What is a Bellwether Trial?

Have you seen the commercials looking for people who were injured or made ill by a product or medication? Those commercials could be linked to a bellwether trial, a test trial used to see how a sample jury might view the evidence in a specific type of case, usually mass torts or multidistrict litigation. What… read more

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First Bellwether Trial in 3M Earplug MDL Set to Begin

The first bellwether trial in the 3M Combat Arms Earplug Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) is set to begin on April 5, 2021. The purpose of a bellwether trial is to test a case that is representative of the cases included in the MDL. The process can help move other cases along and help parties decide if… read more

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Manufacturers of Generic Drugs Off the Hook in Zantac MDL 

Plaintiffs in the Zantac multi-district litigation (MDL) received a blow when a judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida ruled in favor of the generic defendants in the case. The judge granted a Motion to Dismiss filed by the generic defendants. The result is that the generic defendants are… read more

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3M Facing Largest Multi-District Litigation Action in Nation’s History in Combat Arms Earplug Dispute

All eyes are on what is shaping up to be the biggest mass tort lawsuit in decades. The lawsuit does not involve asbestos, talc powder, Roundup, or any of the usual suspects. The biggest mass tort lawsuit of the decade may involve an earplug of all things. The defendant is 3M, the manufacturer of earplugs… read more

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J&J Agrees to Pay $100M to Settle 1,000 Talc Lawsuits

Johnson & Johnson (“J&J”) has agreed to pay out $100 million to settle 1000 baby powder litigation cases. An estimated 20,000 other baby powder cases are still pending. Talc, a substance used in J&J’s baby powder and adult powder products, has been tied to both ovarian cancer in women and mesothelioma. This move toward settlement… read more

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Roundup Lawsuit Settlements May Not Materialize, After All

When Bayer bought Monsanto in 2018, it knew that it was also buying Roundup, a well-known weed killer. Roundup contains the chemical, glyphosate. For years, there had been claims made that this chemical causes a particular kind of cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). But the rumblings regarding the chemical were not taken seriously. Then and now,… read more

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