難句解析：
①While warnings are often appropriate and necessary — the dangers of drug interactions, for example — and many are required by state or federal regulations, it isn't clear that they actually protect the manufacturers and sellers from liability if a customer is injured.
▲在這個主從復合句中，前一個分句是由while引導的讓步從句，這個從句由兩個并列句組成，中間用and連接。破折號之間的部分是舉例說明warnings的內容，and后面的many省略了warnings，state與federal共用regulations。主句部分本身也是一個主從復合句，主句用了一個形式主語it，真正的主語是that引導的從句，注意這個從句中有個動詞短語protect... from...，后面是一個if引導的條件從句。
△首先要把握這個句子的主旨，那就是主句中所闡明的warnings對manufacturers and sellers的保護作用還很不明朗。注意破折號之間的部分對warnings的解釋作用以及it作為形式主語的替代作用。
②As personal injury claims continue as before, some courts are beginning to side with defendants, especially in cases where a warning label probably wouldn't have changed anything.
▲在這個主從復合句中，前一個分句是由as引導的伴隨狀語從句，注意這里的claims是個名詞；主句的時態用的是現在進行時，表示的這種狀況正在開始。這個主句有一個較長的狀語短語，原因是cases后面跟了一個where引導的定語從句修飾cases，這個定語從句的主干是warning label not change anything，解釋的是什么樣的cases。
△主句依然是抓住句子大意的關鍵，該句所要表達的就是some courts beginning to side with defendants，再者要注意cases后面定語從句指出了哪類cases尤為如此。
③In May, Julie Nimmons, president of Schutt Sports in Illinois, successfully fought a lawsuit involving a football player who was paralyzed in a game while wearing a Schutt helmet.
▲這個句子的主干是... president... successfully fought a lawsuit...。句子的主語是Julie Nimmons，后面逗號之間的部分是她的職位，賓語部分a lawsuit有一個較長的動詞現在分詞involving所引導的短語，involving的賓語是a football player，后面跟了一個who引導的定語從句，這個定語從句中有一個while引導的時間狀語，還原成句子就是while he was wearing a Schutt helmet。找出其中的關鍵部分：... president of Schutt... successfully fought a lawsuit involving a football player... paralyzed... while wearing a Schutt helmet。
④At the same time, the American Law Institute — a group of judges, lawyers, and academics whose recommendations carry substantial weight — issued new guidelines for tort law stating that companies need not warn customers of obvious dangers or bombard them with a lengthy list of possible ones.
▲這個看起來很長的句子其實是一個簡單句，主干是... the... Institute... issued new guidelines for tort law...。其中破折號之間的內容說明的是這個Institute的人員構成，并且用一個whose引導的定語從句說明了這些成員的權威。law后面跟的現在分詞stating有一個相當長的賓語從句，這個從句的主語是companies，而謂語有兩個動詞結構，一個是warn... of...，另一個是bombard... with...，敘述了guidelines的內容。
△這個句子的要點是在stating后面的that從句，對其中兩個動詞結構warn... of...和bombard... with...的正確理解決定了對整個句子的理解。
⑤If the moderate end of the legal community has its way, the information on products might actually be provided for the benefit of customers and not as protection against legal liability.
▲在這個復合句中，if引導的是一個條件從句，主句部分的謂語用了被動形式，謂語動詞provide for有兩個賓語，一個是the benefits of customers，另一個是protection against legal liability，not決定了兩者的取舍關系：取前者，舍后者。
△從句給出了前提條件，注意has its way的意思是can be achieved；理解主句部分的關鍵在于provide for的兩個賓語的取舍關系。
補充: Or so the thinking has gone since the early 1980s中的thinking是一種思想的意思，指的是上面所說過的人們對于通過法律獲得賠償的思想。gone本意是消失，這里可以意譯為改變，就是說這種思想已經改變。但是我個人覺得，從前后文看，這個gone不是否定，所以應該是開始的意思，也就是說應該翻譯成這種思想已經形成了。
來源:可可英語 http://www.ccdyzl.cn/kaoyan/201406/305306.shtml