Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
A Los Angeles jury hit Johnson & Johnson with a $32 million verdict in favor of the family of a woman who used the company’s baby powder for years and died of mesothelioma. Johnson & Johnson has vowed to "immediately appeal."
Lawyers from Dallas-based Simon Greenstone Panatier recently secured a $10.2 million jury verdict for a mesothelioma client in Minneapolis.
Tom Melsheimer and lawyers for Texas Instruments, Intel and two other tech companies told U.S. District Judge Sidney Fitzwater Tuesday that he should dismiss a potential precedent-setting case in which five Ukrainians injured or killed in Russian missile and drone attacks have sued for allegedly providing the microchips that guide the Russian weapons. Melsheimer told the judge that the plaintiffs’ lawsuits are fatally flawed because they fail to directly link the technology companies’ products to horrific attacks on Ukrainians, fail to show misconduct by the chip makers and failed to have filed their lawsuits in a timely manner.
Texas Instruments, Intel and two other semiconductor and technology companies are asking a Dallas federal judge to dismiss lawsuits brought by five Ukrainian citizens who claim that microchips, processors and programmable devices made by the four companies are being used by the Russian military in its war against Ukraine. A star-studded crew of trial lawyers on both sides of the litigation will present arguments Tuesday to U.S. District Judge Sidney Fitzwater.
Two auto insurance companies operating in Texas are facing a putative class action lawsuit accusing them of targeting low-income residents, collecting premiums and then “disappearing” when insureds make a claim. Houston personal injury law firm Kherkher Garcia filed the lawsuit in Harris County District Court Tuesday evening on behalf of “hundreds and possibly thousands of Texas insureds” who have policies with AmTex Auto Insurance and Redpoint County Mutual Insurance Company.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Winston & Strawn is representing the NFL Players Association in a federal lawsuit in Houston over the handling of a grievance and AZA and Beck Redden prevail on appeal in a California trade secrets dispute over a penile implant.
A daughter’s lawsuit against pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, alleging its product contained asbestos that caused her mother’s life-ending mesothelioma cancer, has concluded in a settlement. The settlement reached during the first week of trial was “unexpected.”
A California judge has rejected a jury’s $950 million award of punitive damages against pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson. The jury awarded $16 million in compensatory damages in October 2025.
This is just one of many cases Dallas-based Dean Omar Branham Shirley is involved with against J&J at the moment.
Dallas-based Dean Omar Branham Shirley, which has brought several cases against pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson across the country, commenced its jury trial in Spokane, Washington, Monday morning. Jurors heard from the parties over whether the alleged asbestos in J&J’s baby powder caused Verna Richards’ life-ending mesothelioma cancer.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday granted a petition for writ of certiorari that Exxon Mobil and Suncor filed more than six months ago that could have a major impact on climate-change litigation the oil companies are facing nationwide. We also provide details on a San Antonio investment company executive who copped to a nearly $70 million Ponzi scheme and a wrongful death lawsuit against Valero stemming from a refinery fire.
Lawyers for four U.S. technology companies, including Texas Instruments, won a preliminary battle Wednesday to move lawsuits brought by five Ukrainian citizens who claim that microchips, processors and programmable devices made by the four companies are being used by the Russian military in its war against Ukraine. But the victory for the technology companies could be a “be careful for what you ask” moment in the litigation.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a team from King & Spalding notches an early win for Vistra in a dispute with the city of Sulphur Springs over the use of land that formerly housed a lignite mine, a healthcare executive faces prison after pleading guilty to fraud, and a $51 million win secured by Dean Omar Branham Shirley against Avon in a mesothelioma case is upheld on appeal in California.
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