| September 2, 2016 |
| New Developments |
| Toward a Defense of Mesothelioma Cases on Causation: Low Doses and Genetics By Mark Zellmer Today’s defendants in asbestos litigation often face plaintiffs’ claims that they have contracted mesothelioma from exposure to low or even doubtful doses of asbestos. If the mesothelioma looks to be spontaneous (idiopathic) or the result |
…
Both the House of Representatives and the Senate have now voted to pass, and the President has now signed, the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2016 (the “Act”). The Act, which averts a shutdown of the FAA, funds the agency through September 30, 2017. Importantly, the Act contains a number of provisions related to…
| July 8, 2016 |
| New Developments |
| Federal Preemption of Pesticide Failure to Warn Claims By Alan Hoffman In 2005, the United States Supreme Court decided Bates v. Dow Agrosciences LLC, 544 U.S. 431 (2005), concerning preemption of state law failure to warn claims by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, 7 U.S.C. §136 et |
…
As we informed you on June 22, 2016, the Department of Labor (DOL) “persuader rule” was to go into effect on July 1, 2016. However, on June 27, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas granted a nationwide preliminary injunction on the rule. The so-called persuader rule required employers and law firms to file a Form LM-20 detailing expenditures on common legal services, such as supervisor training, drafting union avoidance materials, and providing other labor advice.
| June 7, 2016 |
| New Developments |
| Driverless Cars and the Law By Mark Pratzel As driverless car technology evolves, questions continue to arise regarding its legal repercussions. Google, one of the leading forces behind autonomous cars, predicts that they will be available to the public by 2020. Nissan and Tesla are also developing self-driven car technology. And |
…
| June 2, 2016 |
| New Developments |
| Southern District of Illinois Rules it Does Not Have Personal Jurisdiction Over Defendant in Asbestos Case By Jenna Marie Stupar This March, the Southern District of Illinois ruled in favor of Defendant The William Powell Company (“Powell”) on its motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. [Continue Reading] |
…
On April 20, 2016, the U.S. Senate passed the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2016 (the Act) by a vote of 85-12. If signed into law, the bipartisan bill would impact manufacturing operations across industries by promoting energy efficiency; encouraging renewable energy development; facilitating improvements in infrastructure, including grid storage; removing certain hurdles to the development and export of oil and gas, critical minerals, and other resources; and making other changes intended to keep pace with the nation’s rapidly changing energy industry.
| May 2, 2016 |
| New Developments |
| Northern District of Illinois Decision on Take-Home Exposure Liability has Limited Application By Lindsay McClure-Hartman The Northern District of Illinois in Neumann v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec LLC, No. 15-C-10507, 2016 WL 930662 (N.D. Ill. March 10, 2016), recently granted a motion to dismiss on the basis that a product manufacturer |
…
On April 11, 2016, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon signed an Executive Order that immediately implemented a “Ban the Box” policy for Missouri state agencies, departments, boards, and commissions. Under this Order, state employers must amend their initial employment applications to remove questions relating to an individual’s criminal history unless a criminal history would render an applicant ineligible for the position. State employers may still request information about an applicant’s criminal past and may still conduct a criminal background check as a condition of employment, but the Order requires that state agencies wait until later in the application process to procure that information. The Order does not specify exactly when in the application process employers may make these criminal history inquiries.
| April 1, 2016 |
| New Developments |
| Second Circuit Upholds Dismissal of Asbestos Defendant for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction By David Dean In February 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld dismissal of an out-of-state corporate defendant for lack of personal jurisdiction in an asbestos case, Brown v. Lockheed Martin Corp., No. 14-4083 |
…
