attempts “to cloak an untimely discovery motion in the guise of a motion to exclude,” finding that experts retained by the man injured can testify.

  • September 11, 2023

    Man Alleges Defective Ankle-Monitoring Device Causes Skin Injuries

    DENVER — A South Carolina man has filed a proposed class action in a Colorado federal court against a manufacturer of an ankle-monitoring device, alleging that the device causes rashes and skin infections.

  • September 11, 2023

    8th Circuit Affirms Remand Of COVID Death Suit Against Care Home

    ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s order that remanded to state court a wrongful death suit filed against a nursing home and related entities by the son of a man who died after purportedly contracting COVID-19 at the nursing home, finding, in part, that the district court correctly remanded the case because the son’s claims are not preempted under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act.

  • September 08, 2023

    Illinois Jury Returns $40.75M Verdict In Asbestos Gasket Case

    CHICAGO — An Illinois jury returned a $40.75 million verdict in favor of the family of a man who contracted mesothelioma and died after exposure to asbestos in John Crane Inc. products.

  • September 08, 2023

    5th Circuit Affirms Judgments For Hospital, Doctor In Suit Over Ventilator Removal

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s judgments consolidated on appeal that dismissed parents’ wrongful death suit against a hospital, medical practice and a doctor after their son died when the doctor removed him from a ventilator, finding that the parents failed to show the municipal liability required for a due process violation and that the Texas Advance Directives Act (TADA) “does not create a substantive interest” for the parents or their son.

  • September 05, 2023

    Asbestos Talc Debtor Settles Truck Driver’s Personal Injury Suit

    WILMINGTON, Del. — An affiliate codebtor of talc mining company Cyprus Mines Corp. and talc supplier Imerys Talc America Inc. has settled a personal injury action brought by a truck driver in Vermont for $85,000, according to a motion for approval of the deal that the debtors filed in Delaware federal bankruptcy court.

  • September 01, 2023

    Federal Judge Rules On Motions To Exclude 3 Experts In Workplace Injury Case

    ATLANTA — An expert originally retained by plaintiffs in a workplace injury case is allowed to now testify for the defense, a Georgia federal judge ruled, also finding that one expert is excluded as unreliable but another based his conclusions on reliable information.

  • August 30, 2023

    Minnesota Court:  Expert Testimony On ‘Novel Scientific Theory’ Properly Excluded

    ST. PAUL, Minn. — A Minnesota appeals court affirmed dismissal of a medical malpractice suit alleging a birth injury after finding no error in a lower court’s decision to exclude expert testimony.

  • August 30, 2023

    2nd Circuit Upholds Forum Rule Application, Sanctions In WWE CTE Class, Mass Cases

    NEW YORK — A trial court’s decisions to award World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. and Vincent K. McMahon (together, WWE) sanctions and apply the forum rule to determine the amount in a class tort complaint and a mass action brought by the same attorney on behalf of allegedly injured wrestlers were upheld by a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel, which found that there was no abuse of discretion.

  • August 25, 2023

    Judge Dismisses Wrongful Death Suit Against Care Home For Lack Of Jurisdiction

    NEW YORK  — A New York federal judge dismissed a consolidated case filed by an estate representative who alleged that multiple parties, including a nursing home and legal counsel, conspired to declare his mother incapacitated, take her assets and force her into a nursing home, where she purportedly received inadequate treatment that led to her death, finding that the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction.

  • August 24, 2023

    Remaining Civil Rights Claims In University COVID-19 Death Dismissed; Case Remanded

    PITTSBURGH — In a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the administrator of a university student who died of COVID-19, a Pennsylvania federal judge on Aug. 23 sua sponte dismissed with prejudice civil rights claims against the employee of a company that owned and operated student housing and remanded the case to state court to address the surviving state law claims, ruling that the claims against the employee suffered from the same inadequacies as those previously dismissed against the university, university employees and various third parties.

  • August 23, 2023

    Georgia Supreme Court: Law Enforcement Officer Subject To Full Daubert Inquiry

    ATLANTA — The Georgia Supreme Court found that “the well-established test governing the admissibility of expert testimony applies with equal force to investigating law enforcement officers,” reversing two lower courts that ruled that an officer is presumptively qualified as an expert.

  • August 21, 2023

    6th Circuit Reverses Dismissal Of Exploding Vape Suit Against Korean Battery Maker

    CINCINNATI — A Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel reversed a Michigan federal judge’s dismissal for lack of a personal jurisdiction of a lawsuit against a foreign battery maker brought by a man who was burned by an exploding e-cigarette, finding that the plaintiff’s evidence established sufficient contacts between the battery maker and Michigan.

  • August 18, 2023

    Illinois Wrongful Death Statute Expanded To Permit Punitive Damages

    SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois will immediately begin permitting punitive damages in wrongful death actions after the state’s governor signed legislation amending the state’s wrongful death act.

  • August 17, 2023

    Nonprofit Says Its Ohio Train Derailment Claims Against EPA Are Valid

    YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — A nonprofit organization has filed a brief in Ohio federal court contending that it should deny a motion to dismiss its lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency related to the East Palestine train derailment and the subsequent toxic chemical spill on grounds the EPA and local authorities failed to conduct proper testing for chemical spills and misled members of the public as to whether the air and drinking water were safe.

  • August 16, 2023

    Maui Homeowners Bring Class Suit Against Electric Companies After Massive Fire

    HONOLULU — A couple who owned a townhome in Lahaina, a Hawaiian town largely destroyed by a fire on Aug. 8, filed a class complaint in a Hawaii court accusing the electric companies as well as unnamed governmental agencies and corporations of causing the massive wildfire that destroyed homes and businesses and killed more than 100 people by failing to shut off power after a high wind watch and red flag warning were issued by the National Weather Service (NWS).

  • August 15, 2023

    7th Circuit Affirms $3.3M Bard IVC Filter Verdict; 510(k) Properly Excluded

    CHICAGO — The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a $3.3 million inferior vena cava (IVC) filter verdict against C.R. Bard Inc., ruling that the trial court did not err by excluding evidence about the device’s 510(k) approval or by reopening the plaintiffs’ case to hear testimony from the reluctant implanting physician.