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News · Mass Tort

The Federal Talcum Powder MDL: Where MDL No. 2738 Stands

Vetted by Stefan Rest

Federal lawsuits alleging that Johnson & Johnson talc products contributed to ovarian cancer are gathered in one multidistrict litigation, MDL No. 2738, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. As of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation's September 1, 2026 report, 69,250 actions were pending in it, out of 71,935 filed over its history. Here is what an MDL is, who is overseeing this one, and how bankruptcy has affected it.

Read more about this Mass Tort article: “The Federal Talcum Powder MDL: Where MDL No. 2738 Stands”

Personal Injury news

Personal Injury: Appeals court leaves Boy Scouts bankruptcy plan in place, and the Supreme Court declines review

In May 2025, a federal appeals court let the Boy Scouts of America's bankruptcy plan stand. The plan created a trust to pay tens of thousands of sexual abuse claims. A group of survivors asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case, and in January 2026 the Court said no. Here is what the courts decided, and what they did not.

Vetted by Stefan Rest

Read more about this Personal Injury article: “Appeals court leaves Boy Scouts bankruptcy plan in place, and the Supreme Court declines review”

Personal Injury: Revival laws for childhood sexual abuse claims: why state high courts have reached different answers

Many states have passed laws that let adult survivors bring childhood sexual abuse claims that had expired. Those laws have been challenged in court, often by the institutions being sued. Since 2023, the highest courts in Colorado, Louisiana and Maryland have reached different results. Here is what each court decided, based on the opinions themselves.

Vetted by Stefan Rest

Read more about this Personal Injury article: “Revival laws for childhood sexual abuse claims: why state high courts have reached different answers”

Personal Injury: California's childhood sexual assault law: no filing deadline for newer claims, and what courts have said about public entities

California has changed its rules for childhood sexual assault lawsuits several times in recent years. A 2023 law removed the filing deadline for claims based on abuse that happens on or after January 1, 2024. California courts have also ruled on how these claims work against public entities such as school districts. This explainer walks through the statute and two key court decisions.

Vetted by Stefan Rest

Read more about this Personal Injury article: “California's childhood sexual assault law: no filing deadline for newer claims, and what courts have said about public entities”

Mass Tort news

Mass Tort: The Federal Talcum Powder MDL: Where MDL No. 2738 Stands

Federal lawsuits alleging that Johnson & Johnson talc products contributed to ovarian cancer are gathered in one multidistrict litigation, MDL No. 2738, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. As of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation's September 1, 2026 report, 69,250 actions were pending in it, out of 71,935 filed over its history. Here is what an MDL is, who is overseeing this one, and how bankruptcy has affected it.

Vetted by Stefan Rest

Read more about this Mass Tort article: “The Federal Talcum Powder MDL: Where MDL No. 2738 Stands”

Mass Tort: What IARC's Talc Classification Means, and How It Compares With FDA and NCI

In July 2024, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified talc as "probably carcinogenic to humans," or Group 2A. The FDA and the National Cancer Institute describe the evidence on talc and ovarian cancer more cautiously. Here is what each body said, and why a hazard classification is not the same as proof of what caused one person's cancer.

Vetted by Stefan Rest

Read more about this Mass Tort article: “What IARC's Talc Classification Means, and How It Compares With FDA and NCI”

Mass Tort: FDA Withdraws Proposed Rule on Testing Talc Cosmetics for Asbestos

On November 28, 2025, the FDA withdrew a proposed rule that would have set standard methods for testing talc-containing cosmetics for asbestos. The FDA had announced the proposal on December 26, 2024, under the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022. It said comments on the proposal warranted further consideration and assessment. Here is what the rule was, why talc testing matters, and what the FDA's own testing has looked for.

Vetted by Stefan Rest

Read more about this Mass Tort article: “FDA Withdraws Proposed Rule on Testing Talc Cosmetics for Asbestos”

Employment Law news

Employment Law: Fired the week after the complaint

Retaliation is almost never announced. An employee reports harassment, files a safety concern, asks about unpaid overtime, or requests an accommodation, and within weeks the record around them changes. Performance reviews that were satisfactory for years turn critical. A policy that was never enforced is suddenly enforced against one person. A reorganization eliminates a single role. The stated reason is usually plausible on its face, which is the point. What makes these cases winnable is timing and comparison: how close the adverse action came to the protected complaint, and how the employer treated everyone else who did the same thing…

Vetted by Stefan Rest

Read more about this Employment Law article: “Fired the week after the complaint”

Employment Law: The hours that never reached the paycheck

Wage theft in practice looks mundane. A shift is rounded down to the quarter hour, always in the same direction. Pre-shift setup and post-shift cleanup are treated as unpaid. A salaried title is applied to a job that is hourly work in every respect except the paperwork. A bonus that was earned is withheld because someone left before the payout date. Individually these amount to a few dollars a week, which is exactly why they persist — nobody sues over a rounding rule. Across a workforce and a few years, the same rule is worth a great deal to the…

Vetted by Stefan Rest

Read more about this Employment Law article: “The hours that never reached the paycheck”

Employment Law: The shift that starts before the clock does

A great deal of unpaid work is unpaid because of where the time clock sits. Employees arrive early to put on protective gear, boot a terminal, walk to a distant station, pass through a security screen, or take a handoff from the outgoing shift — and none of it is recorded, because the clock is somewhere past all of that. Individually it is six minutes. Across a year and a warehouse floor it is a substantial payroll the employer never wrote a check for. Federal and state wage law treat time as compensable when the employer requires and controls it…

Vetted by Stefan Rest

Read more about this Employment Law article: “The shift that starts before the clock does”

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Craig Weiss, founder and managing attorney of CBW Law Firm

Craig Weiss

Managing Attorney · CBW Law

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