Firm Announcements

Recalls

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Prime-Line of Redlands, Calif., has announced a voluntary recall of about 37,000 safety latches and outlet covers designed to protect children. The manufacturer reports the screws on the safety latches and outlet covers can loosen and/or break, allowing young children to gain access to electrical outlets and other potentially hazardous items.



Recalls

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Kohler Co. of Kohler, Wis., announces a voluntary recall of the Kohler Purist®, Pinstripe™ and Finial® glass shower doors. The hinge panel of the shower door can shatter, posing a laceration hazard.



Community

The new president of the Montgomery County Bar Asso­ciation wants to increase and to better publicize charitable work by the bar's members. "In my opinion, the reason people have so much angst to­ward attorneys is because whenever you need one, some­thing has gone wrong in your life," said Kendall Dunson, an attorney with the Beasley Allen law firm.



Product Liability

Ford Motor Company defrauded the court, lied to federal regulators, and covered up decades of evidence linking sudden unintended acceleration incidents to electromagnetic interference a Florida judge said. Senior Judge William T. Swigert of the Fifth Judicial Circuit in Sumter County, Florida threw out a jury verdict favoring Ford in a sudden-acceleration lawsuit and ordered a new trial in which the jury would only determine compensatory and punitive damages for Peggy Stimpson, who was permanently paralyzed in a Ford Aerostar crash, and her family.



Environmental

After the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in April 2010, it soon became clear that the oil gushing out of the blown-out well could amount to one of the worst environmental disasters the country had ever seen. The sheer volume and scope of BP’s oil spill almost guaranteed that it would continue to harm the Gulf Coast for a long time to come. We’ve heard about the ecological destruction, the illness, the out-of-work fishermen and charter boat operators, the shuttered seafood distributors and restaurants, the struggling tourism industry, and greatly diminished revenues. Now, tens of thousands of Gulf Coast residents will be harmed yet again in the form of major home value losses.




Recalls

Chrysler Group LLC has announced a recall of almost 250,000 of its Ram pickup trucks due to a problem with the steering column that can cause drivers to lose control of the vehicle and crash. The recall involves 242,780 Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickup trucks from 2008 through 2011 year models.



Recalls

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), in cooperation with Changzhou Globe Tool Group Co. Ltd., of China, has announced a voluntary recall of the Task Force 5-ton electric log splitters. These machines have a hydraulic arm that, during use, slides under the handle used to move the machine. The moving hydraulic arm poses a laceration or amputation injury hazard to individuals who place their hands on that handle while the splitter is in operation.



Recalls

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Mizuno USA Inc., of Norcross, Ga., announced a voluntary recall of about 131,000 Mizuno Supreme Series and Ballpark Pro baseball and softball gloves. Some gloves were found to contain a variety of molds that could cause respiratory or other infections in individuals with chronic health problems or in individuals who have impaired immune systems.



Pharmaceutical

A Supreme Court ruling on June 23 reversed separate U.S. appeals court rulings that would have held generic drug manufacturers responsible for warning patients of safety label changes.



Recalls

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevent (CDC) are warning consumers not to eat Evergreen Produce brand alfalfa sprouts or spicy sprouts because they may contain Salmonella Enteritidis.