Chinese drywall plaintiffs keep up hope for recovery

Stay Ordered in Contaminated Steroid Cases

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 23, 2013
Tags: Judge James C. Turk, Products Liability, U.S. District Court - Western District

In these nearly identical suits alleging injury from contaminated steroids manufactured by defendant New England Compounding Pharmacy Inc., the Roanoke U.S. District Court will stay plaintiffs’ motions to remand these matters to state court until the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation decides whether to transfer these actions. Soon after these suits were filed, defendant NECC [...]

TASER Expert’s Testimony Limited

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 22, 2013
Tags: Judge Glen E. Conrad, Products Liability, U.S. District Court - Western District

In this case against a stun gun manufacturer for allegedly failing to provide sufficient warnings about the weapon’s risk for people with heart conditions, a Charlottesville U.S. District Court says earlier limitations it placed on testimony by plaintiff’s expert about TASER’s instructional warnings are not fatal to plaintiff’s case, and defendant’s motion for summary judgment [...]

Failure-to-warn rule tightened in van case

By Peter Vieth
Published: January 17, 2013
Tags: Justice Cleo E. Powell, Justice Donald W. Lemons, Justice Elizabeth A. McClanahan, Justice LeRoy F. Millette Jr., Justice William C. Mims, Products Liability, Supreme Court of Virginia News, Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys, Wrongful Death

A change of heart by a single justice has brought an end to a short-lived “relaxed” standard for failure-to-warn claims under Virginia products liability law. After rehearing a products liability case, Virginia Supreme Court Justice LeRoy F. Millette Jr. switched his position on the standard for use of similar incidents in product failure cases, dashing [...]

Expert’s Use of Inadmissible Evidence Limited

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 15, 2013
Tags: Justice Cleo E. Powell, Products Liability, Supreme Court of Virginia

In this products liability suit against Ford Motor Company filed by a family whose daughter died of severe burns from a key-off fire in the family’s Ford Windstar van, the Supreme Court of Virginia says on rehearing that the trial court did not err in excluding evidence of seven other Ford Windstar fires and in [...]

Cop is out of stun gun death case, maker must defend

By Peter Vieth
Published: January 9, 2013
Tags: Federal Courts, Judge Glen E. Conrad, Products Liability, Wrongful Death

A stun gun manufacturer faces a federal jury trial on claims it failed to provide sufficient warnings about the weapon’s risk for people with heart conditions. While allowing three claims against TASER International Inc. to go forward, a Charlottesville federal judge dismissed all claims against the officer who used a Taser gun to strike Daniel [...]

Drywall Installers Face Building Code Claims

By Deborah Elkins
Published: December 19, 2012
Tags: Judge Mary Jane Hall, Norfolk Circuit Court, Products Liability, Virginia Circuit Courts

A Norfolk Circuit Court preparing to try homeowners’ claims against defendant installers of defective Chinese drywall will exclude evidence of negligence by other defendants who may have settled their claims in multi-district litigation in federal court and will prohibit installer defendants from arguing they are not covered by the Building Code; the court also overrules [...]

Economic Loss Rule Bars ‘Trimboard’ Suit

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 7, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Stephanie Dawn Thacker, Products Liability

The 4th Circuit upholds dismissal of a putative class action complaint filed by plaintiff homeowners alleging defendant Louisiana-Pacific Corporation negligently designed and manufactured Trimboard, a composite building product used for exterior trim in homes plaintiffs purchased. The district court dismissed claims for negligence and violation of the North Carolina Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act [...]

Va. court: Insurance doesn’t cover drywall damages

By The Associated Press
Published: November 2, 2012
Tags: Chinese Drywall, Federal Courts, Products Liability, Supreme Court of Virginia News

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Virginia Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a homeowner’s insurance policy doesn’t cover damage caused by Chinese drywall. Richard Serpe, an attorney for the homeowner, said the unanimous ruling means hundreds of other Virginians whose homes and health were affected by the toxic material also will be unable to collect on their [...]

Third-Party Complaint Allowed in ‘Firepot’ Case

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 24, 2012
Tags: Judge Michael F. Urbanski, Products Liability, U.S. District Court - Western District

In a plaintiff’s products liability suit alleging injuries from use of a “firepot” and “FIREGEL” sold at national housewares chain store, the Roanoke U.S. District Court grants the chain’s motion to file a third-party complaint against companies that produced and distributed the products. Defendant Bed, Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBB) claims the firepot and FIREGEL [...]