Washington Legal Foundation | By Evan M. Tager and Jonathan S. Klein
Despite Daubert’s mandate that district courts must scrutinize expert testimony to ensure that juries hear only reliable and relevant expert testimony, in practice the courts often treat important questions of reliability as matters for cross examination.
Daily Journal | By Glenn Lammi
The California Supreme Court will soon decide whether to review Johnson v. Monsanto, a product-liability case that spawned tens of thousands of similar lawsuits.
The Wall Street Journal | By The Editorial Board
Here’s a shakedown for the history books. On Wednesday Bayer agreed to pay up to $10.9 billion to settle with plaintiffs attorneys who claim its weedkiller Roundup caused cancer.
The Wall Street Journal | By Laura Kusisto and Jacob Bunge
Bayer AG says the new coronavirus is slowing down settlement talks with tens of thousands of plaintiffs who claim its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer, the latest evidence that the pandemic is causing delays and disruptions throughout the legal system.
Reuters | By Ludwig Burger and Patricia Weiss
Talks between Bayer AG (BAYGn.DE) and plaintiff lawyers to settle claims that the German company’s glyphosate-based weedkillers cause cancer have been slowed by the coronavirus pandemic, Bayer’s Chief Executive told daily Handelsblatt.
Reuters | By Tina Bellon Bayer AG has asked a California appeals court to overturn an $86 million verdict that found it was responsible for a couple’s cancer caused by its glyphosate-based weed killer Roundup. In a Friday night filing with the California First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco, the company said the […]
Legal Newsline | By Rich Peters Bayer announced last week that at least 16 entities – including trade groups, several states and the federal government – are supporting the company’s appeal of a $25 million verdict in favor of plaintiff Edwin Hardeman, who alleged Roundup weedkiller caused his cancer. Amicus briefs were filed in the […]
Wall Street Journal | By the Editorial Board Tort lawyers often use the threat of jackpot verdicts to extort settlements from business targets. But when does a shakedown become criminal extortion? Last week the federal government charged Timothy Litzenburg for allegedly crossing that legal line. Mr. Litzenburg, 37, made a name for himself at the […]
CBS News | By Kate Gibson Shares of Monsanto parent Bayer surged on Monday after the U.S. government put itself in the German company’s corner, arguing that a ruling that found the pesticide Roundup caused cancer should be overturned. In a friend of the court brief filed Friday with a San Francisco-based appeals court, the […]
Reuters | By Maria Ponnezhath and Ben Klayman The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Department said a federal appeals court should reverse a lower court verdict finding Bayer AG liable in the case of a California man who blamed its Roundup weed killer for his cancer. The government said in a friend of […]
Bayer today provided an update on its five-point plan to address future Roundup™ litigation risk after its May 27th decision to withdraw from the national class process. The company is now in more control of important aspects of the risk mitigation process and has sketched out two basic scenarios going forward to provide a path to closure of this litigation. The first scenario is based on obtaining a favorable decision by the United States Supreme Court on a cross-cutting issue like federal preemption which would effectively and largely end the U.S. Roundup™ litigation. The second scenario assumes that the Supreme Court either declines to hear the Hardeman case or issues a ruling in favor of plaintiff – in that case the company would activate its own claims administration program.
Read about the five-point plan here.