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Mealey's Personal Injury

March 12, 2026
California Court Coordinates 10 Product Liability Actions Involving ChatGPT

SAN FRANCISCO — The Judicial Council of California agreed to coordinated proceedings of an initial batch of 10 actions against ChatGPT alleging product liability and violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).
March 12, 2026
Parties Agree To Terms For Selecting Defective Port MDL Bellwether Cases

SAN DIEGO — Parties involved in a multidistrict litigation of cases that allege that chemotherapy ports were defective and caused a multitude of injuries agreed to which type of cases will be selected for bellwether cases, according to a joint statement filed in a California federal court.
March 11, 2026
Judge Rejects Parties’ Stipulation To Dismiss Coverage Suit Over Fatal Shooting

GREAT FALLS, Mont. — A Montana federal judge on March 10 denied a liquor liability insurer and a bar owner insured’s stipulation to dismiss with prejudice the insurer’s lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying negligence action arising from a fatal shooting at the insured’s bar, noting that to the extent the parties seek to dismiss the insured’s appeal of the judge’s grant of the insurer’s motion for summary judgment, they must seek relief in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
March 11, 2026
OpenAI Says State Action Should Take Lead In ChatGPT Murder-Suicide Case

SAN FRANCISCO — A woman’s California unfair competition law (UCL) action alleging that interactions with ChatGPT led to a murder-suicide threatens to waste court resources and produce piecemeal litigation duplicative of a recently consolidated state court action, OpenAI entities say in a March 10 motion urging the federal court to dismiss the case or stay it while the state court suit proceeds.
March 11, 2026
Bellwether Plaintiffs Tell 9th Circuit Damages In Jet Fuel Case Constitute ‘Error’

SAN FRANCISCO — Four adults representing seven minor bellwether plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the U.S. government over groundwater contamination from a jet fuel spill at the Pearl Harbor Naval Base filed their opening brief in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals challenging a $598,633.15 damages judgment won by all 17 bellwether plaintiffs in the litigation. The appellants say that they seek “correction of clear doctrinal and analytical error” and that the appeal is not “a quarrel over dollars.”
March 10, 2026
Liquor Liability Insurer, Insured Seek To Dismiss Coverage Suit Over Fatal Shooting

GREAT FALLS, Mont. — The same day a liquor liability insurer told a Montana federal court that a bar owner insured fully satisfied a judgment including a $160,088 attorney fees award, the parties on March 9 filed a stipulation to dismiss with prejudice the insurer’s lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying negligence action arising from a fatal shooting at the insured’s bar.
March 10, 2026
Split Nevada Supreme Court Affirms Fee Award After Car Crash Judgment

LAS VEGAS — A split Nevada Supreme Court affirmed the award of fees by a lower court after a jury awarded damages in a case arising from a head-on car crash, finding that though a pretrial offer listed nonparties as defendants, it was clear that the pretrial offer was for the defendant/appellant.
March 09, 2026
Pa. Federal Judge Finds Economic Expert Testimony Allowed In Slip-And-Fall Case

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Pennsylvania federal judge ruled that experts retained by a woman who fell in a resort’s parking lot can testify about her projected future economic losses, rejecting efforts by the resort to find their testimony inadmissible.
March 09, 2026
Judge Rules Expert Can Opine On Whether Brothers Felt Pain In Workplace Accident

WILMINGTON, Del. — An equipment rental company has reached a confidential settlement with the parents of two brothers who were killed when an aerial lift used to repair cell phone towers tipped over; the agreement came a week after a judge in a Delaware state court denied motions for summary judgment filed by the other defendants and ruled that an expert on conscious pain and suffering could testify.
March 06, 2026
In Mixed Ruling, Idaho High Court Reverses Summary Judgment, Sanctions

BOISE, Idaho — Resolving an appeal of numerous decisions that favored a manufacturer sued in connection with a fatal farming accident, the Idaho Supreme Court reversed and remanded a three-sentence oral summary judgment ruling, reversed a grant of sanctions for alleged scheduling misrepresentations, affirmed the decision to strike “untimely opposition to summary judgment” and affirmed the award of attorney fees and costs for a motion to compel responses to discovery requests.
March 06, 2026
Review Of Officials’ Qualified Immunity In COVID Nursing Home Directive Sought

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Survivors of nursing home residents who died of COVID-19 after a state directive prevented nursing homes from denying admission to patients having or suspected of having COVID-19 petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for review of a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruling affirming the judgment of a New York federal court that found that New York state officials had qualified immunity from claims stemming from the deaths.
March 05, 2026
Father Claims Gemini Encouraged Son’s Delusion, Suicide

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Google LLC’s Gemini artificial intelligence chatbot sent a man on a mission designed to inflict mass casualties and only after it failed switched tactics and told a man that his suicide wouldn’t be a death but a rebirth into a world where he could be with his AI companion, the man’s father alleges in a March 4 survival and wrongful death complaint filed in California federal court, also alleging violation of the state’s unfair competition law.
March 05, 2026
Amid Criticism, Judge Gives Initial Approval To $7.25B Roundup Cancer Settlement

ST. LOUIS — Amid concerns raised by some putative class members, a state court judge in Missouri on March 4 granted preliminary approval to a $7.25 billion nationwide Roundup settlement between the putative class and Bayer Corp., Monsanto Co.’s parent company, which would resolve claims alleging that the herbicide causes cancer.
March 04, 2026
High Court Hears Arguments On Suits Against Freight Brokers For Negligent Hiring

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on March 4 heard arguments on whether a common-law action for negligent hiring of a motor carrier or driver by a freight broker is preempted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA), which preempts state laws related to the services of a broker with respect to the transportation of property but does not restrict the safety regulatory authority of states with respect to motor vehicles.
March 03, 2026
Premises Endorsement Limits Liability To Injuries That Occurred At Insured’s Tavern

SCRANTON, Pa. — A federal judge in Pennsylvania held that an insurance policy’s Premises Endorsement limits liability to bodily injuries that occurred at a tavern insured’s physical address and does not insure bodily injuries that occurred approximately one mile away from the insured’s premises, granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment in its declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying action arising from the death of a 4-year-old that occurred while she was driving with her mother who was allegedly overserved at the tavern.
February 27, 2026
Judge: Insurer Was Entitled To Rescind Commercial Policy In Dispute With Insured

NEW YORK — A New York federal judge on Feb. 26 granted summary judgment for an insurer in a suit seeking rescission of a commercial policy issued to its insured hotel owner, finding that the insurer showed that it was “entitled to rescind the policy” because the facts show that the insured made a misrepresentation in the policy application.
February 27, 2026
Judge Dismisses Consolidated Coverage Suit Arising From Super Bowl Parade Shooting

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A federal judge in Missouri dismissed a commercial general liability insurer’s consolidated lawsuit seeking a declaration that it has no duty to provide coverage for underlying state court actions brought by individuals who incurred shooting-related injuries at the 2024 Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory parade, holding that the matter is better settled in state court.
February 26, 2026
$1.2M Judgment Entered In Favor Of Smoker’s Widow For Cancer Death

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. — A Florida state court judge entered judgment in the amount of $1,225,000 with interest accruing, reflecting a jury verdict of $500,000 in compensatory damages and $725,000 in punitive damages against a tobacco company for causing the nicotine addiction and death from lung cancer of a Camel-cigarette smoker.
February 25, 2026
9th Circuit Reverses $8M Asbestos Verdict, Says BNSF Protected As ‘Common Carrier’

PORTLAND, Ore. — The railroad company that hauled asbestos-tainted vermiculite from the world’s largest vermiculite mine in Libby, Mont., to destinations around the country under federal law is protected from strict liability claims by the “common carrier” exception to such liability, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Feb. 24 in reversing an $8 million combined judgment for the estates of two mesothelioma victims and directing the trial court to enter judgment for the railroad company on remand.
February 25, 2026
Widower Says $225K For 14 Years Of Smoker’s COPD Was ‘Inadequate’

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A smoker’s widower filed a motion in Florida state court for additur or a new trial on damages against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (RJR) after a jury returned a $675,000 verdict including $225,000 for the smoker’s pain and suffering, writing that the verdict is “inadequate as a matter of law” in view of evidence that the smoker suffered physically and mentally for 14 years after being diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including after an organ transplant.
February 25, 2026
Tobacco Companies Remove Widower’s Wrongful Death Suit For Wife’s Death

CHICAGO — Philip Morris USA Inc. (PM) and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (RJR) removed to Illinois federal court a wrongful death lawsuit brought against them by the husband of a woman who smoked cigarettes for 60 years before dying allegedly from smoking-related diseases, arguing that complete diversity jurisdiction exists and that the amount in controversy is greater than $75,000.
February 24, 2026
Supreme Court: 5th Circuit’s Remand Ruling In Tainted Baby Food Case Was Proper

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 24 ruled unanimously in favor of a couple who sued a baby food maker alleging that its product contained heavy metals, finding that a district court’s erroneous dismissal of one of the defendants did not cure the jurisdictional defect that existed when the case was removed to federal court. The Supreme Court affirmed the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that vacated the judgment and remanded the case to the lower court for further proceedings consistent with the opinion.
February 24, 2026
Federal Judge Allows Expert Medical Testimony In Standard Of Care Dispute

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A physician’s testimony that a man’s treating medical providers’ decisions during his stay at a hospital, including ordering his transfer to another health facility, violated the standard of care is reliable and will assist the jury, a federal judge in Puerto Rico ruled in denying a motion to exclude.
February 23, 2026
High Court Allows Government To Argue In Freight Broker Negligent Hiring Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 20 granted the United States’ motion to participate in oral argument as amicus curiae and for divided argument in a case brought by a person injured in a truck crash that will address the question of whether a common-law action for negligent selection, including negligent hiring, of a motor carrier or driver by a freight broker is preempted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA), which preempts state laws related to service of a broker with respect to the transportation of property but does not restrict the safety regulatory authority of states with respect to motor vehicles.
February 23, 2026
White Sox, MLB Seek Dismissal Of Former Prospect’s Vaccine-Related Injury Lawsuit

CHICAGO — Contending that it is untimely and suffers from other deficiencies, the Chicago White Sox (CWS) and Major League Baseball moved to dismiss the complaint of a former pitching prospect alleging negligence and violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in requiring that he be vaccinated for COVID-19 and in treating the symptoms that resulted from the vaccination and ultimately ended his career.