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Employees of Monsanto ghostwrote scientific reports that U.S. regulators relied on to determine that a chemical in its Roundup weed killer does not cause cancer, farmers and others suing the company claimed in court filings, according to a Reuters report.

Monsanto is involved in a mass litigation in federal court in San Francisco claiming the company failed to warn that exposure to Roundup could cause non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of cancer, writes Reuters’ Brendan Pierson.

“Plaintiffs claim that Monsanto’s toxicology manager ghostwrote parts of a scientific report in 2013 that was published under the names of several academic scientists, and his boss ghostwrote parts of another in 2000,” Pierson reports.

Read the Reuters article.

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ABC News moved closer to a jury trial in South Dakota after a judge there moved along a lawsuit alleging that the network defamed Beef Products Inc. in its coverage of a meat product called lean, finely textured beef, which critics have dubbed “pink slime,” reports The Hollywood Reporter.

“BPI claims $1.9 billion in damage with the possibility the amount could be tripled if the plaintiff can prove ABC News knowingly lied about the safety of a food product,” writes reporter Eriq Gardner. “The plaintiff has previously scored wins in keeping the case in a state court and then prevailing against First Amendment arguments on a motion to dismiss.”

A jury “could determine that there is clear and convincing evidence that ABC Broadcasting and [reporter Jim] Avila were reckless,” the judge ruled.

The judge provided ABC News, a unit of Disney, with one piece of good news: the court dismissed claims against anchor Diane Sawyer, Gardner reports.

Read the Hollywood Reporter article.

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A Texas woman is suing a railroad and a bus company for the death of her father who was killed when a freight train slammed into the tour bus carrying him and other senior citizens, according to a post on the website of Androvett Legal Media & Marketing.

Kenneth Hoffman, 82, and three other people died in the March 7 accident in Biloxi, Mississippi. The bus was headed from a Bastrop, Texas, senior center to Boomtown Casino in Biloxi. The charter bus got stuck at a train crossing known to be hazardous for long vehicles and marked with a warning sign.

The lawsuit was filed March 10 in Dallas County State District Court on behalf of Hoffman’s daughter Kimberly Chapman of Lockhart, Texas. Defendants include Echo Tours and Charters and CSX Transportation Inc. among others. Representing Chapman is Houston lawyer Larry Wilson of Lanier Law Firm, one of the country’s premiere personal injury firms. Wilson, who specializes in transportation accidents, says:

“This tragedy should have never happened. It’s horrifying that a charter bus would ignore a warning sign and get high-centered on the tracks. CSX could have implemented policies relating to speed and procedures that greatly reduced the risk of a catastrophe like this.”

The case is Kimberly Kay Chapman v. Echo Tours and Charters, LT DBA Echo Transportation; TBL Group Inc.; Diamond Tours Inc. and CSX Transportation, Inc., Case DC-17-02924, filed in Dallas County District Court.

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A Travis County jury has returned a verdict against Chicago Title of Texas, LLC and other real estate-related businesses, finding they defrauded a young Danish woman of all proceeds from the sale of her $1.35 million condominium at the exclusive Residences at W Austin, according to a post on the website of Androvett Legal Media & Marketing.

The scheme involved a falsified power of attorney to execute contracts and closing documents in the sale of the condo, and a forgery in connection with a subsequent sale of a promissory note.

The Androvett post continues:

Mari-Louise Larsen, a Danish citizen, filed the breach of fiduciary duty and fraud claim in 2013 against her estranged husband, Andre Jones, an Austin-area resident, as well as Chicago Title and the other firms. Larsen, now 30, first met Jones in Austin’s Sixth Street entertainment district while visiting the area in 2007. After a long-distance courtship, the couple married in Denmark in 2009.

While in Denmark and waiting to move to Austin, Larsen testified she agreed to buy the luxury high-rise condo in Austin with funds from a family inheritance. However, Jones convinced her that Texas law required the names of both spouses to be on the title, despite the fact it was her separate property. Larsen and Jones later decided to divorce and sell the property. Jones then convinced Chicago Title’s contracted fee attorney, Wally Tingley, to use falsely notarized documents to close the sale without his wife’s knowledge. Jones pocketed all of the profits as the marriage deteriorated.

“This is a case of a con artist taking advantage of a wealthy young woman and actively working with others to violate the law and professional standards in the real estate industry,” said Larsen’s lawyer, Brian N. Hail of Gruber Elrod Johansen Hail Shank LLP in Dallas. “As acknowledged by Chicago Title and its fee attorney, this was one of the worst real estate transactions anyone has ever seen.”

Hail believes the jury’s finding that Chicago Title is responsible for the actions of its fee attorneys may have significant implications on future litigation involving the real estate industry.

“The jury finding that Chicago Title is vicariously liable for its fee attorney, due to the control it exerted throughout the entire transaction, may call into question the company’s entire business model of attempting to delegate closing and escrow responsibilities in the Texas market, and perhaps nationwide.”

In addition to Chicago Title and Jones, the Austin firm of Wally Tingley & Associates, P.C., and Austin-based JTREO, Inc. were found liable in the scheme.

Hail plans to file a proposed final judgment order of more than $3.7 million in Travis County’s 419th District Court. The order will be based on a request for all proceeds from the condo sale, in addition to pre-judgment interest and costs. Punitive damages were assessed against Jones in the amount of $2 million.

The case is Larsen v. Jones, et al., No. D-1-GN-13-004321. Ms. Larsen is represented by Brian N. Hail, Brian E. Mason, and Gaby Gutierrez Rawlings.

With Donald Trump in the White House, pro-business groups see an opening for a series of bills moving through the House that would discourage class actions and generally make it harder to sue businesses, reports Bloomberg Businessweek.

One bill would restrict plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees to a percentage of the amount actually distributed to the class, writes Paul Barrett. “That could effectively kill off suits that seek a change in corporate behavior and pay class members little or nothing in damages.”

Professor John Coffee Jr. of Columbia Law School wrote on his Blue Sky Blog that a proposed restriction barring plaintiffs’ firms from repeatedly representing the same client in class actions “seems either a death sentence for the large plaintiffs’ firm or the end of large public pension funds serving as lead plaintiff.”

Read the Bloomberg article.

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Exterro has published a new e-discovery guide called The Comprehensive Guide to Early Case Assessment. The guide can be downloaded at no charge.

The guide discusses how the concept of ECA is changing in today’s digital age and provides tips for creating an ECA strategy to get to the facts of a case quickly.

The guide includes:

• 22 pages of best practices for incorporating e-discovery considerations effectively in your ECA strategy
• Six chapters on everything you need to know about ECA, including new techniques for quickly accessing and assessing case data
• One custodian interview template and one ECA checklist for implementing a winning ECA process

Download the e-discovery guide.

The House is poised to pass three bills this week championed by industry that may tilt the civil litigation process in favor of business in thousands of cases each year, reports Bloomberg BNA.

The far-reaching bills address class actions, asbestos cases and attorneys who file “frivolous” suits, writes Bruce Kaufman.

The fast-track approach is deemed essential to give the bills time to advance in the more-deliberative Senate, where 60 votes are needed to overcome an almost certain filibuster.

The bill rewrites class-action practice, aids defendants striving to keep cases out of plaintiff-friendly state courts, punishes attorneys who file dubious claims, and seek to put new limits on settlements entered into by the Department of Justice and the EPA. They also would require more disclosures by asbestos victims who seek compensation from bankruptcy trusts.

Read the Bloomberg article.

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Reuters is reporting that Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE Corp has agreed to pay $892 million and plead guilty to criminal charges for violating U.S. laws that restrict the sale of American-made technology to Iran and North Korea.

“A five-year investigation found ZTE conspired to evade U.S. embargoes by buying U.S. components, incorporating them into ZTE equipment and illegally shipping them to Iran,” explains reporter Karen Freifeld. “In addition, it was charged in connection with 283 shipments of telecommunications equipment to North Korea.”

“With this action, we are putting the world on notice. Improper trade games are over with,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told reporters Tuesday. According to a CNBC report, he called ZTE’s actions “a brazen disregard for our laws.”

Read the Reuters article.

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Zapproved has published its new E-Discovery Case Law Summaries: 2017 Winter volume, covering the latest trends in applying the new Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) to address cases involving preservation and discovery missteps.

The volume illustrates what e-discovery pitfalls to avoid and how the courts are bringing issues of proportionality, cooperation and preservation to the forefront. These rulings reflect more nuance in curing prejudice, such as ordering “measures no greater than necessary” and awarding attorney fees and permissive jury instructions, according to Zapproved.

Summaries cover the gamut of cases, from the high-profile U.S. v Volkswagen AG to the quieter Security Alarm Financing Enterprises and Arrowhead Capital Financial. Together, they add up to a snapshot of where courts are leaning and why noncompliant e-discovery practices are dangerous.

This free volume includes quick e-discovery case law abstracts from the last 10 years, plus full summaries of nine recent cases.

Download the new case summaries.

A Harris County jury has delivered a $5.3 million verdict against the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) for wrongly disparaging Professional Janitorial Service of Houston when the company refused to recognize the union without a secret ballot by its employees. The judge added $2.5 million in prejudgement interest for a total of $7.8 million owed to the company.

According to a post on the website of Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing P.C., the law firm representing Professional Janitorial Service:

The case was filed 10 years ago by Professional Janitorial based on claims that SEIU issued an onslaught of false statements to try to harm the company for refusing to give in to the union’s demands. In the four-week trial, jurors heard evidence that SEIU officials systematically lied about the janitorial service to its customers and caused the company to lose millions of dollars in business. The evidence showed union members rejoiced and took credit for causing the janitorial business to lose some of its customers.

Attorneys Nathan Campbell, Adam Milasincic and firm co-founder John Zavitsanos of Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing P.C., or AZA, represented Professional Janitorial. Mr. Zavitsanos told the jury that SEIU is “an evil, evil organization that used an intimidating campaign of extortion to try to run the janitorial service out of business.”

See a video on AZA’s website.

Bloomberg BNA is reporting that a package of far-reaching bills to overhaul the civil litigation process, long cherished by business and derided by consumer groups, is likely to win approval from President Trump if it reaches his desk.

Republicans are moving a batch of business-friendly bills through the House. An example is legislation calling for business-backed litigation measures, colloquially known as “tort reform.” Sherman “Tiger” Joyce, president of the American Tort Reform Association, told Bloomberg BNA that prospects for enactment fo the legislation are “certainly better than they’ve been since 2008.”

But backers of such legislation caution against reading too much into Trump’s comments on the bills, writes reporter Bruce Kaufman.

Read the Bloomberg article.

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Worker’s rights opinions written by Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court, are often sympathetic but coldly pragmatic, and they’re usually in the employer’s favor, according to a review conducted by the Associated Press.

“A review of dozens of employment cases he heard in his decade on the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals reveals a focus on texts and a fondness for scrutinizing definitions of words in legislation and the Constitution. Conservatives herald his strict approach. Many liberals say it too often results in workers losing out,” write AP reporters Denise Lavoie and Michael Tarm.

The federal appeals court judge has sided with employers 21 out of 23 times in disputes over the U.S. pensions and benefits law, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA. He sided with the majorty in all 21 cases.

Read the AP article.

Eolas Technologies, which has been called a “patent troll,” has continued to file against big companies, even after losing a landmark 2012 trial. But following an appeals court order, Eolas will have to pursue its lawsuits in California — not its preferred patent hotspot of East Texas, reports Ars Technica.

Joe Mullin writes that the move could reduce Eolas’ chances of winning a settlement or verdict when the case is heard in a court outside the plaintiff-friendly East Texas system.

Eolas claims rights to a patent on features related to the interactive Web, including online video, user-manipulated images on shopping websites, and suggestions that pop up in search bars. Google defeated the claim in trial. Yet, Eolas lawyers were able to continue to get more patents granted as “continuations” of that original patent, even after a jury invalidated it.

Read the Ars Technica article.

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Bio-Rad Laboratories has agreed to pay $3.5 million in legal fees for the team that represented former general counsel Sanford Wadler during a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit Wadler brought against his former employer, reports MassDevice.com.

The agreement came after a federal jury in California awarded Wadler $11 million in the lawsuit he brought against Bio-Rad. The jury awarded Wadler $2.9 million in back pay and stocks and $5 million in punitive damages, with the back pay award slated to be doubled, bringing the total award to $10.8 million, reports Sarah Faulkner.

“Wadler, who was fired in 2013, alleged that he was let go right before the company was planning to present findings from a bribery investigation in Russia, Thailand and Vietnam. Wadler accused the company of stonewalling his efforts to uncover evidence of similar bribery in China,” Faulkner writes.

Writing about the case on the website of Baker Donelson, shareholder Robert E. Hauberg Jr. explains that the court had ruled Wadler could use as evidence otherwise privileged materials, because the Sarbanes-Oxley Act’s protection of whistleblowers pre-empted the attorney-client privilege. (See “Whistleblower General Counsel Prevails Through Use Of Attorney-Client Privileged Information.”)

Read the MassDevice.com article.

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A judge in the Southern District of New York had some harsh words for Holland & Knight lawyers when they filed a response that the judge felt “abused the Court’s courtesy,” reports Above the Law.

Judge Paul Engelmayer last week heard argument on a motion to disqualify Holland & Knight in a dispute between its client, First NBC Bank, and a company called Murex. The judge asked the firm and its client to reflect on the issue and then write a letter informing the court of their final determination, but admonished them that “by extending this courtesy, it was not inviting additional substantive briefing on issues related to disqualification,” writes Joe Patrice.

The firm’s response had made it clear that he didn’t want additional substantive briefing. But that’s what Holland & Knight provided.

In response, the judge gave Murex permission to file a supplemental brief — with no limits on length or substance. He also disinvited HK and their client from filing a reply to Murex.

Read the Above the Law article.

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DLA Piper announced the addition of David Sager to the firm’s litigation practice as a partner in the Short Hills, New Jersey, office.

Sager, who has more than 25 years of experience as a litigator, represents clients in the US and abroad in deal-related litigation, class action defense, real estate, franchise and distribution, securities and intellectual property matters, the firm said in a news release.

“David has developed a strong reputation as a top-notch litigator,” said James Brogan, co-chair of DLA Piper’s US Litigation practice. “His significant international experience will complement our global platform, and we’re certain that his understanding of franchise issues across so many industries will be immediately valuable to our clients.”

“We’re excited to welcome David to the firm, and we look forward to expanding our litigation capabilities here in New Jersey,” said Andrew Gilbert, co-managing partner of the firm’s Short Hills office. “With a host of regulatory changes expected in Washington, our clients will need experienced litigators like David in the years to come.”

Sager most recently chaired both the Commercial and Business Litigation Practice and the Franchise and Distribution Practice at Lowenstein Sandler. He is the latest addition to DLA Piper’s Litigation practice, which in recent months has also welcomed George Karavetsos (Miami), Thiru Vignarajah (Baltimore), Matthew Graves (Washington, DC) and Louis Ramos (Washington, DC).

Sager earned his J.D. from Duke University School of Law, and his B.A. from the University of Michigan.

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The generic drug industry has come under fire the last couple of years because of staggering price increases, but now generic drug executives can expect to face tougher legal repercussions, reports MedCity News.

The efforts come in the wake of a 500 percent hike in the generic price of the EpiPen and the 5,400 percent jumpin the price of Daraprim for the treatment of potentially deadly parasite infections, writes Johanna Mayer.

In November 2016, Heritage Pharmaceuticals Inc. sued two of its former executives, Jeffrey Glazer and Jason Malek, using the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). And in December 20 states sued six companies, including Heritage, after a major antitrust investigation by the state of Connecticut.

“Experts predict that these diverse types of lawsuits could ignite a legal domino effect,” Mayer writes. “They also suspect that, as cases like these develop, they’ll expand to touch multiple prongs of the pharmaceutical industry, such as wholesale manufacturers and pharmacies.”

Read the MedCity News article.

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My Other Bag sells inexpensive canvas tote bags that are obvious parodies of pricey designer bags. Luxury handbag maker Louis Vuitton doesn’t get the joke. In a post on its website, Androvett Legal Media & Marketing explains the company filed a trademark infringement suit in New York that was tossed out because the judge said it was clear the canvas bag wasn’t a typical knockoff copy. Earlier this week, an appeals court judge said he wouldn’t reconsider that decision.

Chris Schwegmann, an intellectual property partner at Dallas-based Lynn Pinker Cox Hurst, agrees Louis Vuitton missed the joke:

“This case is very different from most counterfeit litigation. Just by looking at them, the products sold by My Other Bag are clearly not Louis Vuitton bags. That is part of the joke.

“This lawsuit is a cautionary tale that trademark holders need to pick and choose their targets carefully. Sometimes by suing, you bring more attention to the alleged infringer, and in this case, it seems that Louis Vuitton is the butt of the joke. There are several examples of trademark holders sending silly cease and desist letters, only to have the action backfire on them in a very public way.”

Chesapeake Energy Corp. and the estate of co-founder and former CEO Aubrey McClendon have agreed to settle a multimillion-dollar dispute over data, stocks and use of a corporate jet, reports The Oklahoman.

The deal calls for Chesapeake to pay $3.25 million in legal fees and drop claims for $445 million related to data McClendon took from the company when he was fired in April 2013.

In exchange, the McClendon estate agreed to drop claims on remaining compensation from the separation, including cash, stock and use of Chesapeake’s corporate jet,” writes Adam Wilmoth.

Read The Oklahoman article.

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President Trump could soon find himself responsible for appointing a greater share of federal court judges than any first-term president in 40 years, in large part because of a growing number of older judges and a stack of vacancies on the federal courts, according to a report in The New York Times.

Most of the vacant seats are on district courts or appeals courts, explains Josh Katz in the article. Many of those seats have been vacant because of Republican obstruction in blocking votes for former President Obama’s nominees, Democrats charge.

“It’s not just vacancies. The federal bench has many judges who are older than 70,” writes Katz. “Federal judges are appointed for life, but at a certain combination of years served and age, they become eligible to accept ‘senior status,’ a form of semi-retirement.

Read the NYT article.

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