New year, new ways to fight the FNC battle in Illinois Fennell v. Illinois Central Railroad Co. *

USA - January 8 2013
A recent Illinois Supreme Court case represents an encouraging turn for aviation defendants in a state where it has been nearly impossible to achieve…

Co-authors: William V. O’Connor.

Glorvigen v. Cirrus Design Corp.: duty to warn does not require duty to train users *

USA - July 30 2012
In a recent ruling, the Minnesota Supreme Court held that, under Minnesota negligence law, manufacturers and suppliers have a duty to warn foreseeable users of dangers inherent in the product, and that this duty includes a duty to give adequate instructions on the safe use of the product.

Co-authors: Kimberly Gosling, Don Rushing.

California Court of Appeals finds advisory circulars fail to create supremacy clause preemption *

USA - March 22 2012
On March 20, 2012, the California Court of Appeal Second District held that nonmandatory safety standards issued by the FAA in Advisory Circulars do not preempt state tort law on the standard of care.

Co-authors: Alan Owens, Don Rushing.

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission set to further reduce lead content limit for all children’s products *

USA - July 11 2011
In the wake of several toy recalls, the federal Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (“CPSIA”) imposed far-reaching requirements on consumer product manufacturers, importers, distributors, and retailers.

Co-authors: Robert L. Falk, William F. Tarantino, Linda L. Lane.