Monday, September 14, 2026

Weekly Docket: Filings Fall 56% as Social Media Adds 172

We tracked 532 filings across 53 litigations, down 56% week over week from 1,206. Last week's Suboxone (308) and September 11 (192) waves did not repeat. The five busiest dockets supplied 435, or 82%. The Social Media Adolescent Addiction Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation (3047) added 172 — Frantz Law Group APLC 112 and Levin Papantonio 22. Keller Postman LLC filed all 109 in the Zantac (Ranitidine) Products Liability Litigation (2924). The Uber Passenger Sexual Assault Litigation (3084) added 74 — Phillips & Associates Law Firm PC 20 and Chaffin Luhana LLP 16. U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer on Sept. 8 told Uber it has to "change its attitude" and, the same day, appointed Randi Ellis as settlement master (Second Amended PTO 22). The third federal bellwether, Jane Doe QLF 001, is set for jury selection Sept. 30 and trial Oct. 5; Uber's summary-judgment motion and both sides' motions in limine were filed Sept. 11. The JPML counted 4,588 actions pending as of Sept. 1. The Hair Relaxer Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation (3060) added 52 — Peiffer Wolf 9, Morgan & Morgan PA 7, and Wallace Miller 7. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes on Sept. 10 filed a consumer-fraud action against L'Oreal USA and SoftSheen-Carson. The AFFF Personal Injury docket (2873) added 28, 27 through Krentsel & Guzman LLP. See the full filing feed and firm-level breakdowns here.

EU Kids Act Proposal Puts Age Gates at Center Stage

The European Commission is set to present its EU Kids Act proposal on Sept. 17, a regulatory move that would impose a new age-gating architecture across social platforms and related digital services. The draft reported this week would reserve independent accounts for users 15 and older, while users ages 13 and 14 could use only parent-authorized accounts with restrictions on stranger contact and screen time. It would also reach video-sharing services, online games, app stores and AI chatbots, pressing platforms to show that youth-safety controls work across products rather than in isolated settings. For Social Media Adolescent Addiction Personal Injury Products Liability (3047), the *Sept. 17 presentation* could furnish the clearest current regulatory marker on whether age verification and default design restraints are feasible; the proposal would still require Parliament and Council approval before becoming binding law.

Roundup Settlement Faces Its Approval Test

A St. Louis judge heard objections on Sept. 14 at the final-approval hearing for Bayer’s proposed $7.25 billion Roundup settlement, but did not rule from the bench. The plan has only preliminary approval, so claims registration and payments cannot begin unless Judge Timothy J. Boyer grants final approval. It would resolve existing and certain future U.S. claims alleging Roundup caused non-Hodgkin lymphoma through capped annual payments over as long as 21 years. For Roundup Products Liability (2741), the pending decision concentrates settlement leverage in a single ruling while objectors continue to press notice, opt-out and claimant-treatment challenges.