Civil Law

Shameless Plug − CLE Webinar on the Best and Worst Drug/Medical Device and Vaccine Decisions of 2025

As 2025 came to an end, we presented our loyal readers with our annual review of our ten worst decisions of the past year and our ten best decisions of the past year.

Now, in the new year, as we do each year, we’re pleased to announce that four (we hope) of your bloggers – Bexis, Steven Boranian, Stephen McConnell, and Lisa Baird – will be presenting a free 90-minute CLE webinar on “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: The … Read the rest

Civil Law

A Study on Lloyd’s Syndicate Litigation Standing: Cross-Border Perspectives and Chinese Practice

In the international insurance market, a syndicate is Lloyd’s operational unit for conducting insurance business. It is financially supported by one or more Lloyd’s members and routinely managed by a specialist Managing Agent. These Lloyd’s members are the actual insurers of the relevant insurance policies.

Section 8(1) of the English Lloyd’s Act 1982 provides that:

“An underwriting member shall be a party to a contract of insurance underwritten at Lloyd’s only if it is underwritten with several liability, each underwriting … Read the rest

Civil Law

FCC bans Chinese drones!

WashingtonPost.com reported that “The Federal Communications Commission has banned the sale of new models of foreign drones, including widely used Chinese DJI aircraft, citing concerns they pose a national security threat and could undermine U.S. drone production.”  The December 23, 2025 article entitled “FCC bans new DJI Chinese drones, citing national security

“ (https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/12/23/dji-drone-fcc-ban-national-security/) included these comments:

The ban adds DJI to the FCC’s “Covered List” — a designation that blocks authorization of new equipment — effectively preventing U.S. consumers … Read the rest

Civil Law

Surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis guidelines: dogs and cats

Antimicrobials are often used at the time of surgery and it’s widely accepted that there is tremendous overuse in human and veterinary medicine. Antimicrobial prophylaxis indicated in some surgical patients to reduce the risk of surgical site infection, but a large percentage of use is unnecessary and is based on habit or fear (and antibiotics are often used to make the surgeon or owner feel better).

Clinical guidelines are an advancement in care, and the field of guideline development has … Read the rest

Civil Law

McDonnell Douglas and the “Convincing Mosaic”: Questions Remain After 11th Cir. And U.S. Supreme Court Rulings

Confronted with a claim of discriminatory termination or retaliation, an employer’s defensive strategy most often centers on marshalling facts and evidence to—eventually—support a motion for summary judgment that leans heavily—if not exclusively—on the argument that any adverse employment actions taken were based on legitimate and non-discriminatory business reasons that the employee will not be able to show were pretextual. This approach began with the burden-shifting framework described by the Supreme Court in its seminal 1973 decision, McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. … Read the rest

Civil Law

The Milan Local Division of the UPC clarifies the requirements to grant preservation of evidence measures

With two recent orders, the Milan Local Division of the Unified Patent Court (UPC), which has already been in the spotlight in Europe for its pragmatic approach to preliminary orders, has clarified some important aspects concerning the grant of provisional measures for collecting evidence provided for in the UPC system (equivalent to the Italian search orders or the saisie available in France and Belgium).  

Specifically, the Local Division upheld the orders for preservation of evidence previously issued in the … Read the rest