News from June 2019
Attorneys for J&J spar with opioids researcher over warning labels during Oklahoma trial
NORMAN, Okla. (Legal Newsline) – Attorneys for Johnson & Johnson on Friday during questioning of a researcher called as a witness by the State attempted to establish that the company’s production of opioid drugs was a government-regulated process with detailed warnings of possible addiction provided.
PEPPER HAMILTON LLP: Brent A. Morowitz Joins Pepper Hamilton's Funds Team in New York
Pepper Hamilton LLP announced that Brent A. Morowitz has joined the firm as of counsel in the Corporate and Securities Practice Group, resident in the New York office. Mr. Morowitz will also be a member of the firm’s Funds Services Group.
Opioid lawyers propose a global settlement team; Pa. attorney critical, says it's likely a ploy to boost their fees
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - Acknowledging it is “likely impossible” to negotiate individual settlements on behalf the nearly 2,000 cities and counties suing the opioid industry, plus thousands more watching from the sidelines, plaintiff lawyers have proposed a unique solution: A “negotiation class” designed to strike a global bargain on behalf of every municipality in the country.
Lawsuit says generic medications were contaminated with cancer-causing impurity
CAMDEN, N.J. (Legal Newsline) – Two manufacturers and a distributor of generic medications are alleged to have sold contaminated products.
Man alleges Oreos aren't 'made with real cocoa,' as advertised
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) – The makers of Oreo cookies are facing a lawsuit from a California man over allegations the cookies' "made with real cocoa" label is false and deceptive.
Lawsuit challenges when doctors can refuse treatment based on personal views
NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) – A group of states is suing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services over a regulation that grants health providers the right to deny medical treatment and services based on the provider's personal views.
Trump's 'overt hostility' toward California caused termination of $1B high-speed rail grant, state claims
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) – California and its High-Speed Rail Authority are challenging the federal government's decision to terminate and de-obligate nearly $1 billion in federal grant money for the state's high-speed rail project, alleging the decision is a result of President Donald Trump's "overt hostility" to the state.
J&J finally gets chance to question opioids researcher during Oklahoma trial, fights 'kingpin' remark
NORMAN , Okla. (Legal Newsline) – On his third day of testimony, an opioids researcher was cross-examined by attorneys for Johnson & Johnson as the company defends itself from allegations that it is to blame for the nation's addiction crisis.
Mayors of Calif. cities will seek to protect their climate change cases with resolution at Hawaii conference
HONOLULU (Legal Newsline) – Climate litigation isn’t on the official agenda when the U.S. Conference of Mayors meets in Honolulu at the end of the month, but it will probably loom in the background.
'It keeps changing': Oklahoma's opioid strategy is a 700-year-old English law that used to regulate wandering sheep
NORMAN, Okla. (Legal Newsline) - The opioid trial now underway in a county courthouse in Oklahoma offers the first look at a legal strategy that could result in tens of billions of dollars in liability against the manufacturers and distributors of addictive narcotic painkillers in similar lawsuits nationwide.
Oklahoma witness in opioid trial says drug users not to blame for addiction crisis
NORMAN, Okla. (Legal Newsline) – During a second day of testimony, an opioid researcher questioned by private attorneys hired by the State of Oklahoma said opioid sellers like Johnson & Johnson sought to shift blame for a prescription drug epidemic onto those not responsible.
Opioids researcher takes stand to criticize J&J in Oklahoma trial
NORMAN, Okla. (Legal Newsline) – An opioids researcher on Tuesday compared doctors over-prescribing opioids to the breaking of a figurative dam that flooded Oklahoma - and the country - during testimony in an important trial taking place in the state.
GREENBERG TRAURIG: Greenberg Traurig’s Henry Greenberg Sworn in as President of the New York State Bar Association
Henry M. Greenberg, a shareholder in the Albany office of global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP, was sworn in by Janet DiFiore, chief judge of the Court of Appeals and the state of New York, as the president of the New York State Bar Association(NYSBA) on Thursday, June 6. Founded in 1876, the NYSBA is the largest voluntary state bar association in the United States.
Marketing of J&J's opioids discussed at Oklahoma's big trial
NORMAN, Okla. (Legal Newsline) – A marketing specialist told attorneys for the State of Oklahoma on Monday that the rise in the sales of opioid drugs could be tied to a similar rise over the same period from 1996 to 2017 to deaths from overdose.
GREENBERG TRAURIG: Greenberg Traurig Strategically Grows Energy Practice with Addition of Rabeha Kamaluddin in Washington, D.C.
Rabeha Kamaluddin has joined global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP’s Washington, D.C. office as a shareholder in the firm’s Energy & Natural Resources and Global Litigation practices. Kamaluddin focuses her practice on energy regulation, compliance, and enforcement matters, regularly representing clients before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and various state public utility commissions. She joins from Dorsey & Whitney LLP, where she was a partner.
In New Hampshire, it's a secret which lawyers have been hired for PFAS lawsuits, and their contract could be challenged
CONCORD, N.H. (Legal Newsline) – New Hampshire’s attorney general either will be hiring or has already hired a mystery law firm to handle the State’s lawsuits in the burgeoning field of PFAS litigation.
BRADLEY ARANT BOULT CUMMINGS: Bradley Partner Charles Roberts Jr. Among Winners of 2019 M&A Advisor Emerging Leaders Awards
Bradley is pleased to announce that Charles A. Roberts Jr., a partner in the firm’s Birmingham office, is among the recipients of the M&A Advisor’s 10th Annual Emerging Leaders Awards.
PFAS lawsuits continue; Two in New Mexico allege harm to cows
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (Legal Newsline) - As the federal government determines the toxicity level for humans exposed to chemicals known as PFAS, new lawsuits allege harm to cows.
JetSmarter files motion to dismiss lawsuit brought by member, cites arbitration clause in agreement
TRENTON, N.J. (Legal Newsline) – On May 31, JetSmarter Inc. asked the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey to grant its motion to dismiss and a compel a former member who is suing them into arbitration.
Google unsuccessful in escaping monopoly lawsuit over stock photo search results
SAN JOSE, Calif. (Legal Newsline) – A federal judge has refused to let Google out of a lawsuit against it filed by a stock photography website.