Worldwide: Class Actions

Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court has dealt a unanimous1 blow to plaintiffs’ asbestos lawyers, and potentially to plaintiffs’ lawyers in a wide range of pharmaceutical, chemical and tobacco products cases requiring scientific evidence to prove specific causation.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently issued an opinion that bolsters medical device manufacturers' arsenal of defenses in design-defect products liability actions.

In an effort to avoid the impact of the completed operations aggregate limit, policyholder counsel sometimes attempt to characterize claims as (1) rip-out exposures, or (2) as relating to "abandoned or unused materials," so as to come within a common insurance policy carve-out from the Completed Operations Hazard.

Section 8(b) of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act ("RESPA") provides that "[n]o person shall give [or] accept any portion, split, or percentage of any charge made or received for the rendering of a real estate settlement service in connection with a transaction involving a federally related mortgage loan other than for services actually performed."

On February 21, 2012, New York state’s highest court unanimously refused to extend due process protection to property owners challenging a tax lien foreclosure sale on grounds that they did not receive notice of their repurchase rights. Consequently, New York property owners, who were unapprised of their repurchase rights, will be unable to challenge the foreclosure on that basis.

Based upon a recent decision of the Massachusetts Appeals Court, a Lender’s inability to produce an original, or a copy, of a promissory note secured by a mortgage may impair the Lender’s ability to foreclose upon its mortgage.

In Credit Suisse Sec. (USA) LLC v. Simmonds, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the application of the statute of limitations for claims brought under Section 16(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

A recent wave of lawsuits is challenging what had been a growing trend of Delaware corporations to include exclusive forum provisions in their bylaws.

A recent wave of lawsuits is challenging what had been a growing trend of Delaware corporations to include exclusive forum provisions in their bylaws.

Employees may believe they can premise a defamation case on their employment termination. However, Hearn v. Pac. Gas & Elec. Co., 108 Cal. App. 5th 301 (2025), holds otherwise.

Ever since the landmark case New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964), to succeed on a defamation claim, plaintiffs who are also public figures have a constitutional requirement...

The litigation privilege insulates communications made by lawyers and their clients during, and in some circumstances, prior to judicial or quasi-judicial proceedings from defamation and other tort claims.