Remember Byrne v. Boadle (the barrel of flour)?

Modern Byrne v. Boadle; watch the video below:

Video on the first U.S. wrongful death suit related to the Ethiopian Airlines crash

After Ethiopia released preliminary findings from an ongoing investigation into the Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed last month and after the first American wrongful death lawsuit against Boeing was filed, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg stated that "It’s our responsibility to eliminate this risk. We own it. And we know how to do it."  (See here.)

Democracy now, has a report including an interview with the plaintiffs in that first lawsuit, filed against Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration here.  The first part of the report are statements by family members expressing their emotional loss.

At the 22:46 mark, the attorney for the plaintiffs explains some of the evidence in support of their claims.

Short documentary on the history of auto safety regulation and litigation

Courtesy of the Retro Report, here is a 15 minute documentary on the history of the fight for auto safety and some of the issues it has raised over the years.  Towards the end, it also opens the door to future issues that may arise out of modern technology and the promise of cars that can drive themselves.  If, for some reason, you can't see the video below, you can watch it here.
 

Panel on brand-name and generics manufacturers liability

Yesterday I posted a comment on a recent decision from the Alabama Supreme Court on the possible liability of a brand-name drug manufacturer for injuries related to defective warnings provided by a generics drug manufacturer.   Looking for some information on the topic I found the video that appears below of a panel at a conference on the subject.  I just found it a few minutes ago and I have not had a chance to watch it, so I can't comment on it.  (One note:  when the panelists (or the literature) uses the term "innovator" they are referring to the "name-brand manufacturer.")  Here is the video:

Animal rights

A few days ago I posted a note about a proposal in France to change the Civil Code to recognize that animals are living beings capable of feelings.  Today, the New York Times.com has a short video on attorney Steven Wise’s effort to have courts recognize that animals have rights equivalent to those of persons under the law.   If you can't see the video below you can watch it by going here.

SNL take on the Congressional hearings regarding the recall of GM cars