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DOJ Launches Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program

In 2024, the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division launched the Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program to combat corporate crime. The Corporate Whistleblower Pilot Program will run through 2027, before being re-evaluated, and is modeled on other successful whistleblower programs like those administered by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The Pilot Program is designed …

Tabletop Fire Pits Can Explode, Cause Serious Burn Injuries and Death

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is warning consumers to immediately stop using alcohol-burning or other liquid fuel tabletop fire pits following two deaths and at least 60 injuries in the past five years. Tabletop fire pits — also called fire pots, miniature fireplaces and personal fireplaces — are small, portable fireplaces that can be placed on a tabletop or …

NHTSA Issues Final Rule for Auto Whistleblower Program

On December 12, 2024, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published the final rule formalizing its whistleblower program, as required by the Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower Act. The final rule deviates little from the rule proposed by NHTSA in April 2023, which addressed definitions of key program terms, tip-filing requirements, award applications, how decisions are made on award applications, …

SEC Obtains Orders for a Record $8.2 Billion in Financial Remedies in Fiscal Year 2024

In fiscal year 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed 583 enforcement actions and obtained orders for $8.2 billion in financial remedies—the most ever obtained by the SEC in a single fiscal year. The $8.2 billion consisted of $6.1 billion in disgorgement and prejudgment interest and $2.1 billion in civil penalties. The SEC also obtained orders barring 124 individuals from serving …

When Fun Toys Kill: The Products Liability Case Against Water Beads

Water beads are sold for children as toys, educational materials, art materials, sensory tools, and as projectiles for “gel blaster” guns. Adults use them as decorative, crafting and gardening supplies. When these small, colorful beads are swallowed by children, they do not simply get digested and pass through a child’s body. Instead, they absorb fluids and expand to many times …

The Products Liability Case Against Tianeptine: The Deadly “Dietary Supplement” Found at Your Local Store

You see them displayed by the cash register. Neptune’s Fix and other tianeptine-based products promise to help brain function, treat anxiety and depression, and even manage opioid addiction. Unbeknownst to many consumers, these products have been associated with severe adverse medical events, including seizures and even deaths. This article, written by John M. Dodig and Jason A. Daria and published in …

Fisher-Price Recalls Snuga Swings After Five Infant Deaths

In a recall that one federal safety regulator has characterized as “doomed to fail,” Fisher-Price is offering its customers $25 to remove components from its Snuga Swings — which have been linked to five infant deaths — instead of offering a meaningful remedy that would get this unsafe product out of people’s homes. On October 10, 2024, Fisher-Price announced the recall …

Lawmakers Seek to Address Supersized Vehicles That Kill Pedestrians

Federal lawmakers have introduced legislation aimed at reducing the number of pedestrians who are killed and seriously injured in crashes with supersized passenger vehicles. Recent government data show that there are more than 40,000 fatal car crashes per year in the United States. Between 2013 and 2022, pedestrian fatalities increased 57 percent from 4,779 to 7,522, according to the National Highway …

CPSC Warns Against Two Cradle Swings That Pose Suffocation and Fall Hazards

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is warning parents and caregivers to stop using DNYSYSJ and OUKANING cradle swings due to the risk of suffocation and falls. According to the CPSC, the cradle swings violate federal safety regulations for bassinets and cradles. The warning, issued on August 15, 2024, states that the “folds” of the cradle swing’s segmented sleeping pad …

November 20th, 2019

As child safety advocates, parents and lawmakers turn up the heat in their fight to keep children safe from dresser tip-overs, two more furniture makers have succumbed to the pressure to get their unsafe furniture out of their customers’ homes. Ridgewood Industries (also known as Ameriwood Home) and E&E, on …

October 24th, 2019

In October, Feldman Shepherd held a “Don’t Panic: Effective Trial Techniques for Young Lawyers” CLE in Pennsylvania. Moderated by Carol Nelson Shepherd, the program was held on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019, at the Fitler Club, in Philadelphia. G. Scott Vezina and Daniel J. Mann began the seminar by presenting on strategies …

October 18th, 2019

At least three people have died in a single-vehicle crash involving a multi-passenger van in Chester County, Pennsylvania, according to breaking news coverage. The afternoon crash on Oct. 16, 2019, on Route 1 southbound, near the Newark Road Exit, in New Garden Township, reportedly left eight others injured, some of …

Dresser Recalls

Home Meridian Recalls Dressers That Fail to Meet Voluntary Safety Standards

October 8th, 2019

In another victory in the growing movement to keep children safe from unstable furniture, furniture design company Home Meridian has announced that it is recalling dressers that do not comply with the furniture industry’s already inadequate voluntary safety standard. The September 24, 2019 recall, issued jointly with the Consumer Product …

September 18th, 2019

Attorneys Daniel S. Weinstock and G. Scott Vezina are investigating an Aug. 19, 2019, aviation accident in which a college senior who aspired to become a commercial pilot was seriously injured when he deployed the parachute of his rented aircraft before it went down nose first into a …

September 5th, 2019

As parents, consumer safety organizations and lawmakers continue to ramp up their pressure on the furniture industry to enact standards designed to reduce dresser tip-overs, furniture and home goods retailer Kirkland’s has announced that it is recalling about 3,000 dressers that do not comply with the furniture industry’s already …

August 7th, 2019

On what should have been her son’s seventh birthday, Feldman Shepherd’s former client, Crystal Ellis, testified at a congressional hearing about the dangers of furniture tip-overs and the day that forever divided her life into before her 23-month-old son Camden was killed in his bedroom when a three-drawer IKEA …

Campsite Accident

Is Your Campsite Free from Dangerous Trees?

July 9th, 2019

As a family mourns the loss of their 3-old-girl who was killed by a falling tree branch at a New Jersey campsite over the July 4 holiday weekend, it remains to be seen whether this tragic death could have been prevented. What’s known at this time from news reports …

Child Birth

African American Women Are Dying of Pregnancy-Related Causes at 3 Times the Rate of White Women

June 17th, 2019

Expecting a baby is supposed to be one of the most joyous times of a woman’s life. But whether a pregnancy will end with a celebration or a medical tragedy for the mom may hinge upon the color of her skin, according to a new report by the …