A selection of the need-to-know civil justice news for the week of December 5-11.

 

Siren Maker Faces NJ Suit Over Firefighters’ Hearing Loss

Charles Toutant | New Jersey Law Journal

Plaintiff lawyers have made New Jersey the latest front for litigation by firefighters over alleged hearing loss from long-term exposure to sirens. According to a suit removed to federal court in Newark on Dec. 4 the pitch and decibel on fire truck sirens made by Federal Signal Corp. are unreasonably dangerous to firefighters.. Five fire truck manufacturers are also named in the suit, which was filed on behalf of 34 current and former firefighters.

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Uber Ruling Adds More Drivers to Class-Action Suit

Chelsey Dulaney | Wall Street Journal

A California judge ruled Wednesday to expand a class-action suit that could challenge Uber Technologies Inc.’s fundamental business model.

Full story.

 

Getting Serious About Senseless Claims

Michelle M. Bufano and Randy A. Gray | Gibbons P.C.

Unsupported lawsuits have no place in the courts. Unfortunately, attorneys are often faced with junk claims against which they must defend. In products liability litigation, sometimes suits are filed in which the basis of all asserted claims have not been fully explored. In the mass-tort context, defense attorneys can ask for a “Lone Pine Order,” Lore v. Lone Pine Corp., 1986 N.J. Super. LEXIS 1626 (Law Div. Nov. 18, 1986), to weed out junk claims through an initial showing, but these are often not granted.

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