Persistent Risks and Regulations: New Health Advisories For PFAS
6/21/22
By: Joshua G. Ferguson and Alec D. Tyra On June 15, 2022, the EPA released health advisories for four PFAS compounds – PFOA, PFOS, GenX and PFBS. The new health advisories are significant for three reasons. First, new health advisories signal increasing scientific consensus on the negative health consequences associations with PFAS exposure. Second, the…
New York Comprehensive Insurance Disclosure Act Updates 2022
5/5/22
By: Nicholas J. Hubner New York enacted the Comprehensive Insurance Disclosure Act on December 31, 2021 (the “Act”). When originally signed, Governor Hochul requested that the Senate consider certain amendments to reduce or clarify the burden on litigants. The Act was amended on February 24, 2022, to address a variety of concerns with New York…
5/4/22
By: Michael M. Hill In a sea change for antidiscrimination laws, the Supreme Court ruled in Cummings v. Premier Rehab Keller, P.L.L.C. that, under certain federal statutes, plaintiffs cannot obtain damages for mental or emotional distress. The statutes implicated by this ruling are Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, Title IX of the Education…
U.S. Supreme Court Addresses Parameters of Free Speech
5/3/22
By: Doug Holthus On May 2, 2022, the United States Supreme Court announced its decision in Shurtleff v. City of Boston, et al., 596 U.S. _ (2022). The primary issue presented: the parameters of freedom of speech. The City of Boston, MA has a tradition. For many years, a flagpole erected outside of Boston’s City…
Georgia Sparks Further Cannabis Debate
4/20/22
By: Wayne S. Melnick and Carlos A. Fernandez The legalization of cannabis continues to cause chronic concern in Georgia. Recently, the State of Georgia and Patsy Austin-Gatson, Gwinnett County District Attorney, were named as defendants in a suit challenging the legality of commercial products containing cannabinoids derived from hemp. These hemp-derived products are not the…
Supreme Court clarifies “favorable termination” requirement for malicious prosecution claims
4/12/22
By: Steven L. Grunberg On April 4, 2022, the United States Supreme Court made it easier to bring a § 1983 claim for malicious prosecution by defining “favorable termination” to mean that the plaintiff’s underlying criminal prosecution ended without a conviction. The decision is available here. Prior to this holding in Thompson v. Clark, the various…
Takeoff of 5G service delayed near some U.S. airports
1/25/22
By: Nicholas J. Hubner The largest airlines in the U.S. released a statement this week stating that the new 5G wireless service, if rolled out near airports, would interfere with aircraft technology and cause flight disruptions. The airline industry warned that thousands of flights may be grounded or delayed if the planned rollout took place…
PFAS legislation in 2021 and impact in 2022
1/17/22
By: Alec D. Tyra What Are PFAS? Per-and-Poly Fluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) are a broad class of manmade, highly stable chemicals. PFAS exhibit both grease repelling (lipophobic) and water repelling (hydrophobic) properties due to their unique chemical structure. By being both hydrophobic and lipophobic, PFAS made excellent coatings to create “non-stick” surfaces on both consumer products…
No mask required: Fifth Circuit grants stay in E.T. v. Paxton
12/16/21
By: Tia J. Combs On July 29, 2021, Governor Greg Abbott of Texas issued Executive Order GA-38, which provided, among other things, that “[n]o governmental entity, including…a school district…and no governmental official may require any person to wear a face covering or to mandate that another person wear a face covering[.].” The provision superseded any requirement by a…
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 underlined; deletions are lined through): A witness who is qualified as an expert by knowledge,…
9/10/21
By: Amy B. Cowan In recent years, the Georgia Court of Appeals has consistently held that Georgia’s municipal ante litem notice statute requires that any notice of claim served upon a city must contain the specific amount of monetary damages sought stated as an offer of compromise which the city can accept. The Court’s most recent decision is no…
The battle over the gig economy in California continues
9/6/21
By: John Moot A California judge recently ruled that a 2020 ballot measure exempting rideshare and food delivery drivers from a state labor law is unconstitutional because it infringes on the Legislature’s power to set workplace standards. Uber, Lyft and DoorDash spent $200 million dollars qualifying and then getting passed with 58% of the votes a proposition that…