Emerging Litigation Podcast

Annual U.S. litigation cost estimates vary wildly.  Some say $250 billion, others say $430 billion. When you consider indirect costs, such as lost productivity or economic damages, some put the costs as high as  $1.5 trillion. According to Statista, more than $5 billion is spent on employment litigation alone, and another $4.5 billion on commercial litigation. Litigation surrounding intellectual p...

This isn’t going to be another theoretical sermon on the business of law, but how two partners  – with the help of a business expert – re-envisioned their practice, throwing out traditional models and transforming their firm into something unique. First, we’re going to talk about looking strategically at your law firm as you would any business. The goal here, being tweaking or adjusting your pract...

The PFAS family of man-made compounds are found in countless consumer products, as well as medical devices and firefighting foam. The incredibly strong carbon-fluorine bond that make PFAS so useful also makes them incredibly persistent. They are so ubiquitous that PFAS can be found in the blood of every human on earth and rainwater throughout the world.  In this episode we are going to give you so...

According to the Department of Agriculture Americans consume 137 pounds of fresh produce per year. That not only fuels our bodies but also a $146 billion industry.  Produce starts to degrade immediately after harvest, so transporting fresh fruits and vegetables from farms to stores in a safe and timely manner poses numerous challenges. What legal and reputational risks do growers, brokers, and shi...

What’s gotten into some corporations these days?  Some are reducing their carbon footprint and reducing waste. Some are demanding ethical behavior. Some are even paying attention to wages of frontline workers. In this episode we discuss the role of attorneys and in-house counsel in the courageous new world of Environment, Social, and Governance, or ESG. And, not to disappoint, I mention a beloved...

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently struck down Berkeley, California's ban on natural gas infrastructure in new buildings. The court ruled unanimously that the ban violates federal law. This subject is important as we will likely see more natural gas bans in the future and the Berkeley case has set a precedent for how similar cases may be treated.  The case was brought by the Californ...

The Federal  Trade Commission’s proposed rule banning non-compete agreements between employers and workers has met with considerable support and just as much opposition. Proposed on Jan. 5, 2023, a vote on a final rule not anticipated until Spring 2024. Will all of the challenges to the rule result in a substantially different final version? Why has the FTC chosen now? Who is contesting the rule a...

Challenged by the pandemic, war, trade conflicts, natural disasters, consumer demand, and inflationary pressures, the global supply chain has drawn heightened scrutiny for its impact on the economy, the labor market, the delivery of goods and services, and national security.  What have the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission had to say? Have they sufficiently addressed the issu...

The IRS closed more than 72,000 appeals last year and its Chief Counsel's Office received more than 65,000 cases. That's a lot of disputes. Safe to say they are about rules. Following rules. Not following rules. Questioning rules. Then, there are rules about rules that the IRS must follow.   The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) is such a beast. The APA places requirements on federal ag...

There are no borders when it comes to commerce, which means there are no borders when it comes to business disputes and litigation, either.   In addition to evidence and witnesses being spread across continents -- from Chicago to Shanghai to Sumatra -- nations'  various rules and traditions governing discovery is another substantial complicating factor.  Navigating these complexities requires...

Auto-GPT is a new generative artificial intelligence application which autonomously “self-prompts” to engage beyond a human-chatbot discussion. This takes us into a realm of AI self-prompted actions that do not need additional human inputs. It also potentially puts the “traditional” GPT models on a fast track to further reduce human interaction. The number of use cases as well as the number of leg...

You might think that if you purchase a product for a price inflated by bad actors in the supply chain that you would be able to collect damages. Unfortunately, depending on who you are, you would be wrong. Consumers and businesses, indirect purchasers of products whose prices are fixed by those who supply the maker of your purchase may not collect damages in states that, surprisingly, do not have...

Consumers are driving a wave of litigation against companies for allegedly sharing details of what videos they watch on their platforms.  Will litigation tamp down this activity?  What harm is being caused?  How will existing laws be interpreted?  Are these organizations within their rights?  Dozens of organizations -- ranging from the rough-and-tumble NFL to the decidedly less rough-and-tumble NP...

In this episode we talk about the advantages of having technology and software development capabilities inside your law firm. Can you imagine? And we’re not just talking about someone who is adept at unjamming the printer.   While the legal tech industry offers myriad high-quality solutions (some of my best friends are technology solutions), there are times when a litigator just wants that one thi...

Last year the Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis & Overholtz law firm filed the first class action against L’Oréal and Softsheen-Carson for injuries, primarily to Black women, allegedly caused by hair relaxers and straighteners.  Now there are more than 60 cases consolidated in multidistrict litigation.   Recent studies cited in the litigation show that Black women who use these products develop cancers...

According to studies cited in a 2019 article in Business Insider , people develop first impressions of you “even before you open your mouth,” that your mere appearance “affects how trustworthy, promiscuous, and powerful people think you are.” It’s the trustworthy part that attorneys need to pay attention to. Regardless of the strength of their case or whether the law is on their side, an attorney...

Diversity and inclusion initiatives aren’t just valuable for checking off compliance boxes and writing marketing copy. Those benefits are a distant second and third to the genuine value team diversity has on the success of a company or a project. That also means law firms and trials. A recent article published by the American Bar Association Tort and Insurance Practice Section hailed diversity of...

It’s unlikely Sen. Elizabeth Warren has a future in copywriting for the fintech industry. (That was sarcasm.) Warren, who championed the creation of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), calls the Zelle digital payments network a “preferred tool for grifters like romance scammers, cryptocurrency con artists, and those who prowl social media sites advertising concert tickets and purebred pup...

Maryland and Missouri are the latest states to legalize recreational cannabis for people 21 and older. Voters came out in favor of legalization in the November 2022 midterms, bringing the total recreational jurisdictions to 22 states and the District of Columbia. Voters in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Arkansas, however, decided against recreational marijuana. It remains legal for medical reason...

The European Union’s new Unified Patent Court is an international body set up by participating EU Member States to deal with the infringement and validity of both Unitary Patents and European patents. The court's objective is “putting an end to costly parallel litigation and enhancing legal certainty.” Unitary patents are intended to make it possible to get patent protection in up to 25 EU Me...

Before COVID-19 came to America in early 2020, “going to court” literally meant putting on your shoes and walking into a courthouse, typically a large building with courtrooms inside, and people in robes and business suits and, in some cases, more restrictive attire.   Stoked by necessity, courts sprinted toward solutions for keeping the wheels of justice spinning while also keeping everyone away...

It's apparently (and hopefully) on its last legs. The Covid-19 pandemic was the most recent health issue to raise questions around government’s involvement (or interference) in an individual’s control over their own medical treatment. In their article – Government Involvement in Medical Care Decisions During Outbreaks of Disease: How Far is Too Far? – our guests wrote about the intersection o...

The judicial system is overburdened for a number of reasons, and greater efficiency is a must if court systems are to achieve their important objectives. Technology and openness to all that it offers is a key solution, something that was tried, tested and proven during the Covid pandemic which closed courthouses and law offices around the nation. Along with technology, improvements can be made by...

When large companies face massive mass tort litigation, one way they can survive is to file for bankruptcy protection and reorganize.  3M recently put its Aearo Technologies subsidiary into bankruptcy in the face of more than 230,000 claims  that's its defective earplugs caused hearing loss.  When it came to filing bankruptcy 3M said Aearo was solely responsible for the product. But for sever...

The pressure on trial lawyers, judges, plaintiffs, defendants, and court systems is only increasing. Take New Jersey as an example, where the backlog of cases nearly quadrupled in a year between February 2020 and 2021, the first year of the pandemic, according to NJ Spotlight News (NJSN) . The state is also facing a historic shortage of jurists, “leading to overworked judges, huge case backlogs an...