Product liability defendants in New York were glad to hear earlier this week that Governor Hochul had finally vetoed the Grieving Families Act (GFA) which, if signed, would have greatly increased allowable damages in wrongful death cases and the class of persons who could recover for them.

Continue Reading New York’s Governor Vetoes Expansion of Wrongful Death Damages – For Now

Rocco Petrilli and Andrew Hatch of National Cannabis Risk Prevention Services also contributed to this article.

Novel cannabis products and our understanding of how they interact with our bodies are evolving in tandem, which is unique compared with any other consumer product. Although cannabis research has been outpaced by consumer behavior and public policy, it is now catching up. Relying on new studies, attorneys may soon seek to establish medical causation that links the use of high-THC products to cardiovascular conditions, mental health issues and susceptibilities in certain consumer populations. The hemp industry is not immune, given the recent explosion of unregulated but intoxicating hemp-derived products that contain levels of THC similar to regulated cannabis products. Continue Reading Cannabis and Hemp Companies Disregard Emerging Product Liability Risks at Their Peril

Serving a defendant that is located outside the United States must comply with U.S. law and the law of the defendant’s home country, as well as any international agreement that may exist between the United States and the defendant’s home country, to ensure the service will be enforceable. From a practical standpoint, this means international service of process is time-consuming and expensive in most cases. Continue Reading Serving Taiwanese Defendants by Mail under the Federal Rules

On this site, we previously reported about the comprehensive rule changes made in New York to a defendant’s obligation to provide disclosure regarding available insurance coverage. We also covered the immediate calls for amendments to these new insurance disclosure requirements as to some of the more onerous provisions among the new rules. Continue Reading New York Amends the New Insurance Disclosure Requirements

Among the bills signed by New York Governor Hochul at the close of 2021 – and in addition to the bill that significantly changed New York’s insurance disclosure requirements that was the focus of our previous posts, “Amendments to New York’s Onerous New Insurance Disclosure Requirements May Be Imminent” and Continue Reading New York Enacts New Rule of Evidence Expanding the Scope of the Admissibility of Employee-Agent Hearsay Statements