CHARLESTON – West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey isn’t happy with the amount of money attorneys who worked on the state opioid cases will be receiving.
Meanwhile, the leader of a statewide legal reform group says the AG didn’t do enough to fight for a lower amount than the $141 million the attorneys are scheduled to receive.
On October 13, state Mass Litigation Panel judges awarded 15 percent of the state’s opioid settlement funds to attorneys from the West Virginia First Qualified Settlement Fund. Morrisey had fought for a rate about half of that.
Thomas
| Courtesy photo
“I’m deeply disappointed by the decision to award an egregious amount of attorneys’ fees in the opioid cases, especially after my office negotiated one of the lowest, if not the lowest, fee rates in the nation,” Morrisey said in a press release. “We negotiated a fee rate of under 8 percent, whereas the court awarded the attorneys for the counties and cities a substantially higher number.
“While I have great respect for the court and the work they did in these cases, the court unfortunately rejected our request for lower attorneys’ fees for the counties and cities.”
The MLP hearing came two days after it denied Morrisey’s objection to its earlier order approving the 15 percent fees for attorneys, which was recommended by Christopher Wilkes, administrator of the Common Benefit Fund in the state’s opioid litigation. Just hours after that approval, Morrisey’s office filed its objection.
“The court finds the objections to be without merit and are, therefore, denied,” the one-page October 11 MLP order states. It was signed by opioid litigation Lead Presiding Judge Alan D. Moats and by Presiding Judge Derek C. Swope.
Greg Thomas, spokesman for West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, said the victims of the opioid epidemic should be receiving more of the money from the settlements.
“It is unfortunate that Attorney General Patrick Morrisey was unable to prevent the personal injury lawyers involved in the opioid litigation from taking $141 million in legal fees, instead of more money going to the victims,” Thomas said. “What is even more unfortunate is that the Attorney General is being dishonest about the fact that he did not oppose these huge fees until WV CALA brought this travesty to the public’s attention.”
Morrisey disagreed, saying he has been a “staunch advocate” of not only securing the top settlements in the nation, but also ensuring that as many monies are possible are used to help the victims of this crisis.
Thomas countered by pointing to a West Virginia MetroNews report from last week in which attorney Anthony Majestro said at least four time in the six years since the start of the case that the MLP signed orders designating 15 percent of the recoveries as litigation expenses.
“The Attorney General never once objected these prior determinations,” Majestro said. “The Attorney General’s surprise at the 15 percent award is perplexing given these unobjected to orders.
“The current objection, coming only after the panel approved Wilkes’ recommendation, is too little, too late.”
Thomas agreed.
“Too little, too late, indeed,” he said. “If Majestro is correct, Morrisey waited until after an order was entered to act. If Majestro is wrong, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey should state that he is wrong.
Morrisey again disagreed.
“All of this year, beginning on January 13, 2023, when I submitted a proposal to the Common Benefits Administrator (Wilkes) on fees, I have pushed for lower fees and sought to spend as much of the settlement money as possible to help the people in need.
“I traveled to argue in front of Judge Christopher Wilkes in March of 2023 to press this point, and will always be an advocate for protecting taxpayers’ money.”
Thomas said his group will work to enact change.
“West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse hopes that the Legislature will act in January to prevent the Attorney General’s office from failing to protect taxpayers and victims in the future,” he said.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 19-C-9000
