Theodora McCormick, a Member of the Firm in the Litigation and Health Care and Life Sciences practices, in the firm’s Princeton and Newark offices, was quoted in Law360, in “The Top Product Liability Cases of 2021” by Emily Field. (Read the full version – subscription required.)

Following is an excerpt:

Verdicts and rulings out of the nationwide litigation over the opioid crisis dominated headlines in the latter half of 2021, as cases long delayed by the pandemic finally got underway.

The past year also saw a flurry of activity in the litigation consolidated in Florida federal court as bellwether cases over earplugs made for the military by 3M went to trial in quick succession, with more than half a dozen verdicts handed down this year. And the high-profile trial of Theranos co-founder Elizabeth Holmes is still ongoing, with jury deliberations set to start later this month. 

Here, Law360 looks at the biggest cases for product liability in the past year: …

3M Bellwether Verdicts Mount Up

There have been eight bellwether trials as of Dec. 10 in the 3M earplugs litigation: three defense wins and five multimillion-dollar verdicts in favor of service members who allege that their hearing was damaged by CAEv2 earplugs made by Aearo Technologies LLC, a company acquired by 3M. Two other trials are currently ongoing. …

"I think the judges who are handling these MDLs have gotten really, really good, and they realize how important it is to get to bellwethers as quickly as possible," said Theodora McCormick of Epstein Becker Green.

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