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Does Off-Label Promotion Settlement Signal Change in FDA Policy?

Litigation
Law.com |
creative commons

Hacked Emails Between Execs and Outside Counsel at Issue in Ashley Madison Litigation

AshleyMadison.com is fighting to block thousands of internal documents exposed in last year’s data breach from getting into court, where plaintiffs attorneys want to use emails between the company’s executives and outside counsel to allege the extramarital-affair website was engaged in widespread fraud on consumers.


Plaintiffs lawyers claim that Ashley Madison, legally referred to as Avid Dating Life Inc., and its parent company, Avid Life Media Inc., created fake female profiles to lure men into paying for access to the site. Plaintiffs seek to bolster their consolidated complaint due June 3 with emails between Avid and lawyers at Barnes & Thornburg from January 2012 to September 2015. Those emails, say plaintiffs, show “how defendants worked together to commit fraud,” according to court documents filed last month by co-lead plaintiffs attorney John Driscoll.


Most of the lawsuits are class actions that accuse Avid of negligence in allowing its customers’ personal information to be hacked in violation of several state consumer-fraud and data-breach statutes. But some claim Avid fraudulently induced male subscribers to enter into contracts by setting up “fembot,” or female robot accounts.

Litigation
Boston Globe |

Grand Jury Investigating Claims of Counterfeit TVM Sales by Boston Scientific

Federal prosecutors have impaneled a grand jury in a criminal investigation of allegations that Boston Scientific Corp. used counterfeit raw material from China in vaginal mesh implants sold to thousands of American women.


Investigators are examining whether the Marlborough medical device company engaged in deceptive trade practices by knowingly receiving substandard resins from China in packaging from a vendor whose materials had been approved by federal regulators, and whether it fraudulently sold defective products to health care providers.


Litigation
Inside Counsel |
serggn-istock-thinkstock

Jurisdictional Issue, Congressional Bill Could End East Texas’ Reign in Patent Cases

A case pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit may level the playing field and end the Eastern District’s stranglehold on patent litigation by significantly reducing the opportunity for forum shopping. TC Heartland LLC, an Indiana corporation, was sued for patent infringement in the District of Delaware. TC Heartland is not registered to conduct business in Delaware. Although 2 percent of its sales of the accused product ultimately occurred in Delaware, it had no regular or established place of business there.



Litigation
Reuters |
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Following Early Setbacks, GM Ignition Plaintiffs’ Lawyers Plan to ‘Forge Ahead’

Lawyers for plaintiffs suing General Motors Co over injuries and deaths blamed on faulty ignitions switches said they are prepared to forge ahead with further trials this year despite promising recent developments for the automaker.


Last week, GM avoided an upcoming trial by settling what was considered by plaintiffs' lawyers to be one of their strongest cases, involving a father of five who was killed in a 2013 crash. The next day, the parties agreed to dismiss the next case slated for trial, brought by an Alabama man suing over crash injuries from 2013.


Still, a lead lawyer for plaintiffs, Robert Hilliard, said this week they are prepared to press forward and will discuss "all options" with the court for the next trials.

Litigation
SFGate |
creative-commons

Ninth Circuit: Companies Can’t Avoid Class Action Liability by Settling With Lead Plaintiffs

Ruling in a Bay Area robocall case, a federal appeals court said Tuesday that a company can’t scuttle a proposed class-action suit it is facing by trying to buy off the lead plaintiff.


The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco addressed an issue that the U.S. Supreme Court left unresolved in a ruling in January: whether a company or person accused of violating the rights of large numbers of people can avoid large-scale liability by setting aside enough money to meet the demands of the plaintiff, or plaintiffs, who seek to represent the entire group.


No, the appeals court said, because defendants facing class-wide lawsuits can’t elude them by “picking off lead plaintiffs.” Instead, the court said, a plaintiff is entitled to reject the offer and ask the trial judge to approve the suit as a class action.

Litigation
Law.com |
serggn-istock-thinkstock

Judge Reduces Wright Hip Verdict by $9 Million

A federal judge in Atlanta has reduced a verdict in a bellwether hip implant product liability case from $11 million to $2.1 million, lopping off nearly $9 million in punitive damages.


But U.S. District Court Judge William Duffey Jr. rejected a motion by defendant Wright Medical Technology Inc. to set the verdict aside and either order a new trial or find in Wright’s favor as a matter of law. In a 100-page ruling issued April 5, Duffey defended decisions he made during the trial in November—sending an “inconsistent” original verdict back to the jury for additional deliberation, and later removing a juror whom other jurors had complained was refusing to deliberate.


Duffey reduced the punitive damages award from $10 million to $1.1 million. He let stand the jury’s $1 million award for compensatory damages.

Litigation
The Legal Intelligencer |
facebook-phone-creative-commons

E-Discovery Implications of Social Media Proliferation

Obtaining information about adverse parties or witnesses is a fundamental part of evaluating a case. Investigation of an opposing party or witness has dramatically changed with the wave of information published and available on the internet. Specifically, social media has become a helpful tool for learning more about an opposing party or witness. Social media applications, such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, enable users to post photographs and commentary on the web. These applications have become a mainstream communication vehicle within our society, and increasing numbers of people are using them regularly. Undoubtedly, the popularity of smartphones has played a role in such expansion, with many people routinely using such technology on a daily basis for both work and in their personal lives. In a 2015 Pew survey, the percentage of American adults who own a smartphone is up to 68 percent. Similarly, according to Statista.com, the percentage of those with social network profiles is up to 78 percent.


Pictures and comments, however innocuous to the author at the time they are published, may have later significance in the context of litigation. For example, videos, photographs and comments depicting an individual's participation in certain physical activities may contradict claimed disabilities in a personal-injury action. Social media applications are a potentially rich source of information to mine for statements, photos and other evidence, which may be used to attack the claims and credibility of parties and witnesses.


No matter what side you're representing, using social media as an investigative tool should occur as soon as the conflict check clears. It is important to start your investigation at the earliest possible stage to obtain any evidence before changes are made and/or access is limited. Be sure to safeguard the information you deem valuable by saving a screenshot. Part of the success of social media applications is their ease of use, making it simple to post. However, it also makes it just as easy to delete information, so get it while you can and ensure that it is preserved.

Litigation
The Pop Tort |
Vstock-LLC-Vstock-Thinkstock

U.S. Chamber: Against the 7% of Cases Filed by Injured People, For the 80% Filed by Debt Collectors

JOANNE DOROSHOW -- Many people know that the U.S. Chamber is the number one lobbying force in the nation. But you might not know that Institute for Legal Reform has enormous lobbying muscle of its own.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue boasted in 2014, “Our Institute for Legal Reform is fighting the expansion of lawsuits on all fronts—in the Congress, in the federal agencies, in the states, and even around the globe where U.S. companies are getting sued.”