April 27, 2007:  Santa Clara Contingency Fee Order.  A California Judge recently ordered several cities and counties to cease retaining lawyers on a contingency fee basis, as such arrangements are inconsistent with the desired neutrality that government lawyers should have.  Walter Olson gives some analysis of the order's importance at Point of Law.

February 13, 2007:  Zyprexa Injunction Order Part 1,  Zyprexa Injunction Order Part 2.  In this 77-page order, Judge Weinstein upholds his injunction, and finds that New York Times reporter Alex Berenson, along with Dr. David Egilman and attorney James Gottstein, conspired to violate the protective order keeping various Eli Lilly documents regarding Zyprexa confidential.  Ted Frank notes the order and links to his earlier posts about the subject over at Point of Law.

February 9, 2007:   Motion to Dismiss based on Materiality in Brocade Case.  Fortune reporter Roger Parloff has an interesting analysis of a legal defense being made by Gregory Reyes, ex-CEO of Brocade, in one of many securities cases against him.  Professor Larry Ribstein noted the case, its similarities to the highly publicized Steve Jobs affair, and its implications on two separate occasions at Point of Law, and also on his own blog, Ideoblog.

February 9, 2007:   5th Circuit Brief of Appellants CSFB,  5th Circuit Merrill Brief,  5th Circuit Appellees Brief,  5th Circuit CSFB Reply Brief,  5th Circuit Merrill Reply Brief.  The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals is reviewing the class certification in Regents of the University of California, et al. v. Credit Suisse First Boston, et al., in which various investors are suing various investment banks, law firms, and auditors involved with Enron, hoping to recover the full amount of their losses.  These are the briefs from the major parties.  Ted Frank parsed the plaintiffs' logic in this and other related cases at Point of Law, and testified before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services on the closely related issue of Milberg Weiss's abuse of securities class actions in June 2006.

December 20, 2006:  The Liability Project has a new page with materials relating to FDA Preemption and Pharmaceutical Product Liability.

November 27, 2006:  Duval Flood Damage Order.  Judge Stanwood Duval, Jr., refused to throw out thousands of cases against insurance companies for damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, despite clauses excluding flood damages.  AEI hosted a conference on the legal fallout from Katrina in 2005.  Ted Frank wrote about these cases in August, and also has a new Point of Law post discussing Judge Duval's order.

November 22, 2006:  Vioxx MDL Class Certification Denial.  Judge Fallon refused to certify a nationwide personal-injury class and hinted that even state-wide personal-injury classes could not be certified as a class because of the predominating individualized issues.  Ted Frank analyzes the order at Point of Law, which also has ongoing coverage of Vioxx; an earlier Liability Project white paper explored the issues underlying the Vioxx litigation.

September 22, 2006:  Pelman v. McDonald's Dismissal Ruling.  The four-year-old class action against McDonald's seeking to blame the fast food giant for the obesity of class members was given new life by this ruling by Southern District of New York Judge Robert Sweet, in which he said that plaintiffs had made specific enough allegations about how McDonald's advertising misled them to require a response from the defense.  Judge Sweet had previously granted dismissal motions on two previous occasions, but the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals restored part of the case in 2005.  Ted Frank wrote about the significance of the ruling at PoL, and discussed the case in his law review article, "A Taxonomy of Obesity Litigation."

September 20, 2006:  California AG Bill Lockyer's Complaint against Auto Makers, from a lawsuit filed today against Chrysler, Ford, GM, Honda and Toyota.  Lockyer alleges that the auto manufactuers' vehicles have caused "significant harm to California's environment, economy, agriculture and public health" by contributing to global warming.  As even the official press release implies, this lawsuit is part of a larger struggle between California and the rest of the planet over vehicle emissions, which Michael Greve discussed in a law review article entitled "Federal Preemption: James Madison, Call Your Office."

September 8, 2006:  Merck Motion in Limine in Cona Vioxx Case, which details the tactics of plaintiffs' attorney Mark Lanier in Ernst v. Merck. Ted Frank wrote about the problems of "reality-tv game-show"-style litigation in his working paper on the Vioxx Litigation.

February 10, 2006:  Baron Budd Asbestos Memo.  This is the Senate Report reproduction of the infamous Baron & Budd memorandum coaching asbestos plaintiffs how to testify at a deposition.  Professor Lester Brickman has estimated that 80-90% of asbestos claims are fraudulent.  (For other information regarding asbestos, including one of Professor Brickman's papers, click here.)

January 20, 2006:  New FDA Preemption Rule Selections.  Selections from the FDA's new rule change regarding labeling and preemption, including a brief summary, an explanation of the preemption of state law, and a justification based on Executive Order 13132.

January 6, 2006:  Weiss v National Westminster Bank - Memorandum Supporting Motion to Dismiss.  Motion to dismiss suit attempting to hold bank solely liable for bombing committed by Hamas, which allegedly received funding from charity, which allegedly channels funding through organization that held accounts at NatWest bank.  The plaintiffs have not sued Hamas, the estate of the suicide bomber, or the Saudi charities.  Ted Frank discusses the case in a post at Overlawyered.com.

November 29, 2005:  New York City Gun Lawsuit - Plaintiffs' Opposition to Dismissal.  New York City Gun Lawsuit - Defendants' Reply.  Briefing on the constitutionality and scope of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act in City of New York v. Beretta U.S.A. Corp. AEI Liability Project director Ted Frank discussed the litigation on Overlawyered.com on April 13, 2004. 

November 18, 2005:  Vioxx Daubert Opinion.  Judge Fallon's Opinion on the Daubert and Daubert-like motions in the Irvin Plunkett Vioxx case.  Ted Frank analyzes the opinion at Point of Law.

October 27, 2005:  George Martindale Deposition Transcript.  The George Martindale deposition transcript from the silicosis MDL, as discussed on Point of Law.

October 20, 2005:  MS AG Flood Exclusion Lawsuit - Removal and Complaint;   MS AG Flood Exclusion Lawsuit - Remand Brief.  These are procedural briefs in the lawsuit brought by Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood against insurance companies seeking to overturn flood exclusion clauses in homeowners' policies, as discussed in our Katrina's Liability Implications panel: the notice of removal to federal court filed by the defendants, and the Attorney General's motion to remand to state court. The complaint in the case is attached as an exhibit to the notice of  removal.

July 28, 2005:  "Grand Theft Auto" Complaint: Cohen v. Take-Two Interactive Software (S.D.N.Y. Case No. 05-CV-6734).  The case is a prime example of what Michael Greve calls "Harm-Less Lawsuits."  Ted Frank's Overlawyered posts: Jul. 28; Jul. 27; Jul. 16.