Ninth Circuit finds no duty to warn in light of the state of the art regarding the specific risks of Taser use *

USA - August 16 2012
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that a Taser manufacturer had no duty to warn of the risk that repeated shocks administered by its products could lead to death caused by metabolic acidosis, given the state of the art at the time the product was manufactured.

Northern District of California finds disputed oral statements made off-the-record do not trigger removal *

USA - July 18 2012
In a decision issued earlier this year, the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, held that oral statements made off the record do not trigger removal.

Significant rulings from the Deepwater Horizon court on discovery and evidentiary matters *

USA - April 6 2012
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana has been handling hundreds of consolidated cases (involving more than 100,000 individual plaintiffs) brought in the wake of the explosion, fire and capsizing of the Deepwater Horizon mobile offshore drilling unit in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010.

Co-authors: Eliot M. Harris.

U.S. Supreme Court: state law claims against locomotive manufacturers are preempted by federal law *

USA - March 8 2012
In a decision published on February 29, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court held that all personal injury and wrongful death claims based on state law causes of action, including defective design and failure to warn, involving locomotives or locomotive components are preempted by federal law.