Purdue Pharma has potential to upend common channeling-and-release practice in bankruptcy courts
1/4/22
By: Travis Knobbe
For the most part, the nuances of bankruptcy law go unnoticed by our colleagues who do not frequent the bankruptcy courts. Some issues we deal with, however, have broad application to the practice of law generally. Consider, …
New Jersey Appellate Division finds no nexus between retailer’s mode of operation and grape on store floor
11/4/21
By: Edward Solensky Jr.
In Jeter v. Sam’s Club, 2021 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 919 (App. Div. May 17, 2021), the New Jersey Appellate Division rejected a plaintiff’s argument that the trial court erred in ruling that the …
Proposed amendments to Federal Rule of Evidence 702
11/2/21
By: Jacob E. Daly
The federal judiciary’s Advisory Committee on Evidence Rules has proposed two significant amendments to Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, which governs the admissibility of expert testimony. These amendments would change Rule 702 as follows (additions are …
Massachusetts Federal Court Rules that Heightened Pleading Requirements Apply in Product Liability Design Defect Cases
5/17/21
By: Kevin Kenneally and William Gildea
The United States District Court, District of Massachusetts (Hillman, J.), recently held that Plaintiffs must affirmatively plead and prove that there is a safer alternative product design in order to maintain defect claims against …
Wrongful Death Versus Survival In California
12/11/18
By: Matthew Jones
There are many differences between a wrongful death action and a survival action. A wrongful death action may be filed by the personal representative of the decedent’s estate or the decedent’s surviving spouse/children. A survival action may …
Protecting In-House Correspondence from Disclosure: The Troublesome “CC”
11/28/18
By: Jake Carroll
Commercial disputes present complex issues of causation—what caused the accident, who is responsible, what is impacting company revenue. But before the dispute even arises, in-house attorneys are frequently copied on correspondence with team members and employees evaluating …
Who’s Liable for Letting the Dogs Out?
10/23/18
By: Wes Jackson
“Cry ‘Havoc!,’ and let slip the dogs of war.”
William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar act 3, sc. 1.
Havoc indeed—in a case argued before the Georgia Supreme Court on October 10, two pit bulls slipped out of …
YMCA Owes No Duty To Provide Or Use AEDs When Renting Field To Private Soccer Club
10/17/18
By: Carlos Martinez-Garcia
California’s Fourth District Court of Appeal recently affirmed the trial Court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of the YMCA, disposing of a wrongful death lawsuit involving a patron who died of a heart attack on their …
Insuring Against Rule 68 Offers of Settlement
6/28/18
By: Matt Grattan
One tool defense lawyers in Georgia frequently use to induce settlements is an offer of settlement under O.C.G.A. 9-11-68. Rule 68 allows either party to a tort action to serve a written offer to settle the claim, …
Shortening the Statutory Limitations Period in a Residential Lease
5/23/18
By: Jake Daly
Every state has statutes or rules governing the time within which various types of claims must be filed. In Georgia, the general rule is that a personal injury claim must be brought within 2 years of the …
A House of Cards: Stacking Inferences to Prove Liability
5/10/18
By: Melissa Santalone
A Florida appellate court recently reaffirmed Florida’s state law prohibition against stacking inferences in personal injury cases with a reversal of a $1.5 million verdict in a slip-and-fall case against Publix. In Publix Super Markets, Inc. v. …
Not Just for Trust Fund Babies Anymore
5/3/18
By: Bryce M. Van De Moere
Even with the existence of the Affordable Care Act, the preferred way to get health benefits is still through your employer. Health insurance packages have become an integral part of employee compensation. As employers …