http://www.lexisnexis.com/mealeys/news.aspx Headline Mass Tort Pleadings Legal News from LexisNexis® en-us http://www.lexisnexis.com/mealeys/images/lexismealeyslogo.gif 130 29 http://www.lexisnexis.com/mealeys/news.aspx Copyright 2012 http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%201%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank NEW YORK - The motion filed in March by Chevron Corp. in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to exonerate a $21.8 million injunction bond in the lawsuit to prevent the enforcement of an $18 billion judgment awarded in an Ecuadorian court was granted April 2 over the objection of the defendants (Chevron Corp. v. Steven R. Donziger, et al., No. 11-691, S.D. N.Y.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%202%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank SCRANTON, Pa. - A subpoena was issued April 10 to a former attorney for the Susquehanna County, Pa., plaintiffs seeking damages in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania for alleged well water contamination from hydraulic fracturing; a continued hearing on a defense motion to compel and for sanctions against the attorney is set for May 7 (Norma J. Fiorentino, et al. v. Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation, et al., No. 09-2284, M.D. Pa.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%203%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - A lawsuit alleging contract violations, personal injury and property damage against natural gas extraction companies and their alleged agents was remanded by joint stipulation April 9 from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, where it was removed in March based on fraudulent joinder in the state court action (Cynthia Koonce, et al. v. Chesapeake Exploration, et al., No. 12-736, N.D. Ohio). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%204%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank ROCHESTER, NY - The Big Flats, N.Y., residents alleging that hydraulic fracturing by natural gas extraction companies contaminated their domestic water wells with explosive gases and chemicals filed a response April 6 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York in opposition to a motion to quash a subpoena duces tecum served on a nonparty (Jason Baker, et al. v. Anschutz Exploration Corp., et al., No. 11-6119, W.D. N.Y.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%205%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank WHEELING, W.Va. - A Wetzel County, W.Va., property owner and a natural gas extraction company filed summary judgment motions March 20 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia in which they each seek a declaratory judgment on the availability to surface estate owners of the trespass tort to recover for drilling waste left by the mineral estate owner (Martin Whiteman, et uxor v. Chesapeake Appalachia, No. 11-31, N.D. W.Va.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%206%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank WHEELING, W.Va. - Chesapeake Appalachia and an employee sued in the West Virginia Circuit Court of Ohio County filed a notice of removal April 6 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia on the grounds of the amount in controversy and the diversity of citizenship in a real property value damage lawsuit (David Dent, et uxor v. Chesapeake Appalachia, et al., No. 12-53, N.D. W.Va.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%207%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank WHEELING, W.Va. - A natural gas extraction company sued in Marshall County, W.Va., for allegedly contaminated a domestic water well filed notice of removal March 30 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia (Jeremiah N. Magers, et uxor v. Chesapeake Appalachia, No. 12-49, N.D. W.Va.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%208%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank PORTLAND, Ore. - The Oregon National Guard members suing Iraq War contractors for exposure to hexavalent chromium in Iraq allege in a memorandum filed April 4 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon that the contractors deliberately concealed a 2002 assessment of the contamination at Qarmat Ali in Iraq (Rocky Bixby, et al. v. KBR, Inc., et al., No. 09-632, D. Ore.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%209%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank NEW CASTLE, Del. - Monsanto Co., its Argentina subsidiaries and the tobacco companies that demand contract farmers apply glyphosate herbicide on tobacco growing operations in Argentina are accused in a complaint filed April 5 in the New Castle County, Del., Superior Court of exposing farmers to harmful agrochemicals, which allegedly causes birth defects in their children (Pabla Chalanuk, et al. v. Alliance International Inc., et al., No. N12C-04-042, Del. Super., New Castle Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2010%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank NEW ORLEANS - The parties to the multidistrict Federal Emergency Management Agency formaldehyde trailer litigation consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana filed a joint motion April 13 for certification of a settlement class and for preliminary approval of a global settlement of all remaining claims in the litigation; the amount of the settlement is confidential (In re: FEMA Trailer Formaldehyde Products Liability Litigation, No. 07-1873, MDL 1873, E.D. La.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2011%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A contractor hired by the operators of natural gas pipeline operators filed brief on April 19 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas to enforce a settlement with the class representatives and the pipeline companies (Peggy Ginardi, et al. v. Frontier Gas Services, et al., No. 11-420, E.D. Ark.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2012%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank SANTA ANA, Calif. - In anticipation of a June trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California on the hexavalent chromium contamination-related flood damage claims alleged by Merced County, Calif., the presiding judge issued several orders April 17 granting motions for summary judgment to limit the issues (Raul Valencia Abarca, et al. v. Merck & Co., et al., No. 07-388, E.D. Calif.; 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 57370). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2013%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank NEW ORLEANS - The magistrate judge presiding over a consolidated personal injury action against the owner of a paper mill sued in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana for a black liquor discharge issued orders April 26 setting an expedited hearing schedule for motions to quash subpoenas and for protective orders (Terral Evans, et al. v. TIN Inc., No. 11-2067, E.D. La.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2014%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank SCRANTON, Pa. - The natural gas extraction companies being sued by Susquehanna County, Pa., residents in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania for allegedly contaminating their domestic water wells by hydraulic fracturing asked the court April 23 to deny a motion to compel production of documents they aver violates the case management order (Norma J. Fiorentino, et al. v. Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation, et al., No. 09-2284, M.D. Pa.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2015%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank SCRANTON, Pa. - Natural gas extraction companies accused by two Bradford County, Pa., families of contaminating their domestic water wells filed nearly identical briefs April 16 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in support of motions for evidentiary hearings and for leave to conduct discovery related to a plaintiffs' motion for relief from stipulated binding arbitration (Jason Otis, et al. v. Chesapeake Appalachia, et al., No. 11-115, M.D. Pa.; Edwin Bidlack, et al. v. Chesapeake Appalachia, et al., No. 11-129, M.D. Pa.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2016%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank SCRANTON, Pa. - Three generations of a northern Pennsylvania family are joined in a personal injury and property damage lawsuit filed April 9 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania against natural gas extraction companies engaged in hydraulic fracturing (Tammy Manning, et al. v. WPX Energy Appalachia, et al., No. 12-646, M.D. Pa.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2017%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank PHILADELPHIA - The widow of a contractor employee who alleges that her late husband contracted cancer as a result of chemical exposure at a Rohm & Haas facility in suburban Philadelphia filed notice on April 20 of her intention to appeal an April 17 order in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas excluding her causation expert (Anne Snizavich v. Dow Chemical Co., et al., No. 09-2832, Pa. Comm. Pls., Philadelphia Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2018%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank MADISON, Wis. - Class certification was granted April 16 in a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin in which the class representatives allege chlorinated solvent vapor intrusion from a Madison factory site (Kathleen McHugh, et al. v Madison-Kipp Corp., et al., No. 11-724, W.D. Wis.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2019%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank WASHINGTON, D.C. - Oral arguments were heard April 17 in the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on a defense motion by a consulting expert to vacate an order to compel production of allegedly privileged and confidential documents in one of the federal discovery lawsuits filed by Chevron Corp. to prevent enforcement of the $8.6 billion Lago Agrio, Ecuador, judgment (Chevron Corp. v. Weinberg Group, No. 11-7097, D.C. Cir.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2020%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank ATLANTA - The United States does not oppose a motion by the plaintiffs for oral argument on the application of the North Carolina statute of repose in the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., litigation for alleged exposure to solvents and benzene in public water at the camp but avers in an April 16 response that the reason cited for the hearing is without merit (In re: Camp Lejeune, N.C., Water Contamination Litigation, No. 11-2218, MDL 2218, N.D. Ga.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2021%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank MUSCATINE, Iowa - Residents of Muscatine, Iowa, filed a putative class action lawsuit April 23 in the Muscatine County, Iowa, District Court against the owner/operator of an ethanol plant for releasing chemicals and particulate matter (Laurie Freeman, et al. v. Grain Processing Corp., No. LA-CV-0212320, Iowa Dist., Muscatine Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2022%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank OAKLAND, Calif. - The owner of a Theodore, Ala., refrigeration facility that removed an anhydrous ammonia personal injury complaint to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in March moved April 12 to transfer the lawsuit to the Southern District of Alabama where a related lawsuit arising from the same incident is pending (Meagan Cambridge v. Millard Refrigerated Services Inc., No. 12-1460, N.D. Calif.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2023%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank NEW YORK - A Vermont machine-operator seeking damages for personal injuries allegedly caused by occupational exposure to polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) filed notice on April 17 in the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that he will challenge the sophisticated user summary judgment granted March 23 to the manufacturer of the heating element in the wire-insulating machine he alleges caused his exposure (Cory Wilson v. Glenro Inc., No. 12-1525, 2nd Cir.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2024%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank SAN FRANCISCO - A wrongful death complaint against the manufacturer of a termaticide was removed April 20 from the Contra Costa County, Calif., Superior Court to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California based on the amount in controversy and diversity of citizenship (Eva Forrester v. Orkin Inc., No. 12-1975, N.D. Calif.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2025%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank NEW ORLEANS - A unanimous Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel issued a per curiam opinion May 9 affirming orders excluding expert reports and testimony from a personal injury lawsuit brought against a Westlake, La., refinery operator and its insurance company (Sandra Harmon, et al. v. Georgia Gulf States Lake Charles, et al., No. 11-30383, 5th Cir.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2026%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank HOUSTON - A commercial diver engaged to provide services in the Gulf of Mexico in the area of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and fire filed a personal injury lawsuit May 2 in the Texas 295th District Court in Harris County; the plaintiff alleges violations of general maritime law and the Jones Act (David Hogan, et uxor v. British Petroleum Exploration & Production Inc., et al., No. 201222995, Texas D., Harris Co. 295th Dist.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2027%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank SCRANTON, Pa. - Susquehanna County, Pa., residents seeking to recover for alleged contamination of their residential well water with hydraulic fracturing chemicals in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania were granted leave to file a third amended complaint to add four defendants in an order entered May 3 (Susan Berish, et al. v. Southwestern Energy Production Co., et al., No. 10-1981, M.D. Pa.; 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61943; 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61943). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2028%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank PITTSBURGH - Two personal injury and property damage lawsuits alleging domestic well water contamination with hydraulic fracturing chemicals were consolidated for all pretrial proceedings April 25 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania; a hearing to consider a defense protective order motion is scheduled for July 6 (David Dillon, et al. v. Antero Resources, et al., No. 11-1038 [consolidated], W.D. Pa.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2029%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank PITTSBURGH - An appeal in the Pennsylvania Superior Court of a state court order denying newspapers' motion to unseal a settlement in a hydraulic fracturing personal injury lawsuit is supported in an amicus curiae brief filed April 27 by physicians, researchers and health care providers (Stephanie Hallowich, et vir v. Range Resources, et al., No. 12-234, Pa. Super.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2030%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank SCRANTON, Pa. - Judge A. Richard Caputo issued an order May 3 warning northern Pennsylvania plaintiffs of a deficiency in the diversity jurisdiction pleading in their amended complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania seeking to recover for alleged personal injury and property damage from natural gas extraction companies engaged in hydraulic fracturing (Tammy Manning, et al. v. WPX Energy Appalachia, et al., No. 12-646, M.D. Pa.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2031%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank ABINGDON, Va. - A private action to secure clean potable water from a coal company under the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) (30 U.S. Code Section 1270) survived a defense motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction on May 6 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia (Jennie McCracken, et al. v. The Black Diamond Co., No. 11-73, W.D. Va.; 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 63096). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2032%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank PHILADELPHIA - The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania judge presiding over the multidistrict Imprelis products liability litigation approved and adopted the joint proposed preservation of documents protocol in the case management order entered May 9 (In re: Imprelis Herbicide Marketing, Sales Practices & Products Liability Litigation, No. 11-2284, MDL 2284, E.D. Pa.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2033%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank SALT LAKE CITY - The motion by the United States for summary judgment under the statute of limitations in a Federal Torts Claim Act, Sarin-exposure personal injury lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah brought by a plaintiff who alleges Sarin exposure near the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah was argued and submitted to the court April 19 (Carolyn Bayless v. United States, et al., D. Utah, No. 09-495). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2034%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank OAKLAND, Calif. - A company accused of exposing an environmental consultant working on the response to the Deepwater Horizon explosion and crude oil leak renewed its motion to transfer the personal injury lawsuit from California to the Southern District of Alabama in a reply brief and a motion to strike filed May 3 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (Meagan Cambridge v. Millard Refrigerated Services Inc., No. 12-1460, N.D. Calif.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2035%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank MIAMI - An evidentiary hearing was held May 4 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on an application by Chevron Corp. to conduct discovery from a southern Florida bank owned by an Ecuadorian corporation under 28 U.S. Code Section 1782 in support of its international effort to challenge the $18 billion judgment against it in an Ecuadorian court; the application was filed in December (Chevron Corp. v. Banco Pichincha, No. 11-24599, S.D. Fla.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2036%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank WASHINGTON, D.C. - The government may not require companies to "vilify their own products" regardless of how worthy the policy goal, the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and the American Advertising Federation (AAF) argue in an April 4 amicus brief in federal appeals court opposing "disturbing, emotionally charged" new cigarette warnings (R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, et al. v. United States Food and Drug Administration, et al., No. 11-5332, D.C. Cir.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2037%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The government cannot ban truthful speech, such as the claim that smokeless tobacco is safer than cigarettes, a retailer argues in a petition to overturn a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's regulations formulated under the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act do not violate the companies' First Amendment right against compelled speech (Discount Tobacco City & Lottery Inc., et al. v. United States of America, et al., No. 10-5234 and 10-5235, 6th Cir.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2038%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank WASHINGTON, D.C. - A District of Columbia ordinance prohibiting the sale of tobacco wrappers often used to make marijuana-filled "blunts" was so poorly drafted as to be unenforceable, a manufacturer of rolling papers says in an April 30 motion for summary judgment in District of Columbia federal court (National Tobacco Company v. District of Columbia, No. 11-cv-388 [RLW], D. D.C.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2039%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank BOSTON - R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (RJR) and Philip Morris USA Inc. seek more than $330,000 in fees and costs in an April 16 motion stemming from their successful challenge to a Worcester, Mass., city ordinance restricting tobacco advertising on the ground that the ban violated tobacco companies' constitutional free speech rights (National Association of Tobacco Outlets, Inc., et al. v. City of Worcester, Massachusetts, et al., No. 4:11-cv-40110-DPW, D. Mass.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2040%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank NEW ORLEANS - An amended complaint filed by the mother of a deceased casino employee asserting wrongful death stemming from exposure to secondhand smoke is a new lawsuit that is time barred because it does not "relate back" to her original suit, the casino says in an April 26 motion to dismiss (Denise Bevrotte v. Caesar's Entertainment Corporation Inc., No. 2:11-cv-00543, E.D. La.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2041%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank NEW YORK - Salem cigarettes are not plain tobacco wrapped in paper, a woman who won judgments totaling more than $18 million at trial for loss of her larynx to cancer argues in a May 2 brief in the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, but instead are a device carefully engineered to deliver an addictive amount of nicotine and carcinogens to the smoker (Barbara Izzarelli v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., No. 11-3865, 2nd Cir.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2042%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank BOSTON - A Native American inmate has not been able to attend religious ceremonies for eight months due to a delay in the training and certification of a native volunteer to supervise the ceremonies, the Massachusetts Department of Corrections (DOC) says in an April 13 brief, adding that it expected monthly ceremonies to resume May 7 (Derek Sincere Black Wolf Cryer v. Massachusetts Department of Correction, et al., No. 1:09-10238-PBS, D. Mass.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2043%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank SPOKANE, Wash. - The Washington federal judge presiding over litigation stemming from a February 2011 tobacco raid on a Native American tribe's land issued a stay of discovery deadlines April 17 in response to a motion by the parties saying they wish to engage in settlement discussions (Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation v. Eric H. Holder Jr., attorney general of the United States, et al., No. CV-11-3028, E.D. Wash.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2044%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank SYRACUSE, NY - The maker and supplier of silica-containing products used to manufacturer ceramic dinnerware argues in a third-party complaint filed Dec. 14 in New York court that dinnerware manufacturers must defend it in silica exposure litigation brought by an employee of the manufacturers (Unimin Corp. v. Syracuse China Co., et al., No. 2010-1098, N.Y. Sup., Onondaga Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2045%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank PIKEVILLE, Ky. - A Kentucky couple sued two respirator manufacturers for product liability in federal court on April 5, alleging that the defective masks caused the husband to develop pneumoconiosis while working for several coal mining companies (Chuck Bentley, et al. v. American Optical Corp., et al., No. 12-00034, E.D. Ky., Southern Div.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2046%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank PIKEVILLE, Ky. - A coal miner with pneumoconiosis and his wife on April 5 sued three respirator makers in a federal Kentucky court, alleging that the defendants knew or should have known that their products were defective (Ricky Sturgill, et al. v. 3M Co., as successor by merger to Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co. and/or its predecessors successors in interest, No.12-00035, E.D. Ky., Southern Div.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2047%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank WASHINGTON, D.C. - The United States and Par Pharmaceuticals Inc. on May 1 told a District of Columbia federal judge that they are optimistic that ongoing negotiations will result in a global resolution of criminal and civil investigations into the drug company's marketing of the cancer drug Megace ES (Par Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. United States of America, et al., No. 1:11-1820, D. D.C.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2048%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank NEW ORLEANS - A motion for discovery sanctions filed by Chevron USA Inc. is moot, a former tank cleaner who alleges that his exposure to benzene caused terminal multiple myeloma says in a March 20 response, and it is the company that is abusing the discovery process to create delay and drive up costs (Bryan Morin, et al. v. Chevron U.S.A. Inc., et al., No. 2:11-cv-45, E.D. La.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2049%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Plaintiffs suing Enbridge Inc. over a ruptured pipeline that spilled tar sands oil, including benzene, into the Kalamazoo River filed a first amended complaint March 29 detailing the alleged risks of using pipelines to transport the product (Precious Holder, et al. v. Enbridge Inc., et al., No. 1:10-cv-752, W.D. Mich., Southern Div.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2050%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank GALVESTON, Texas - Saying BP Products North America Inc.'s Texas City, Texas, oil refinery spewed contaminants, including benzene, into the atmosphere for 40 days in 2010, nearby residents and workers filed a putative class action complaint on April 4 (Imranali Badarpura, et al. v. BP Products North America Inc., No. 3:12-cv-112, S.D. Texas, Galveston Div.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2051%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - In the wake of a lawsuit brought by their village, residents of Roxana, Ill., have filed a class action lawsuit against several oil refining companies in state court, saying in an April 16 complaint that the Wood River Oil Refinery has contaminated the village's land, air and water with benzene and other cancer-causing hydrocarbons (Jeane Parko, et al. v. Shell Oil Company, et al., No. 2012 L 483, Ill. Cir., 3rd Judicial Dist., Madison Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2052%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank DETROIT - A Nigerian king seeks voluntary dismissal of his Michigan federal court lawsuit alleging widespread contamination by Royal Dutch Shell's drilling and refining operations in that country, saying in a March 27 brief that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to order rebriefing in another case involving the Alien Tort Statute could delay his case significantly (His Royal Highness Emere Godwin Bebe Okpabi, et al. v. Royal Dutch Shell PLC, et al., No. 11-14572, E.D. Mich., Southern Div.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2053%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank WASHINGTON, D.C. - A resolution agreement among the plaintiffs and the welding consumables industry settling 100 personal injury claims in the consolidated multidistrict welding fume products liability litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio and some 700 actions pending in other courts became binding on the settling defendants on April 12, and the defendants have until April 27 to contribute $21.5 million to the private resolution program established in the settlement agreement, Thermadyne Holdings Corp. informed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission April 18 in a Form K-8 disclosure (In re: Welding Fume Products Liability Litigation, MDL 1535, No. 03-17000, N.D. Ohio). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2054%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank CINCINNATI - The stipulation to dismiss ordered in January by the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Office of the Circuit Mediators was filed and granted May 1 in the appeal of a $5.7 million judgment for the plaintiffs in a products liability failure-to-warn welding fumes injury bellwether trial in the Northern District of Ohio (Curtis Cooley, et uxor v. Linde, et al., Nos. 11-3380 [consolidated], 6th Cir.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2055%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank GULFPORT, Miss. - A welding fumes products liability lawsuit transferred from the multidistrict litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio to the Southern District of Mississippi for trial was dismissed with prejudice May 2 by joint stipulation of the parties; a global settlement in the multidistrict litigation became binding April 12 (Robert E. Jowers v. Lincoln Electric Co., et al., No. 08-36, S.D. Miss.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2056%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank CLEVELAND - A Mississippi welder who did not sign the global settlement in the welding products liability litigation filed a motion May 2 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio to enjoin enforcement of a section of the agreement he avers will prejudice his case by limiting access to documents in the multidistrict litigation depository for trial preparation (In re: Welding Fume Products Liability Litigation [James H. Baxter, No. 08-17037], MDL 1535, No. 03-17000, N.D. Ohio). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2057%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation included in the hearing order entered April 17 its intention to consider without oral argument a Missouri plaintiff's motion to remand personal injury products liability claims transferred in June 2009 to the welding fume multidistrict litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio; the hearing will be May 31 in Washington (In re: Welding Fume Products Liability Litigation [Janice Emerson, No. 09-17066], MDL 1535, JPMDL). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2058%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank OXFORD, Miss. - The magistrate judge presiding over a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi prosecuted by the executor of the estate of a deceased welder who died of cancer after allegedly being exposed to hexavalent chromium in welding fumes granted an unopposed motion by the plaintiff to extend deadlines for designating expert witnesses (Pinnacle Trust Co. v. Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group Inc., et al., No. 11-2, N.D. Miss.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2059%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Welding industry defendants sued in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana by a welder who seeks damages for burn injuries related to the use of a plasma torch argue in a brief filed April 26 that their motions for summary judgment should be considered before a motion by the plaintiff to compel arbitration (Rex Hathaway, et uxor v. Cintas Corporate Services Inc., et al., No. 10-195, N.D. Ind.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2060%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank CLEVELAND - The umbrella insurance companies sued in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio by Lincoln Electric Co. for a declaratory judgment of duty to defend press their challenge of the adequacy of the pleadings in a reply filed April 24 (The Lincoln Electric Co. v. Travelers Casualty & Surety Co., et al., No. 11-2253, N.D. Ohio). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2061%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank WASHINGTON, D.C. - A union health benefit provider on April 12 asked a federal judicial panel to centralize seven Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act class actions by other union health plans against 10 drug companies that the plaintiffs say pay consumers to get their expensive brand-name drugs rather than less expensive generic drugs (In Re: Prescription Drug Co-Pay Subsidy Litigation, MDL Docket No. 2370, JPMDL). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-9%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2062%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. - A woman who says she was hospitalized for 12 days when the blood thinner drug Pradaxa caused severe gastrointestinal bleeding on May 11 sued manufacturer Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. in an Illinois federal court, one of eight such suits filed on the same day (Jacqueline Boston v. Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., et al., No. 3:12-cv-610, S.D. Ill., E. St. Louis Div.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%201%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank ST. LOUIS - Plaintiffs who claim that a leaking pipeline in Missouri resulted in groundwater contamination on their properties cannot show breach of contract, defendant WilTell Communications LLC says in a March 2 motion in Missouri federal court, because the company found no hazardous materials while installing fiber-optic communications cable in an old Arco Midcon LLC pipeline that would trigger contractual language (Glenn A. Henke, et al. v. Arco Midcon LLC, et al., No. 10-cv-00086, E.D. Mo.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%202%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank NEW ORLEANS - A motion for discovery sanctions filed by a former tank cleaner who alleges that his exposure to benzene caused terminal multiple myeloma was frivolous, Chevron U.S.A. Inc. says in a Feb. 17 response in Louisiana federal court, and the plaintiff should be sanctioned for filing it (Bryan Morin, et al. v. Chevron U.S.A. Inc., et al., No. 2:11-cv-45, E.D. La.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%203%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank NEW ORLEANS - A defendant to claims by the widow of a pipe fitter who alleges he died of multiple myeloma brought on by exposure to benzene at a Dow Chemical Co. plant filed a motion in Louisiana federal court March 8 to transfer venue (Betty Ventress v. Radiator Specialty Company, et al., No. 2:11-cv-1419, E.D. La.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%204%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank BOSTON - The claims of a former refrigeration technician that benzene exposure caused acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) should be dismissed, U.S. Steel Corp. says in a Feb. 28 brief in federal court in Massachusetts, because the undisputed facts show that the plaintiff could not have been exposed to its benzene-containing raffinate (Brian K. Milward, et al. v. Acuity Specialty Products, et al., No. 07-cv-11944, D. Mass.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%205%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank DETROIT - Royal Dutch Shell opposes a Nigerian king's motion to amend his complaint alleging widespread contamination by drilling and refining operations in that country, saying in a March 1 brief in Michigan federal court that the plaintiffs' amended complaint was in lieu of a response to Shell's motion to dismiss and raises no new jurisdictional issues (His Royal Highness Emere Godwin Bebe Okpabi, et al. v. Royal Dutch Shell PLC, et al., No. 11-14572, E.D. Mich., Southern Div.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%206%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - An Illinois village of 1,500 people has sued several oil refining companies in state court, saying in a March 20 complaint that the Wood River Oil Refinery has contaminated the village's land, air and water with benzene and other cancer-causing hydrocarbons (Village of Roxana v. Shell Oil Co., et al., No. 2012 L 357, Ill. Cir., Madison Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%207%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank ATLANTA - The plaintiffs in the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., litigation for alleged exposure to solvents and benzene in public water at the camp aver in a brief filed March 2 that the defense motion in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia on the preemptive effect of the North Carolina statute to their injury claims should be rejected as it has been twice before (In re: Camp Lejeune, N.C., Water Contamination Litigation, No. 11-2218, MDL 2218, N.D. Ga.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%208%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank COVINGTON, Ky. - The wife of a Marine stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C., in the 1960s filed a personal injury complaint March 2 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky in which she accuses the United States of providing "poisoned water" to the family for drinking, bathing, cooking and cleaning (Janetta A. Johnson v. United States, No. 12-70, E.D. Ky.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%209%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - CITGO Petroleum Corp. seeks to have a conviction of violating the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act overturned, saying in a Feb. 23 brief that the law targets the deliberate taking of birds, such as by poachers, and not the accidental poisoning of birds that took place in two of its tanks (United States v. CITGO Petroleum Corp., et al., No. CR-06-563, S.D. Texas; Corpus Christi Div.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2010%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank WASHINGTON, D.C. - Orthopedic device maker Biomet Inc. on March 27 agreed to a deferred prosecution agreement on five felony counts of fraud and foreign corruption and agreed to pay $22.85 million in criminal fines, disgorgement and interest to settle criminal and civil complaints filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it paid bribes to doctors in three countries for almost a decade to get their business (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Biomet, Inc., Nos. 2:12-cr-80 and 1:12-cv-454, D. D.C.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2011%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank SALT LAKE CITY - A widow on March 2 filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Genzyme Corp. and parent company Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC in Utah state court, alleging that their negligence in allowing Fabrazyme to become contaminated led to diluted, ineffectual doses for her husband and his subsequent death (Janet Schubert, et al. v. Genzyme Corporation, et al., No. 120901550, Utah Dist., Salt Lake Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2012%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Supreme Court should deny certiorari to Philip Morris USA's petition for review of a $7.8 million Florida verdict based on the landmark decision in Engle v. Liggett Group, Inc. (945 So. 2d 1246 [Fla. 2006]), a Florida widower says in a Feb. 12 brief arguing that the company's petition was filed nearly six months late (Philip Morris USA, Inc., et al., v. Franklin D. Campbell, No. 11-741, U.S. Sup.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2013%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Florida smoker's widow who won a $28.3 million state court jury award over her husband's death has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to deny certiorari to R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR)'s petition for review, saying in a Feb. 24 brief that she proved the elements of her case independently of the preclusive effects of a landmark case in the state (R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company v. Mathilde C. Martin, No. 11-754, U.S. Sup.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2014%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank WASHINGTON, D.C. - A Missouri plaintiff whose personal injury products liability claims were transferred in June 2009 to the welding fume products liability multidistrict litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio filed a motion March 16 with the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation for remand to the Western District of Missouri (In re: Welding Fume Products Liability Litigation [Janice Emerson, No. 09-17066], MDL 1535, JPMDL). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2015%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank WASHINGTON, D.C. - A Missouri plaintiff's motion to remand personal injury products liability claims transferred in June 2009 to the welding fume multidistrict litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio is premature and should be denied, the defendant avers in a response filed April 6 with the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (In re: Welding Fume Products Liability Litigation [Janice Emerson, No. 09-17066], MDL 1535, JPMDL). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2016%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank CLEVELAND - A West Virginia welder whose personal injury lawsuit was transferred in February 2007 to the welding fume products liability litigation consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio filed a stipulation of dismissal without prejudice against all defendants on March 21; the motion was granted March 21 (In re: Welding Fume Products Liability Litigation [Curtis R. Skiles, No. 07-17009], MDL 1535, No. 03-17000, N.D. Ohio). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2017%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank CLEVELAND - The welding consumables manufacturers sued by a Philadelphia welder in the multidistrict welding fume litigation consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio filed a motion March 15 to dismiss without prejudice for failing to comply with the case management order to produce medical record authorization by June 2011 (In re: Welding Fume Products Liability Litigation [Jerry Jankans, No. 06-17268], MDL 1535, No. 03-17000, N.D. Ohio). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2018%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank CLEVELAND - The defendants in the welding fume products liability litigation consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio filed a motion March 26 to dismiss the claims of a Michigan welder for failing to file an expert medical report linking his alleged neurological injury to welding fume exposure (In re: Welding Fume Products Liability Litigation [Richard Brigham, No. 08-17651], MDL 1535, No. 03-17000, N.D. Ohio). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2019%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank CLEVELAND - Lincoln Electric Co. filed a motion April 5 to file under seal portions of its opposition to the umbrella insurers' motion to dismiss for failing to state a claim in the declaratory judgment action it filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio to determine the insurers' duties to the welding rod manufacturer in the products liability suits brought by welders (The Lincoln Electric Co. v. Travelers Casualty & Surety Co., et al., No. 11-2253, N.D. Ohio). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2020%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank NEW ORLEANS - The gross negligence claims against the United States for failing to warn the Louisiana plaintiffs in the multidistrict Federal Emergency Management Agency formaldehyde trailer litigation consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana were dismissed March 23 for lack of jurisdiction (In re: FEMA Trailer Formaldehyde Products Liability Litigation, No. 07-1873, MDL 1873, E.D. La.; 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40558). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2021%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank SAN FRANCISCO - The two residents of Willits, Calif., still seeking damages and medical monitoring for exposure to hexavalent chromium and trichloroethylene filed a reply brief March 13 in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in their appeal of no-evidence summary judgment granted to the successor-owner of the Remco site (Jo Ann Wakeland, et al. v. PepsiAmericas, et al., No. 11-16958, 9th Cir.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2022%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank CONCORD, N.H. - The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation issued an order on March 7 creating the multidistrict Colgate-Palmolive antibacterial soap marketing liability litigation in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire; a conditional transfer issued March 8 to identify tag-along cases was lifted March 16 because no objection was filed (In re: Colgate-Palmolive Softsoap Antibacterial Hand Soap Marketing & Sales Practices Litigation, No. 12-2320, MDL 2320, D. N.H.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2023%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank WASHINGTON, D.C. - Chevron Corp. and the law firm representing it in the Lago Agrio, Ecuador, personal injury litigation pending in several American courts filed a reply brief March 19 in support of a motion filed in February in the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for the appellate court to take notice of a complaint filed in the District of New Jersey and an order from an international arbitration tribunal; the plaintiffs oppose judicial notice on the grounds of irrelevance in a response filed March 8 (Patton Boggs v. Chevron Corp., No. 11-7082 [consolidated], D.C. App.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2024%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank NEW YORK - The defendants named by Chevron Corp. in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York lawsuit to prevent the enforcement of an $18 billion judgment awarded Lago Agrio, Ecuador, plaintiffs in a Ecuadorian court for alleged contamination and personal injury claims filed an opposition March 20 to a renewed motion by Chevron to attach the proceeds of the judgment (Chevron Corp. v. Steven R. Donziger, et al., No. 11-691, S.D. N.Y.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2025%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank NEW YORK - The Ecuadorians named as defendants by Chevron Corp. in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York lawsuit to prevent the enforcement of an $18 billion judgment awarded in an Ecuadorian court for alleged contamination and personal injury claims filed an opposition March 27 to a motion by Chevron to exonerate a $21.8 million injunction bond filed in March 2011 by the company (Chevron Corp. v. Steven R. Donziger, et al., No. 11-691, S.D. N.Y.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2026%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank SYRACUSE, NY - Orkin and its parent company, Rollins Inc., filed notice of removal March 26 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York of a pesticide exposure personal injury lawsuit because the plaintiff and defendants are citizens of different states and the plaintiff filed a demand for $500,000 in damages (Kimberly Tyrrell v. Orkin Pest Control, et al., No. 12-537, N.D. N.Y.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2027%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank HOUSTON - A metal finishing company sued in Texas state court filed notice on March 20 of the removal of the in utero trichloroethene exposure personal injury lawsuit to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas (Kathy Williams, et al. v. ELG Ireland Alloys Inc., et al., No. 12-853, S.D. Texas). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2028%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank SCRANTON, Pa. - Two northern Pennsylvania families that allege natural gas extraction in 2010 contaminated their domestic water wells filed nearly identical motions March 5 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania for relief from stipulated binding arbitration based on new evidence of more severe damage to their property and water supply (Jason Otis, et al. v. Chesapeake Appalachia, et al., No. 11-115, M.D. Pa.; Edwin Bidlack, et al. v. Chesapeake Appalachia, et al., No. 11-129, M.D. Pa.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2029%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank CLEVELAND - Two nearly identical personal injury and property damage complaints were filed March 12 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio against Landmark 4 for allegedly contaminating domestic water wells with hydraulic fracturing chemicals and drilling mud (Mark Mangan, et uxor v. Landmark 4, No. 12-613, N.D. Ohio; William Boggs, et uxor v. Landmark 4, No. 12-614, N.D. Ohio). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2030%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Chesapeake Energy Corp., Frontier Gas Services and Crestwood Arkansas Pipeline aver that individual issues predominate class issues in a March 6 joint surreply opposing class certification of claims in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas; the putative class would represent neighbors of natural gas pipeline compressors and transmission stations who allege exposure to noise, methane and hydrogen sulfide contamination (Peggy Ginardi, et al. v. Frontier Gas Services, et al., No. 11-420, E.D. Ark.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2031%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank ST. LOUIS - The 13 plaintiffs joined in a complaint filed Feb. 28 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri allege that contractors and successors to contractors engaged in the Manhattan Engineering Project exposed them to fugitive radioactive materials from a refinery near the St. Louis Airport in violation of the Price-Anderson Act (Scott D. McClurg, et al. v. MI Holdings Inc., et al., No. 12-361, E.D. Mo.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2032%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank NEW ORLEANS - The oil field worker whose naturally occurring radioactive material exposure lawsuit was removed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in January filed a first amended complaint Feb. 20 to withdraw the medical monitoring claim in the original petition (Junius Royal Jr. v. Exxon Mobil Corp., No. 12-81, E.D. La.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2033%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank NEW ORLEANS - The judge presiding over the Federal Emergency Management Agency formaldehyde products liability multidistrict litigation pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana issued an order March 8 reviving the claims of a plaintiff and invited responses to a suggestion of remand before the March 21 conference (In re: FEMA Trailer Formaldehyde Products Liability Litigation, No. 07-1873, MDL 1873, E.D. La.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2034%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank ATLANTA - The plaintiffs in the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., litigation for alleged exposure to solvents and benzene in public water at the camp aver in a brief filed March 2 that the defense motion in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia on the preemptive effect of the North Carolina statute to their injury claims should be rejected as it has been twice before (In re: Camp Lejeune, N.C., Water Contamination Litigation, No. 11-2218, MDL 2218, N.D. Ga.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2035%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank OKLAHOMA CITY - An environmental contractor hired by Halliburton Energy Services Inc. renewed its motion to dismiss for failing to state a claim Feb. 8 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma lawsuit filed by 87 Stephens County, Okla., residents who allege personal injuries from exposure in their domestic well water to ammonium perchlorate and nitrates released during rocket maintenance; the plaintiffs filed a response Feb. 29 (Amanda Alexander, et al. v. Halliburton Co., et al., No. 11-1343, W.D. Okla.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-8%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2036%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank NEW ORLEANS - An amended class action complaint was filed Feb. 15 in the consolidated black liquor discharge personal injury litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, and the plaintiffs responded March 13 to a defense motion to dismiss the claim for punitive damages (Terral Evans, et al. v. TIN Inc., No. 11-2067, E.D. La.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%201%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank NEW ORLEANS - A former tank cleaner who alleges that his exposure to benzene caused terminal multiple myeloma moved for sanctions Jan. 30 in Louisiana federal court, saying Chevron U.S.A. Inc.'s refusal to turn over material safety data sheets (MSDS) and other materials have made it impossible to conduct meaningful depositions of corporate representatives (Bryan Morin, et al. v. Chevron U.S.A. Inc., et al., No. 2:11-cv-45, E.D. La.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%202%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank NEWARK, N.J. - Defendants showed reasonable diligence by attempting to obtain the consent of all defendants before removing parents' claims that their son contracted acute myelogenous leukemia while working on military bases to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, the defendants say in a Jan. 23 brief opposing remand, adding that the claims were also removable based on federal enclave jurisdiction (Maria Cacoilo v. The Sherwin Williams Company, et al., No. 1:11-cv-7039, D. N.J.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%203%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank PHILADELPHIA - Wyeth on Feb. 13 asked the Pennsylvania Reglan/metoclopramide complex litigation court to conduct a fairness hearing inquiring whether plaintiffs in 11 bellwether cases really want to dismiss their claims against generic manufacturers (In Re: Reglan Litigation, No. 100101997, Pa. Comm. Pls., Philadelphia Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%204%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank MINNEAPOLIS - A Levaquin plaintiff who last month lost a verdict on Feb. 23 asked the Minnesota federal court to assess a civil penalty against defendants Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. for a deceptive act perpetrated against a senior citizen (In Re: Levaquin Products Liability Litigation, MDL Docket No. 1943, No. 08-1943, Clifford Straka v. Johnson & Johnson, et al., No. 08-5742, D. Minn.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%205%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank CLEVELAND - Parties in the gadolinium multidistrict litigation on Feb. 17 made competing proposals to the Ohio federal court about how to resolve the remaining cases (In Re: Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agents Products Liability Litigation, MDL Docket No. 1909, No. 1:08-gd-50000, N.D. Ohio). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%206%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank WASHINGTON, D.C. - Twenty-five patients who are affected by two drug shortages on Feb. 17 asked a federal court to force federal regulators to take the drug licenses away from the two companies and for the court to manage the rationing of the drugs (Joseph M. Carik, et al. v. United States Department of Health and Human Services, et al., No. 1:12-cv-272, D. D.C.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%207%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank BOSTON - A Massachusetts federal judge on Feb. 24 unsealed a False Claims Act lawsuit in which a doctor claims that Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. failed to report incidents of congestive heart failure involving Actos to the Food and Drug Administration, thereby causing false claims to be submitted to Medicare and other federal health care programs (United States of America, ex rel. Helen Ge, M.D. v. Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, et al., No. 1:10-11043, D. Mass.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%208%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank BOSTON - Pfizer Inc. has asked the Neurontin multidistrict litigation court to unseal a motion by plaintiff attorneys seeking interim reimbursement of common benefit fees, something the attorneys say Pfizer has no legitimate interest in at this stage of the litigation (In Re: Neurontin Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation, MDL Docket No. 1629, No. 1:04-10981, D. Mass.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%209%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank NEWARK, N.J. - A union health benefit plan on March 7 filed a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act class action against Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., alleging that the drug company's co-pay program for two prescription drugs constitutes kickbacks and bribes that harm drug benefit providers by causing them to pay for expensive prescription drugs rather than less expensive generic drugs (Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 572 Health and Welfare Fund, et al. v. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., No. 2:33-av-1, D. N.J.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2010%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank MINNEAPOLIS - A Medtronic Inc. shareholder on March 12 filed a shareholder derivative complaint against the company's officers and directors for allegedly promoting off-label sales of the Infuse Bone Graft and for buying back $2.l8 billion of company stock at prices that the company itself inflated (Charlotte Kococinski, et al. v. Arthur D. Collins, et al., No. 12-633, D. Minn.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2011%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank NEW YORK - The motion to recuse filed by an attorney accused in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by Chevron Corp. of participating in an international criminal conspiracy related to the recovery of an $18 billion personal injury judgment for the alleged contamination of the Oriente region of Ecuador was denied Feb. 24 as untimely and without merit (Chevron Corp. v. Steven R. Donziger, et al., No. 11-691, S.D. N.Y.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2012%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank WASHINGTON, D.C. - Chevron Corp. and the law firm representing it in the Lago Agrio, Ecuador, personal injury litigation pending in several American courts filed a motion on Feb. 22 in the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for the appellate court to take notice of a related complaint filed in the District of New Jersey and an order from an international arbitration tribunal (Patton Boggs v Chevron Corp., No. 11-7082 [consolidated], D.C. App.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2013%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank NEW YORK - Plaintiffs' liaison counsel filed briefs Feb. 14 and Feb. 23 in the consolidated World Trade Center Disaster Site Litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in support of the distribution of $5 million in contingent payments from the WTC Captive Insurance Co. under the settlement agreement reached with New York City and its contractors (In re: World Trade Center Disaster Site Litigation, No. 21-100 [consolidated], S.D. N.Y.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2014%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank PITTSBURGH - Nuclear fuel refinery operators sued in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania for personal injuries alleged by the neighbors of the refineries were denied a motion to sever or to dismiss allegedly misjoined plaintiffs in an order entered Feb. 24 but were granted a motion ordering the plaintiffs to produce individualized causation evidence in support of their claims (Michelle McMunn, et al. v. Babcock & Wilcox, et al., No. 10-143 [consolidated], W.D. Pa.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2015%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank SCRANTON, Pa. - The conflict over compelling a Susquehanna County, Pa., resident to appear for a deposition in the hydraulic fracturing litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania continued Feb. 24 when the putative deponent filed a brief alleging that the subpoena is part of a campaign to harass her (Norma J. Fiorentino, et al. v. Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation, et al., No. 09-2284, M.D. Pa.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2016%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank CONCORD, N.H. - The joint discovery plan in the Dial Complete Antimicrobial Foaming Soap litigation consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire adopted by the court Jan. 25 sets a Sept. 14 deadline for completing class certification discovery; the consolidated amended class action complaint was filed Jan. 13 (In re: Dial Complete Marketing & Sales Litigation, No. 11-2263, MDL 2263, D. N.H.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2017%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank SANTA ANA, Calif. - In anticipation of a June trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California on the hexavalent chromium contamination-related flood damage claims alleged by Merced County, Calif., plaintiffs, the water management districts and county filed motions Feb. 27 for summary judgment in part (Raul Valencia Abarca, et al. v. Merck & Co., et al., No. 07-388, E.D. Calif.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2018%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank HOUSTON - Iraq war veterans alleging hexavalent chromium exposure while protecting the contractors hired to repair oil extraction sites in Iraq in a brief filed Feb. 16 oppose a defense motion to exclude their medical causation expert and for sanctions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(c)(1) for allegedly filing a supplemental medical expert report seven months late in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas (Mark McManaway, et al. v. KBR Inc., et al., No. 10-1044, S.D. Texas). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2019%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank NEW ORLEANS - An insurance carrier for one of the manufacturers of the emergency housing provided to residents of Louisiana after hurricanes destroyed their residences in 2005 filed a motion March 1 for summary judgment in part in the Federal Emergency Management Agency formaldehyde products liability litigation pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana (In re: FEMA Trailer Formaldehyde Products Liability Litigation, No. 07-1873, MDL 1873, E.D. La.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2020%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank NEW ORLEANS - Claims against certain insurance companies and a trailer manufacturer were severed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana multidistrict Federal Emergency Management Agency trailer formaldehyde products liability litigation for trial this year in orders entered Feb. 6 and Feb. 13 (In re: FEMA Trailer Formaldehyde Products Liability Litigation, No. 07-1873, MDL 1873, E.D. La.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2021%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank ATLANTA - The plaintiffs in the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., litigation consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia for alleged exposure to solvents and benzene in public water at the camp were granted permission Feb. 15 to file a brief on the application of the North Carolina statute to their injury claims (In re: Camp Lejeune, N.C., Water Contamination Litigation, No. 11-2218, MDL 2218, N.D. Ga.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2022%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Property damage claims alleged against the Tennessee Valley Authority for the December 2008 coal ash slurry spill at the Kingston, Tenn., coal-powered generation plant were stayed Jan. 12 pending a decision in the September property damage trial against the TVA in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee; the plaintiffs were granted permission to adopt the record of the September trial (M. Jerry Duncan, et uxor v. Tennessee Valley Authority, No. 11-575, E.D. Tenn.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2023%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank NEW ORLEANS - Oil production companies that removed a naturally occurring radioactive material exposure lawsuit to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in January were granted a joint motion Feb. 6 to dismiss without prejudice a medical monitoring claim in the petition under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6); the plaintiff was granted leave to amend (Junius Royal Jr. v. Exxon Mobil Corp., No. 12-81, E.D. La.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2024%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank FARGO, N.D. - The sulfur dioxide exposure personal injury lawsuit filed by a sugar beet refinery worker in the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota was set for trial in July 2013 in Fargo by Magistrate Judge Karen K. Klein in a scheduling order entered Dec. 23 (Conrad Rostvet v. Lock City Transportation Co. Inc., et al., No. 11-21, D. N.D.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2025%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank HOUSTON - Iraq war contractors hired to repair oil extraction sites in Iraq filed a reply brief on Feb. 3 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in support of their motion for a no-causation summary judgment and for sanctions for a supplemental medical expert report they allege was filed late by veterans who allege hexavalent chromium exposure while protecting the defendants (Mark McManaway, et al v. KBR Inc., et al., No. 10-1044, S.D. Texas). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2026%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank WHEELING, W.Va. - A natural gas extraction company accused of trespass for leaving well-rilling waste on the surface of a West Virginia property filed a response Jan. 6 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia opposing a December motion by the plaintiffs for summary judgment in part (Dewey Teel, et uxor v. Chesapeake Appalachia, No. 11-5, N.D. W.Va.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2027%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank NEWARK, N.J. - Retail defendants and a topical flea and tick treatment manufacturer press their arguments for dismissing the first amended complaint and for striking class allegations in reply briefs filed Jan. 31 in the putative class action products liability litigation pending against them in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey (Aundria Arlandson, et al. v. Hartz Mountain Corp., et al., No. 10-1050, D. N.J.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2028%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank MILWAUKEE - A group of foundry workers asked a Wisconsin federal court on Feb. 8 to certify a class of employees who are seeking payment for time spent donning and doffing gear protecting them from silica dust in certain departments of the company (Ryan Dekeyser, et al. v. Thyssenkrup Waupaca Inc. d/b/a Waupaca Foundry Inc., No. 08-488, E.D. Wis.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2029%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank NEW YORK - The corporate parents of a manufacturer named in hundreds of silica and asbestos bodily injury suits argued to a New York federal court in an Aug. 8 filing that primary and excess insurers must pay the underlying defense costs. An excess insurer responded Feb. 3 disputing the issue of "trigger of coverage" (Danaher Corp. v. Travelers Indemnity Co., et al., No. 10-0121, S.D. N.Y.) http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2030%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank OAKLAND, Calif. - The Bay Bridge welder plaintiffs with claims in the Alameda County, Calif., Superior Court welding products liability litigation filed a motion April 29 to continue the settlement allocation trial scheduled for May 7 for 30 days or longer because of conflicts in attorney schedules (Welding Products Cases, No. JCCP004368, Calif. Super., Alameda Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2031%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank RICHMOND, Va. - Oral arguments in a declaratory judgment action appealed to the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals from South Carolina were tentatively scheduled for May in a notice filed Feb. 8 in the docket (ESAB Group Inc. v. Zurich Insurance, et al., No. 11-1243 [consolidated], 4th Cir.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2032%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank CLEVELAND - Lincoln Electric Co. and the two insurance companies it is suing in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio to determine their duties to the welding rod manufacturer in the products liability suits brought by welders filed a joint report March 7 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(f) in which they propose a discovery schedule and decline jurisdiction under a magistrate judge (The Lincoln Electric Co. v. Travelers Casualty & Surety Co., et al., No. 11-2253, N.D. Ohio). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=8-7%20Mealey%27s%20Mass%20Tort%20Pleadings%2033%20(2012)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target=_blank CLEVELAND - The two insurance companies Lincoln Electric Co. sued in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio to determine their duties to the welding rod manufacturer in the products liability suits brought by welders filed redacted brief March 8 in support of their motion to dismiss the suit for failing to state a claim; Judge Donald C. Nugent set April 10 as the deadline to respond during a March 12 case management conference (The Lincoln Electric Co. v. Travelers Casualty & Surety Co., et al., No. 11-2253, N.D. Ohio).