Articles Posted in Legal News

Hundreds of sunscreen recall lawsuits have been filed against Johnson & Johnson since the discovery of benzene in sunscreen prompted the company to recall 5 major brands of Neutrogena and Aveeno spray-on sunscreen. Thousands of additional sunscreen lawsuits are expected to be filed against J&J (and possibly other manufacturers) moving forward. These sunscreen lawsuits will likely be consolidated into a new “class-action” MDL.

In this post, we will evaluate how much these sunscreen recall lawsuit settlement amounts (if they are successful) by comparing them to settlements in prior mass tort cases involving defective products and similar injuries.

Our law firm’s purpose here is to provide the latest information in the sunscreen cancer lawsuits. Our firm is not handling these claims.

In the U.S., we have 2 different levels of courts: federal courts and state courts. This page will attempt to explain the difference between federal and state courts.

State Courts

State courts are courts of very general jurisdiction. They have the authority to hear and decide almost any legal issue within the general purview of the state’s authority — which is basically everything. Anything that is governed by state statutory law (as opposed to federal law) is within the authority and jurisdiction of state courts. This includes everything from criminal offenses, divorce, estates, and more.

The Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) is a crucial piece of legislation that allows private individuals to sue the United States in federal court for most torts committed by persons acting on behalf of the United States. Before the FTCA was enacted in 1946, the doctrine of sovereign immunity prevented such lawsuits. This doctrine essentially stated that “the King can do no wrong,” meaning that the government could not be sued without its consent. The FTCA was a significant departure from this principle, providing a mechanism for citizens to seek redress for injuries caused by the negligent or wrongful acts of federal employees.

Historical Background

The FTCA was passed in the wake of numerous claims against the federal government, especially after incidents like the B-25 bomber crash into the Empire State Building in 1945. Before the FTCA, individuals who were injured by the government had to seek compensation through special legislation passed by Congress. This process was cumbersome and often resulted in inconsistent outcomes. The FTCA was designed to streamline this process and provide a uniform method for individuals to pursue claims against the federal government.

Our lawyers are helping victims file a CPAP lawsuit who have cancer, respiratory complications, or other injuries from their defective CPAP subject to a recall.

A rapidly growing number of CPAP machine lawsuits have been filed since Philips recalled millions of CPAP devices used for sleep apnea after discovering that users were inhaling toxic foam particles. Many more CPAP recall lawsuits have been filed against Philips and have been consolidated into the CPAP class-action MDL.

This post will examine the Philips recall lawsuit and the types of health conditions or injuries potentially linked to the recalled Philips CPAP machines. Our lawyers also

The CPAP recall lawsuits against Philips have spawned a new group of related satellite lawsuits against SoClean, Inc. SoClean is a company that makes a product specifically used to sanitize the recalled CPAP devices.

Lawsuits have been filed against SoClean alleging that the company falsely marketed their product as “safe” and “healthy” for sanitizing CPAP machines and other breathing devices.

According to the lawsuits, SoClean’s product was unsafe because it emitted harmful levels of ozone gas, which exceeded the maximum safe limits set by the FDA.

Every aspect of litigation is based on time. Litigants only have a certain number of days to respond to motions, answer discovery, or serve a summons. Perhaps the biggest time-related concern in litigation is the statute of limitations. The statute of limitations is the due date for a lawsuit. If a claim is brought outside the statute of limitations, it is generally almost always barred and must be dismissed.  Americans are now appreciating more how harsh limitations can be seeing Bill Cosby not being asked to account of the allegations against him.

How Statutes of Limitation Work

A statute of limitations should be thought of more of a time frame and less of a deadline. The right to bring legal action accrues whenever the subject matter of the claim occurred. For example, in a car accident case, the right to bring a claim begins right when the accident occurred. In a medical malpractice case, the period begins when the malpractice occurs or when the victim discovers it. Once that period has officially started, the clock on the potential claim has begun ticking. The relevant statute of limitations will then lay out a period during which that claim must be brought. For example, in Maryland, the statute of limitations on most personal injury actions is three years. This means that a lawsuit for a car accident must be brought within the three years that begins when the accident occurs. If the case is not brought within that time, it can never be brought.

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Once a jury hands down their verdict, the case is over, right? Sometimes, but not always. At the close of trial, both sides generally have the ability to appeal certain issues or things that may not have gone their way. Most important to remember here though: parties can only appeal legal issues, not factual ones. So an appeal should not be thought of as another opportunity to try a case. Instead, appeals are there to correct mistakes or misapplications of law. Should they determine that a new trial is warranted, appeals courts have the ability to order one. But they are strictly there to determine legal issues, not factual ones.

Framework For Appeals

Every state is different, meaning every court system is different. Since this blog covers issues pertaining to the national personal injury community, I will use the federal appeals process to lay out how things work. Granted, the federal appeals courts share some similarities with many states (especially Maryland), so this should give you an idea of how things work from state to state.

The federal court system is three-tiered. There are the trial courts, which are referred to as Federal District Courts. There are the intermediate appeals courts, which are called Federal Circuit Courts. And the “court of last resort” in the federal system is the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). The state of Maryland has a similar system with trial courts, an intermediate appeals court, and a state court of last resort.

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Jurisdiction and venue often arise in the context of “forum shopping” when filing a lawsuit.

Unquestionably, it is better to file a lawsuit in some places compared to others and good lawyering requires careful consideration of venue and jurisdiction and the distinction between the two.

In many jurisdictions, like Maryland and Virginia, one or two places tend to be the preferred stop for plaintiffs’ lawyers for personal injury lawsuits.

To better understand  “forum shopping,” you have to understand the concept of a “forum” in the first place, which requires an understanding of the difference between personal jurisdiction and venue. Before we distinguish jurisdiction from venue, let’s talk about them both.

What Is Jurisdiction?

Personal jurisdiction is an incredibly important piece of the puzzle when putting together a lawsuit. It boils down to is a court’s ability to exercise its power over an entity, whether that is a person, business, trust, etc.

For example, say you are a Maryland resident, it would feel unfair if an Oklahoma court could render a judgment over you if you have no connections to that state. That is where the doctrine of jurisdiction comes into play: it is all about the court’s ability to bring you under its power.

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The American civil justice system allows for one type of recovery in personal injury cases: damages. Damages, or compensation, can manifest themselves in a few different forms in personal injury cases. People tend to throw around terms such as “general damages,” “special damages,” “non-economic,” and “economic” damages, so this post should help you differentiate between these various types of damage awards.

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