Articles in Channel: Consumer Law

Waiting On The Supreme Court

Lyle Roberts
March 13, 2010 02:42

(1) The "group pleading" doctrine allows plaintiffs to rely on a presumption that statements in corporate documents are the collective work of individuals with direct involvement in the everyday business of the company. In its Tellabs decision, the U.S. Supreme...

Layaway Making a Comeback? Retailers Beware

March 12, 2010 21:14

With so much of the economy still struggling, credit harder to come by, and consumers being more conservative with their spending, various commentators have suggested that layaway programs are poised to make a comeback. However, retailers should be careful before implementing layaway programs,...

Class Action Motion Rejected in Human Tissue MDL

March 12, 2010 14:48

We have posted before about the interesting Human Tissue litigation.  The multidistrict litigation consolidated hundreds of cases filed either by plaintiffs who received allografts — transplants from cadavers — harvested by defendants allegedly without obtaining proper...

Federal Court Holds State Product Liability Act Trumps other Causes of Action, Including the State's Consumer Fraud Act

March 12, 2010 09:00

We defense lawyers have grown so accustomed to plaintiffs trying to repackage a products liability claim as one for consumer fraud that we sometimes forget to check a state's products liability statute for potential defenses when the complaint fails to mention it and instead cites the state's...

FDA Looks to Boost Criminal Prosecutions

March 11, 2010 14:44

In the wake of a scathing March 4th GAO Report, FDA has informed Congress that it will boost criminal prosecutions of pharmaceutical and food industry executives.[1] Although the Agency’s Office of Criminal Investigation (OCI) can prosecute ‘responsible corporate officials,’...

FDA Proposed Rule: Sponsors Must Report Suspicions of Falsified Study Data

March 11, 2010 14:39

A proposed FDA rule would require all “sponsors” (defined broadly) to report not only known falsification of study data but also falsifications merely suspected. The rule, “Reporting Information Regarding Falsification of Data,” defines falsification as “creating,...

Summary Judgment for Drug Company in Pain Pump Case

March 11, 2010 11:44

A federal court has granted defendant summary judgment in a case which alleged that cartilage damage sustained by the plaintiff, a former high school athlete, was caused by the post-surgery use of the drug company’s pain medication in an automated pump device. Jensen Meharg, et...

Torts Twits of the Month: NY Assembly Members Ortiz, Markey, and Perry

March 10, 2010 23:17

I'm instituting a new feature on the blog this month:  "Torts Twit of the Month."  Each month I'll name someone who has done something exceptionally ridiculous in the field of torts be our Twit of the Month.  Who knows, if it catches on, perhaps we can vote for...

Another Federal Court Denies Class Certification Where Class Is Overbroad

March 10, 2010 22:09

A recent tobacco decision out of the Northern District of Illinois highlights the importance of challenging the class definition in the defense of consumer fraud cases.  in Cleary v. Philip Morris USA, Inc., 2010 WL 680957 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 22, 2010), plaintiffs had brought three different class...

Government Watchdog Calls for Elimination of FINRA

March 10, 2010 20:50

On February 23, 2010, the Project On Government Oversight sent a letter to Congressional committee members charged with financial oversight urging them not to trust or rely on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to police the brokerage industry. See...On February 23, 2010, the...