Company Offers to “Pay” Part of Settlement with Addiction Pharmaceuticals
While the Sackler family has upped the ante, the settlement is met with some groans and skepticism.
Jessica Hartogs, Editor at LinkedIn News:
“Purdue Pharma has offered up a $10 billion restructuring plan that would pay $500 million up front to settle approximately 135,000 claims linked to the company’s role in the opioid epidemic. The Sackler family would pay more than $4 billion over a decade and also give up domestic ownership of the company, which is alleged to have fueled the deadly national opioid crisis with its OxyContin drug. They would also admit no wrongdoing. Two dozen state attorneys general immediately rejected the plan, reported NPR.”
Charlie Kingdollar, Retired Emerging Issues Officer at Gen Re:
Members of the Sackler family offered roughly $4.3 billion to resolve sprawling opioid litigation, up from $3 billion initially proposed in settlement discussions.
Purdue’s chapter 11 plan must be approved by a bankruptcy judge and likely will be challenged in court by individuals who have suffered injuries from opioids and state attorneys general who have not signed onto the deal. A final resolution isn’t expected before the summer. “We’re going to keep fighting for the accountability that families all across this country deserve,” said Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, who, along with 23 other attorneys general, voiced opposition to the plan Monday and called for greater transparency and more money upfront from the Sacklers.
Fred Johnson, Attorney, Spencer Fane LLP:
“[T]he company that introduced America to OxyContin and is alleged to have ushered in the opioid epidemic in the country, has proposed a $10B settlement to resolve 1000s of civil lawsuits and other civil and criminal matters and its bankruptcy, and allegedly intends to fund part of the settlement through the sale of ‘overdose reversal’ and addiction treatment drugs that it has in development. Seriously.”
Nursing Home Injury Litigation: Common Claims, Medical Records, and Damages Assessment
Nursing Home Injury Litigation: Common Claims, Medical Records and Damages Assessment Photo by Irwan iwe on Unsplash Counsel bringing nursing home injury claims must understand the statutory, regulatory, and established common law standards of care applicable to nursing home residents and governing patient care. The most common nursing home injuries--pressure sores, severe malnutrition or dehydration, physical and chemical restraints, elopement, falls, improper medication, and abuse--involve different approaches. Medical records, discovery, and damage assessment present unique challenges to counsel. Listen as our authoritative panel of practitioners provides an overview of nursing home laws and regulations, discusses common types of injuries, covers how to handle medical records and other discovery issues unique to these cases, and reviews how to assess damages. Subjects What are the key steps to develop a claim involving injury to a nursing home resident?What evidentiary and discovery challenges are present in nursing home injury claims–and how can counsel best address them?What is the role of pain and suffering claims in the assessment of damages? Outline Relevant laws and regulations Common types of injuries Discovery issues Reviewing medical records Assessing damages Corporate involvement Recorded: 10/18/2022 Regular price: $197* This Strafford production has been specially selected for HB audiences. Craig C. Conley Shareholder Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz Jaime Koziol Delaney Partner Levin & Perconti Mark E. Goodman Shareholder Capes Sokol Goodman & Sarachan Parke Morris Attorney Parke Morris Karie Valentino Partner Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith
Discovery on Discovery
Discovery on Discovery: Disputes About a Litigant's Efforts to Search for, Locate, Preserve, and Collect Responsive ESI Much is written about the expectation of cooperation between parties in litigation. And while cooperation is required in the discovery context, litigants have no transparency requirement on how they respond to discovery requests. Counsel should be vigilant in recognizing improper attempts by another party to extend the concept of discovery by demanding transparency.Most courts will not permit discovery on discovery in the absence of a showing that the responding party acted in bad faith or unlawfully withheld documents. Indeed, courts have routinely denied requests for discovery on discovery based on the requesting party's "mere speculation" that the responding party has acted improperly in responding to discovery.A requesting party may support a request for discovery on discovery by demonstrating an adequate factual basis, including inconsistencies with the responding party's production, deposition testimony establishing the failure of a party to implement a litigation hold promptly, and the absence of documents from key custodians and date ranges in a discovery production.Listen as this experienced panel of litigators addresses discovery on discovery and discusses how to prevent discovery on discovery from derailing the merits of the case, as well as the offensive use of discovery on discovery in potential motions for sanctions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(e) or state equivalents. Outline The challenges of seeking discovery on discovery Sedona Conference Principles 3 and 6 The presumption that the responding party is best situated to respond to discovery Judicial treatment of requests for discovery on discovery Baseline showings needed to pursue discovery on discovery Effective use of ESI protocols Objections to discovery on discovery Relevance/proportionality Privilege objections Potential waiver of privilege if privileged information produced Motions to compel Cooperation and attempts to meet and confer Establishing strong factual records Burden of proof Potential sanctions? Tuesday, January 24, 2023 1:00pm-2:30pm EST, 10:00am-11:30am PST $247* *Early Registration Discount Deadline Friday, January 6, 2023 This Strafford production has been specially selected for HB audiences. Travis A. [...]
Safeguarding Against Financial Exploitation
An on-demand CLE-eligible webinar Safeguarding Against Financial Exploitation America’s senior population is growing. Nearly one in five U.S. residents will be 65 or older in 2030. Which means the average age of U.S. investors is climbing too. With that comes the risk that they will be exploited by people with access – or gain access through nefarious methods – to their investment portfolio. Seniors and vulnerable persons lose billions of dollars each year. Remarkably, 90% of the people to take advantage of senior investors are members of their own family. Attorneys who represent senior clients need to know the signs of vulnerability, red flags that their clients are being exploited, what laws apply, and rules lawyers must follow in these matters. Questions our speakers answer: What is senior / vulnerable investor exploitation? Who is protected by state and federal laws? How prevalent is senior financial exploitation? What do the numbers tell us? What is the pace of financial abuse SAR filings by securities firms? What are the most popular scams? What is diminished capacity? What are the red flags indicating possible exploitation? What are the laws, rules, and regulations governing law firms? What are some best practices for law firms? How can firms best protect their senior clients? On Demand CLE Webinar What You Get PowerPoint and supplemental materials. Complete recording for later review. Answers to your questions via email. Invitation to contact speakers. 1.5 CLE credits (for licensed attorneys). CLE assistance.* *Subject to state bar rules. For licensed attorneys. Register Meet the Speakers Joseph Calabrese Bressler, Amery & Ross, P.C. A 1991 Graduate of St. John’s University Law School, Mr. Calabrese brings 30 years of practice and 18 years of Securities Litigation/Regulatory experience to his role as principal in the New York office of Bressler, Amery & Ross’s Financial Institutions Group. He began his career as a Wall Street litigator as an associate general counsel for Citigroup’s Smith Barney and [...]
PTSD in Mass Torts & Multi-Plaintiff Cases. What attorneys need to know.
PTSD in mass tort and multi-plaintiff cases. What attorneys need to know. Mass tort claims arise most frequently in man-made and natural disaster catastrophe litigation as well as personal injury, employment, product liability and toxic tort litigation. Frequently, these lawsuits include either primary or secondary allegations of emotional distress. PTSD is one of the most common emotional distress claims alleged within mass tort litigation, as well as allegations of depression and emotional stress (anxiety). Join an experienced psychiatrist and psychologist who will cover topics relevant to the forensic psychiatric assessment of emotional damages within mass tort and complex litigation. Agenda Introduction: Defining PTSD. What it is and what it is not. The methodological approach to assessing allegations of emotional distress in mass tort & complex litigation. The importance and the methodology of psychological testing as part of the assessment of emotional distress claims in mass tort litigation. Claimant population screening. Using psychological test instruments to differentiate claimants who require in-depth forensic psychiatric assessment from claimants who do not. Are all psych tests the same? Types of psychological test instruments we recommend and ones that we do not — and why. So-called “PTSD Tests.” Do they have a role in forensic psychological assessments? Accuracy and reliability of conclusions derived from psychological test data. Taking a “team approach” to emotional distress claim assessment in mass tort litigation. On Demand Registration Webinar On Demand 75 minutes of insights from experienced professionals. CLE credit: 1+ (subject to bar rules). CLE support by email. The complete Power Point presentation. Continued access to the complete recording for later use. Answers to speaker questions by email. On Demand Registration Meet the speakers. Mark I. Levy MD, DLFAPA Medical Director Forensic Psychiatric Associates Medical Corporation Associate Clinical Professor, Psychiatry University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine 415.388.8040 mlevy@fpamed.com Dr. Levy attended Durham University, U.K. (1965-66) and is a graduate of Columbia College (A.B. 1967), the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (M.D. [...]
Epiq Class Action Settlement Efficiency
Epiq presents a CLE-eligible webinar Wait Wait ... Don't Settle! Essential elements of effective class action settlements. When it comes to complex class action litigation, once the hard work is done – litigation and settlement – more hard work begins – administering it. But is the deal really ready? After years of arduous proceedings, discovery, motions, appeals, hearings, negotiations, and more, the scope and structure of your settlement has been drafted. Everyone is in agreement. The hard work of the courts, the attorneys, the legal teams, and the litigants is complete. Now it's time to administer the settlement. Send out notices. Cut the checks. Get people paid. Boom! Sit back and relax. Get a claims administrator to take it from there. But wait … you find out that the terms of the agreement, the promises made, the budget established, and the deadlines calendared are not only inefficient, they are completely unworkable. Now the settlement is in jeopardy. The clients are frustrated. The court is frustrated. And you have a headache. That is a situation you, as a class action attorney, never want to find yourself in. The best way to avoid this quagmire is for attorneys to work with a professional and experienced claims administrator before you agree on settlement terms, someone who has been to this rodeo many, many times before. If you want smooth execution of your claims program, they must be on your team as you pull the pieces of the settlement together, not afterwards. Join us for a complimentary CLE webinar on Thursday, April 8, 2021, for a practical discussion based on Seven Elements of Effectively Settling Class Actions led by a class action litigator turned class action settlement expert, who will moderate a discussion with two highly regarded class action attorneys who have been involved in a number of high-profile complex cases. On Demand | Recorded April 2021 On Demand Registration Included with registration 1+ CLE credits (subject to bar rules). CLE codes are embedded in the video. [...]
Sexual Abuse Litigation and Insurance Coverage
Insurance Coverage for Sexual Abuse Claims Strategies | Response | Insurance Archeology CLE OnDemand Webinar Sexual abuse claims – such as those involving the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts of America – have resulted in verdicts and settlements in the tens and hundreds of millions of dollars. The Catholic church alone has paid billions to resolve claims. Verdicts in cases involving adult victims are typically lower than those involving children and teens. A December 2021 $44 million verdict to a Texas woman who was raped at a Hilton Hotel in Houston could signal that juries may be more open to larger awards in such cases. While rapists and abusers face accountability under criminal law (and sometimes under civil law as well), businesses and institutions of all shapes and sizes are increasingly finding themselves confronting claims that they bear some of the responsibility for instances of sexual molestation, abuse and harassment. Several standard types of liability insurance provide coverage for such claims. In this webinar the panel discusses the elements of this coverage and the sensitive aspects of such claims. If you answer yes to any of these questions, this webinar is for you: Is your organization or your clients at risk of facing sexual abuse accusations? Would your organization or your client be insured if sued for sexual abuse? Is your organization or client uncertain as to where their insurance policies are? HB CLE on West LegalEdcenter Get CLE on emerging issues in litigation produced by HB and distributed via the West LegalEdcenter. Courses are available as part of your subscription to the platform. They are also available for individual purchase. Go to West LegalEdcenter Library CLE OnDemand Webinar: Property Insurance Coverage for Emerging Risk of Underground Climate Change w/Artese Podcast 1 of 2 series: Insurance Coverage with Dr. Jaana Pietari and Jim Fenstermacher and Litigation with Bob Chesler. Podcast 2 of 2 series: PFAS Insurance Coverage with Robert D. Chesler [...]