The Jon & Marc Podcast

Key Takeaways NEC Trial Setbacks: A recent defense verdict in St. Louis adds to the challenges of NEC litigation, though plaintiff attorneys are looking toward the upcoming first MDL bellwether trial later this year to shift momentum. Bard PowerPort Shifts Strategy: The second Bard PowerPort bellwether trial focuses on infection injuries rather than fracture or migration, serving as a critical pla...

Key Takeaways The Long-Term Threat to Personal Injury Margins: Autonomous vehicles and advanced commercial automation represent an inevitable shift that will eventually reduce standard traffic accidents, drastically shrinking the conventional personal injury market and forcing firms to run as lean corporate entities to survive. The Boundaries of Fully Automated Intake: While automated systems proc...

Key Takeaways SCOTUS Roundup Ruling: The Supreme Court issued a 7-2 ruling finding that federal pesticide law preempts state-law failure-to-warn claims. However, alternative causes of action like negligence and design defect remain active. Missouri Class Action Delay: The final approval hearing for the Missouri Roundup class action, originally scheduled for July 9th, has been pushed back. This del...

Key Takeaways Building a woman-owned, woman-led plaintiff firm requires rethinking traditional law firm hierarchies and creating mentorship pipelines for both male and female talent. A founder's personal brand can become a limiting factor. Rebranding to Lady Legal Law allowed the firm to expand geographically while maintaining its female-led identity and values. Women in legal leadership are r...

Marc Rioux and Joe Fantini dive into a busy week in mass torts, covering major developments across Depo-Provera, Social Media Addiction, Roundup, and Uber litigation. Key Takeaways: Depo-Provera Settlement in Works: Under two years to settlement, potentially 5,000+ cases with hundreds of millions in damages. Judge Rogers vacated trials and Daubert hearings, signaling deal imminent. Social Media Ad...

Rachel Lanier and Sarah Lanier, The Lanier Law Firm, join Jon Robinson and Marc Rioux to break down how AI is being weaponized against vulnerable people, and how lawyers are fighting back. Key Takeaways: ChatGPT and similar AI platforms have provided dangerous advice to vulnerable users, including suicidal youth, prioritizing engagement over safety, a critical issue Rachel and Sarah are litigating...

Key Takeaways NEC $60M Verdict Overturned: The Illinois appellate court reversed a massive 2024 plaintiffs' verdict due to improper jury instructions regarding failure to warn claims and the improper handling of prejudicial executive compensation evidence, forcing a retrial. J&J Seeks Total Talc Dismissal: Capitalizing on a recent California defense verdict and the subsequent withdrawal of...

Key Takeaways A Supreme Court ruling has opened up $170 billion in AIPA tariff refunds for importers and downstream businesses, creating a major niche co-counsel opportunity for law firms. Acting quickly before suppliers receive their tariff refunds makes reimbursement conversations much smoother and less adversarial for downstream businesses. Moving to Puerto Rico under Act 60 allows attorneys to...

Key Takeaways Two New MDLs Established: The JPML has officially formed two new mass tort dockets: the Dupixent litigation in the District of New Jersey and the Spinal Cord Stimulator litigation against Boston Scientific in the Central District of California. Dupixent Injury Focus: The Dupixent MDL targets a rare T-cell subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma , drawing from a massive potential pool of roug...

Key Takeaways Lee Floyd spent over a decade defending major corporations like Johnson & Johnson and Bayer before transitioning to plaintiff's work in 2020. A detailed conversation about systemic abuse at Cumberland Hospital prompted her to leave her corporate defense partnership within a single week to represent injured children. Floyd secured a $360 million verdict in her very first trial...

 Key Takeaways The #1 Ranked Mass Tort remains the undisputed heavyweight champion of the board after securing a staggering $27 million settlement on a school district bellwether case that was originally selected entirely by the defense. Depo Provera has officially broken into the top three as a historic "rocket docket" under Judge Rogers, on track to advance from MDL inception to a Dece...

Key Takeaways Personal injury firms attract private capital because their high-volume, mass-advertising models offer predictable cash flow, unlike mass torts dockets that have undefined timelines and cash flow volatility. Management Services Organizations (MSOs) allow outside investors to buy into the legal space by owning the service-providing business rather than the regulated law firm equity it...

Key Takeaways Paul Farrell Jr. led the legal strategy that recovered approximately $70 billion in national opioid settlements by filing lawsuits against every level of the pharmaceutical supply chain. The settlement funds are legally structured within all 50 states to guarantee they are spent strictly on addiction treatment and abatement rather than disappearing into general government budgets. Th...

Key Takeaways Social Media Litigation Shifts to School Districts: The first bellwether school district trial is set for next month against Meta in a rural Kentucky district, following massive pre-trial settlements by YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok. Depo-Provera Moving at Record Speed: With expert depositions complete and Daubert motions fully underway, the litigation is on a strict "rocket doc...

The script is flipped in this episode of The Jon & Marc Podcast, as RR Digital's VP of Client Services, Jen Cox, hosts this episode and interviews Jon Robinson and Marc Rioux. In this episode, you learn: True business partnerships require complete alignment on long-term vision and an unwavering commitment to look out for each other. Jon Robinson's early restaurant ventures collapsed af...

This week on Tort Talk, Jon Robinson and Marc Rioux are joined by Joseph Fantini of Rosen Injury Lawyers to break down a whirlwind of activity in the mass tort space. From massive appellate wins in Missouri to strategic pivots in the Bard PowerPort litigation, we cover the updates you need to manage your docket effectively. In this episode we talk about: NEC Litigation Milestone: We discuss the Mi...

Sara Williams has built one of the most engaged audiences of any attorney on social media, bringing her high-quality case referrals, partnerships, and the ability to market herself on her own terms. Some key takeaways include: Authenticity is the foundation of a successful legal brand because clients and juries can sense when a lawyer is putting on an act. Building a personal brand within a larger...

This week on Tort Talk, Jon and Marc are live from the Vanderbilt Hotel in Puerto Rico, joined by Joseph Fantini of Rosen Injury Lawyers to break down a high-stakes month in mass tort litigation. While the industry gathers for Mass Torts Puerto Rico, the legal calendar is moving faster than ever with billion-dollar claims and critical "make-or-break" deadlines. In this episode, we dive i...

Holding Big Tech Accountable: Mark discusses the legal battles surrounding social media addiction and why corporations must face the consequences of their product. Leveling the Playing Field: AI allows smaller firms to sift through millions of discovery documents that were once used by large corporations to hide the truth. The Limit of Technology: While AI is a powerful assistant for data, it cann...

Key Takeaways: The Supreme Court is weighing Roundup preemption : The Justices heard oral arguments on April 27th regarding whether FIFRA preempts state law failure-to-warn claims, a decision that could impact labeling litigation across the country. Internal conflict in Roundup MDL : Leading MDL firms have filed a motion to intervene in the Missouri class action settlement, arguing that the settle...

Matthew Bergman returns to The Jon & Marc Podcast to discuss the latest developments in social media addiction cases and the groundbreaking litigation against OpenAI. Key Takeaways Social media addiction litigation has reached a turning point where the first major trial results are beginning to shape the future of the industry. The legal strategy against OpenAI includes claims that specific so...

 Key Takeaways: The Uber $5,000 Verdict : While the dollar amount was low, the verdict is seen as a "win-win" because it established Uber’s liability for driver conduct and cleared the "common carrier" hurdle in a defense-picked case. Bard PowerPort Momentum : The first Bellwether trial has begun in Arizona; as a plaintiff pick, this case is crucial for setting the valuation an...

Key Takeaways: The "Ick Factor" and Cleaning Failure : The Lanier Law Firm's Kelsey Stokes explains how Olympus, the leading endoscope manufacturer, produces devices used in roughly 30 million procedures annually, yet these reusable scopes are designed in a way that makes them nearly impossible to fully clean. The Scale of the Crisis : Data suggests an unacceptable complication rate...

Key Takeaways: The Energy Shift at MTMP : Unlike the somber mood of previous years, there is a "renewed and refreshed energy" in the market driven by capital reinvestment from settling legacy torts like hernia mesh and Zantac. The Return of the PI Firm : There is a significant influx of single-event personal injury firms entering the space, utilizing their existing "know, like, and...

Key Takeaways: The "AI Mailroom" Solution : Foundation AI serves as a bridge between inbound documents and practice management systems, automating the tedious work of capturing, naming, and filing documents. Efficiency Drivers : Plaintiff and contingency-based firms are the primary drivers of AI adoption because they are financially incentivized to be more efficient, unlike the defense s...