A selection of the need-to-know civil justice news for the week of August 27-September 1.

 

Starbucks Sippy Cups for Lawyers

Wall Street Journal Editorial

Some grande good news: A federal judge has tossed out a lawsuit against Starbucks alleging that baristas put too much ice in cold drinks. Credit to Judge Percy Anderson for stopping this shakedown, and for his amusing eye roll at the lawyers who brought the case.

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N.J. Woman Hit By Foul Ball During Batting Practice Sues Major League Team

Jeff Goldman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

A South Jersey woman injured after being struck in the face by a foul ball at a Major League Baseball game two years ago has filed suit against the home team, according to a report.

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Is Sunblock Dangerous? Litigation is the Real Risk with IARC’s Carcinogenic Labels

U.S. Chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform

In the summertime when the weather is hot – apply your sunscreen.  This is what dermatologists have been telling us for years in order to prevent skin cancer. At the same time, a key ingredient in most sunblock brands, titanium dioxide, has been rated “possibly carcinogenic” by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). So would IARC have us believe that the measures we are taking to prevent cancer are actually causing it?

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Settlement Insurance Shows Need for Court Skepticism in Class Actions

Ted Frank | Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Class Action Fairness

A plaintiffs’ attorney and an insurance executive have created a business, Risk Settlements, that offers a “post-lawsuit settlement insurance product specifically designed to manage settlement risk, cap exposure and provide certainty to the uncertain world of class action settlements.” That this business model is viable—and that it purports to save class-action defendants millions of dollars in claims-made settlements—demonstrates the need for courts to provide scrutiny of what class-action settlements actually provide consumers, and to structure incentives for class counsel to minimize conflicts of interest.

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