LJN Newsletters

  • 2005 Bankruptcy Act: What Your Company Needs To Know

    On April 20, 2005, President Bush signed into law the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (the Act). The Act made significant modifications to the United States Bankruptcy Code (11 U.S.C. Section 101, et seq.) and related federal statutes. While initial focus centered on the Act's consumer bankruptcy provisions, the Act also contains provisions that significantly impact businesses and their representatives, including officers, directors and employees.

    July 28, 2005Robert A. Bartlett and William L. Floyd

  • Index

    Everything contained in this issue in an easy-to-read format.

    July 27, 2005ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |

  • Real Property Law

    The latest court rulings you need to know.

    July 27, 2005ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |

  • 'Reasonable Accommodation,' Rent Regulation, and the Fair Housing Act

    The federal Fair Housing Act Amendments prohibit discrimination in the sale or rental of a dwelling because of a handicap. 42 USC Section 3604(f)(1) and (f)(2). The statute also provides that discrimination includes "a refusal to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services, when such accommodations may be necessary to afford such person equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling." Does the statute require a landlord to offer a handicapped occupant of a rent-regulated apartment the opportunity to rent, at a regulated price, a vacant apartment located on a lower floor? A federal district court has recently suggested that the statute might, indeed, impose such a requirement on the landlord.

    July 27, 2005Stewart E. Sterk

  • Landlord & Tenant

    Explanation and analysis of the latest rulings.

    July 27, 2005ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |

  • Online: Learn About Prescription Drugs on the Web

    Public Citizen ("PC"), a public interest group, has released a new edition of "Worst Pills, Best Pills," a book analyzing at least 500 prescription drugs, and concluding that at least 200 of them may pose health risks. The group has launched a Web site, www.worstpills.org, which provides information about unsafe drugs, drug pricing and access to the entire contents of the just-published book for a subscription fee.

    July 27, 2005ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |

  • Case Notes

    Highlights of the latest product liability cases from around the country.

    July 27, 2005ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |

  • Medicare Liens: A Stumbling Block to Settlement

    Faced with rising litigation costs and unpredictable juries, it is understandable that many product liability litigants — on both sides of the courtroom — eventually think about settlement in lieu of trial. In cases involving catastrophic injury, however, staggering medical expense liens often control the feasibility of reaching an acceptable agreement.

    July 27, 2005John L. Tate and Demetrius O. Holloway

  • Improperly Attempting to Circumvent the Learned Intermediary Doctrine: Challenging the Adequacy of Warnings to Physicians

    The learned intermediary doctrine is one of the most important doctrines for medical device and pharmaceutical drug defendants in product liability cases because under the doctrine, they are often able to obtain summary judgment on failure to warn claims. (The learned intermediary doctrine has been adopted and recognized in at least 45 states. See Larkin v. Pfizer, Inc., 153 S.W.3d 758, 767 (Ky. 2005).) The learned intermediary doctrine provides that a manufacturer, designer or distributor of a medical device or pharmaceutical drug does not have a duty to directly warn patients of possible dangers associated with the use of the device or drug. See Presto v. Sandoz Pharm. Corp., 487 S.E.2d 70 (Ga. Ct. App. 1997). Rather, "'a warning as to possible danger in its use to the prescribing physician is sufficient.'" Id. at 73.

    July 27, 2005Lori Cohen and Jenifer Keenan