Monthly Releases

In In re: Creekview IP LLC, Case No. 2023-108 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 4, 2025), the Federal Circuit was asked to determine: 1. “Whether the district court lacks Article III jurisdiction to enforce its Hearing Order investigating Petitioner’s compliance with standing orders when the cases have been dismissed and there is no evidence refuting the accuracy of Petitioners disclosures or Petitioner’s compliance with the standing orders?” 2. “Did the district court abuse its discretion in entering its Standing Order Regarding Third-Party Litigation Funding Arrangements and Standing Order Regarding...

            Courts strictly apply ethical rules to ensure that clients can speak openly to their lawyers in litigation and not be concerned about a conflict of interest.  Courts may even rule that a law firm cannot represent a client, and that the client must find new representation, if a conflict exists.             For example, in Hotel 237, LLC, v. G.M. Canmar Residence Corp., Case No. 2024-01714 (NY App. Feb 22, 2025) before the state appeals court in Manhattan, a lawyer who...

            In Hayes et al v. Kraft Heinz Co, Case No. 23-16596 (USDC ND IL), a federal judge said Kraft Heinz must face a proposed nationwide class action alleging that it defrauded consumers by claiming its Kraft macaroni and cheese, one of its best-known products, contains no artificial preservatives.  In a decision late in November, U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland said the Illinois, California and New York consumers leading the lawsuit plausibly alleged that Kraft Mac & Cheese contained a synthetic form of citric acid...

            A New Jersey state judge on February 5, 2025 threw out the Garden State's lawsuit accusing fossil fuel companies of concealing the climate change risks of their products, finding the state's claims are preempted by federal law. State Superior Court Judge Douglas Hurd in Mercer County ordered the state’s lawsuit dismissed Wednesday. Hurd wrote in his opinion that only federal law can govern the claims made by New Jersey, agreeing with arguments made by the oil companies’ lawyers....

            In Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, No. 24-1192 (7th Cir. January 3, 2025), the Seventh Circuit affirmed the entry of summary judgment in favor of one of the defendants. There, plaintiff filed a personal injury lawsuit after he was injured in a collision with a tractor-trailer on a state highway. He sued the driver of the truck as well as the carrier and freight broker that arranged delivery of the shipment, claiming that it was vicariously liable for negligent hiring. The district court granted summary judgment in...

            In mid-December, the Ohio Supreme Court in a 5-2 decisionin the matter of In re Natl. Prescription Opiate Litigation, Slip Opinion No. 2024-Ohio-5744,found that the state's product liability law does not allow for public nuisance claims to be brought over the opioid crisis, in a challenge to a $650 million verdict won by two counties. Even though the public health crisis has affected many people, the law does not hold that public nuisance can provide an answer for the issue, the court said. The panel had accepted a certified...