Congratulations to sustaining member Paul Cereghini of Bowman and Brooke for his recent win in Los Angeles County Superior Court on behalf of PLAC member American Honda Motor Company, Inc. After a four-week trial and nearly a week of deliberations, a civil jury in downtown Los Angeles returned a complete defense verdict in a $160 million all-terrain vehicle product liability case. To read the full press release, click here.

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PLAC Member Stephanie Scharf of Scharf, Banks Marmor is co-author of the American Bar Association and American Lawyers Media survey entitled, “Walking Out the Door: The Fact, Figures, and Future of Experienced Women Lawyers in Private Practice.” This study addresses why senior women are far more likely than men to leave the practice of law. Click here to download the results.

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Congratulations to PLAC Future Leader Kaitlyn Stone of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP who received the 2019 New Attorney Pro Bono Award from the New Jersey State Bar Association at last week’s Pro Bono Awards Reception.

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Congratulations to PLAC member Stephanie Scharf, Chair of the American Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession, led the successful adoption of Resolution 106 at the 2019 ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

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Congratulations to PLAC member Steve Quattlebaum of Quattlebaum, Grooms & Tull PLLC for achieving a defense verdict in favor of PLAC member Johnson & Johnson in a talcum powder asbestos exposure case in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles. Mr. Quattlebaum was named a LAW360 Legal Lion for this win.

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PLAC member Michael Preciado‘s recent blog, A Defense For E-Cig Makers Against Vape Lung Illness Claims, was highlighted in Law360 today - to read the full article click here.

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For more news, click here.

 

PLAC (formerly the Product Liability Advisory Council) is a specialty bar association focusing on complex litigation and regulatory issues in the area of product development and product liability. Our not-for-profit association of product manufacturers, suppliers, retailers and select regulatory, litigation and appellate professionals who work to shape the common law of product liability and complex regulation, provide guidance on changing regulations, and strategically help corporations manage risk throughout the entire product lifecycle. PLAC is a unique resource for companies who must defend their products’ integrity and their companies’ reputation.

PLAC submitted an amicus brief in support of defendant's petition for certiorari in an aviation product liability preemption case.
For over two decades, the lower courts have wrestled with the question whether the Federal Aviation Act and regulations preempt the field as to aviation safety standards. In this case, the Third Circuit rejected field preemption but suggested that the District Court consider conflict preemption instead. The trial court granted summary judgment on conflict preemption, but a different panel reversed on appeal (with one judge dissenting). In so doing, the Third Circuit disregarded the Supreme Court's recent holdings in PLIVA v. Mensing, 564 U.S. 604 (2011) and Mutual Pharmaceutical Co., Inc. v. Bartlett, 570 U.S. 472 (2013). Both cases held that [t]he question for 'impossibility' is whether the private party could independently do under federal law what state law requires of it." In the current matter, the applicable regulations require that any alteration to the design of the airplane, the engine, or the carburetor required prior approval of the FAA. Nevertheless, the Third Circuit held that compliance with state and federal law was not impossible because defendant "has made numerous changes to the type certificate . . ., which the FAA approved in short order").

PLAC's brief in support of the defendant supported cert on both field and conflict preemption. The National Association of Manufacturers joined PLAC's brief.

 

CBD Seminar: PLAC is hosting its first seminar of the year at Carlton Fields' new office in Miami, FL on January 15, 2020.  Click here to register.

Spring Conference: PLAC's Spring Conference will be held at the Omni Montelucia from March 25-27 in Scottsdale, AZ

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Webinars: PLAC hosts a variety of webinars for members and friends of the association