Lukas Stoutenour

Lukas Stoutenour provides comprehensive support to businesses that are facing mass tort and product liability risks.

View the full bio for Lukas Stoutenour at the Faegre Drinker website.

Articles by Lukas Stoutenour:


Third Circuit Confirms Correlation Still Does Not Prove Causation

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A recent Third Circuit decision is a useful and quotable reminder that temporal correlation is not enough to prove causation.

Causation is an indispensable element of any product liability action. It is the same in pharmaceutical third-party payor (TPP) class actions, where it is often the element most likely to defeat class certification. Unsurprisingly, plaintiffs often employ creative workarounds in an effort to sidestep obvious causation problems. In In re Avandia Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, — F.4th —, 2026 WL 2093904 (3d Cir. July 21, 2026), the Third Circuit made clear that there are no shortcuts.

According to the plaintiff TPPs, the defendant pharmaceutical manufacturer had marketed the medication at issue as not only treating diabetes but offering cardiovascular benefits too. The plaintiffs claimed that the promotional campaign caused physicians to prescribe the medication at inflated rates, forcing the plaintiffs to reimburse prescriptions they would not otherwise have covered.

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Treat Your AI Like an Opposing Expert: Rule 702 Lessons for Evaluating AI Output

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Attorneys using generative AI can borrow a familiar litigation skill: Evaluate AI-generated output the way they would evaluate an opposing expert witness opinion under Federal Rule of Evidence 702. An expert witness cannot simply “waltz into the courtroom and render opinions” without adequate foundation. Clark v. Takata Corp., 192 F.3d 750, 759 n.5 (7th Cir. 1999). Nor can an expert bridge the gap between data and conclusion with nothing more than ipse dixit — the expert’s own say-so. Gen. Elec. Co. v. Joiner, 522 U.S. 136, 146 (1997).

Rule 702 imposes that discipline directly. It requires expert testimony to be “based on sufficient facts or data,” be “the product of reliable principles and methods,” and reflect “a reliable application of the principles and methods to the facts of the case.” So, when an opposing expert offers an opinion, a litigator’s instinct is not to accept it but to probe its basis and reliability.

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Nothing Shocking Here – Eleventh Circuit Affirms Defense Win in Electroconvulsive Therapy Case

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When a case involves electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), one might think it originated out of the Twilight Zone. Despite the misrepresentation of such therapies in popular media, modern ECT serves as a valuable option for patients with certain severe mental health conditions who have tried other therapies without success. Although ECT is far safer today than it was when the stigma attached to it was formed, it still carries risks such as confusion, memory loss, and some physical side effects. One need not enter another dimension to envision why a plaintiff might claim damages arising from those risks. Much like Rod Serling’s anthology, the Eleventh Circuit recently closed the door on one such episode.

In Thelen v. Somatics, LLC, — F.4th —, 2025 WL 2749888 (11th Cir.), the plaintiff suffered from depression and mental health issues so severe that he attempted to take his life numerous times in numerous ways. During a two-year span, he received 95 ECT treatments to address his conditions. He was later diagnosed with a neurocognitive disorder that caused severe memory loss.

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