Here's a class action I wouldn't want to defend before a jury: dog food contaminated with a deadly ingredient.

Last week, 12 dog owners filed a consolidated class complaint in the Northern District of California against Gravy Train and Kibbles n' Bits maker Big Heart Pet Brands Inc., which is owned by the J.M. Smucker Co. Winston & Strawn partners Ronald Rothstein and Sean Meenan are representing the company.

The plaintiffs allege that a long list of canned dog food with yummy-sounding names like American Grill Burger Dinner with Real Bacon & Cheese Bits in Gravy also contain pentobarbital—which is what vets use to put animals to sleep.

Some plaintiffs claim that their dogs died as a result of eating the food. Among them: a man who had 13 border collie and Australian shepherd mixes he used to herd his cattle, and who all died within two days of eating Gravy Train dog food.

A Class II controlled substance with no safe level in pet food, pentobarbital also causes things like vomiting, explosive diarrhea, tremors, difficulty walking and coma.

Not exactly what you'd want to feed Fido for dinner. So what's it doing in the Home-style Tender Slices with Real Beef, Chicken & Vegetables in Gravy?

“Pentobarbital is routinely used to euthanize animals, and the most likely way it could get into dog food would be through rendered animal products,” the complaint states. “Rendered products come from a process that converts animal tissues to feed ingredients, which may include animals that were euthanized, decomposed, or diseased.”

Oh.

That doesn't sound much like Bistro Tender Cuts with Real Beef & Vegetables in Gravy.

Also, according to the complaint, the drug isn't even used on farm animals. It's for dogs, cats and horses. Which could make the Home-style Meatballs & Pasta Dinner with Real Beef in Tomato Sauce more like Soylent Green for dogs.

Big Heart wound up recalling 90 million cans of dog food due to pentobarbital.

Based on a preliminary evaluation, the FDA in a Feb. 16, 2018 alert said the level of pentobarbital was “unlikely to pose a health risk to pets. However, any detection of pentobarbital in pet food is a violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act—simply put, pentobarbital should not be in pet food,” the agency said.

Big Heart blamed a supplier, and initially said beef fat (which the plaintiffs point out is not listed as an ingredient on any of the recalled dog food) was the source of the contamination. In an updated statement, Big Heart said the contaminated animal fat was “from cow, pig and chicken and no other animal of the nine types tested.”

But the company didn't actually say what the nine types of animals were. Elephants and bears? Or dogs and cats?

The plaintiffs, who are represented by Lockridge Grindal Nauen; Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca; Gustafson Gluek; and Robbins Arroyo, allege Big Heart falsely advertised its dog food products as healthy. But Big Heart neglected to mention they contained pentobarbital—an omission that is “material, false, misleading, and reasonably likely to deceive the public.”

And the plaintiffs said they wouldn't have bought the food if it was accurately labeled—because Lamb & Rice Chunks with Pentobarbital Gravy just doesn't sound very tasty.

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Lateral Watch

Sally Yates is one of the few people whose reputation was improved after being fired by President Donald Trump. The former acting attorney general got the boot in January 2017 when she refused to defend the travel ban.

Some saw a bright political future for her (Governor?! Senator?!), but ultimately, Yates said she wanted to be a lawyer, not a politician.

On Tuesday, King & Spalding announced that she re-joined the firm where she started her legal career almost 30 years ago. She'll be spearheading independent investigations for corporations, universities and other organizations with “particularly challenging or vexing issues,” she said.

“I know other people sort of have political ambitions for me—but for me, I'm a lawyer. … I wanted to get back to some of the day-to-day practice of law,” she told The National Law Journal.

William Weinreb, the former acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, has joined Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan as a partner in Boston.

Weinreb, who was the lead prosecutor in the investigation and 2015 trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, told my colleagues at The American Lawyer that he was “attracted by Quinn Emanuel because they're one of the premier white-collar and litigation practices in the country.”

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Shout-Out: Squire Patton Boggs Wins One for Kosovo

Lawyers from Squire Patton Boggs scored a major international arbitration win for the Republic of Kosovo, which faced a $450 million investment treaty claim brought by a German private investor.

According to the firm, the case was the first ever investment treaty case brought against Kosovo since it became an independent country in 2008. (It used to be part of Serbia.)

On May 3, 2018 the ICSID arbitration tribunal rejected all claims brought against Kosovo and ordered the claimant to pay more than $2 million to Kosovo for fees and costs.

“The total value of the claim amounted to over 20 percent of the annual state budget of Kosovo,” said Squire Patton Boggs partner Luka Misetic. “A loss would have had dire consequences for the country.”

The team also included partner Stephen Anway in New York, Rostislav Pekař in Prague and Stephan Adell in Paris, as well as associates Mark Stadnyk in New York, Mária Poláková and Vladimír Polách in Prague.

With some dark irony considering his work on the issue as a state senator, Schneiderman could face a charge of felony second-degree strangulation.

“Her north star has always been doing the right thing under all circumstances.”

Alex Kozinski. William Voge. Eric Schneiderman. Who'll be next?

The California Judges Association says only settlements involving harassment claims should be made public, not those for other misconduct.

In a class certification hearing today, lawyers will argue whether Twitter's promotion system skews toward men and allows managers to use subjective measures to pick from a “good ol' boys” club.

Including whether a judicial candidate's undergraduate musings should be fodder for confirmation fights.