Motley Rice
Recent News About Motley Rice
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Big plaintiffs firms circle government clients to score PFAS litigation contracts
MIAMI (Legal Newsline) – A memo from Miami-Dade County shows that the nation’s prominent plaintiffs firms are competing with and aligning to each other in the hopes of grabbing the most important clients – local governments. -
Lawyers leading opioid litigation to negotiate their payday; Judge rejects request for 7%
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - Saying it is almost inevitable they will negotiate their own slice of a multibillion-dollar settlement before it is done, the judge overseeing federal multidistrict opioid litigation refused to order the parties to set aside a set percentage to pay the fees of plaintiff lawyers leading the MDL. -
While they wait on opioid jackpot, plaintiffs firms take federal loans during pandemic
Law firms leading multidistrict litigation against the opioid industry have borrowed as much as $102 million under the federal Paycheck Protection Program designed to preserve jobs amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The law firms said the loans were needed to pay some 3,000 employees. -
State AGs ask Sixth Circuit for control of opioid settlement talks
CINCINNATI (Legal Newsline) – The top legal officials in several states are complaining that their powers have been stolen by the federal judge overseeing more than 2,000 opioid lawsuits. -
'Wholly inadequate': Lawyers seek more opioid money by avoiding global settlement process
A proposed “negotiation class” to settle all opioid litigation by U.S. cities and counties could be in deep trouble, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit considers an appeal of the order creating the controversial class and lawyers in two states with big claims urge their clients to opt out before a Nov. 22 deadline. -
After fiery hearing, Purdue Pharma gets two-week break from opioid lawsuits
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (Legal Newsline) - The federal bankruptcy judge overseeing Purdue Pharma’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization granted the OxyContin manufacturer and its controlling Sackler family a two-week respite from opioid litigation to work on a settlement that appeases warring state attorneys general and a growing list of municipal and private plaintiffs. -
'Absolute panic' as cities, counties face deadline on opioid 'negotiation class'
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - Cities and counties are worried and confused as they face a November deadline to join or opt out of an unprecedented “negotiation class” that could determine how much money they get from opioid litigation, a lawyer who represents Texas municipalities said. -
‘Business decision’: Former DEA official works for opioid lawyers but set standards for how many pills were made
Now, Rannazzisi is helping private lawyers pin the blame squarely on manufacturers and distributors of opioids, as well as pharmacies. A post-DEA alliance with trial lawyers has been worth six figures for Rannazzisi, who has been hailed as a whistleblower by those cheering attempts to prosecute the opioid industry for the nation’s addiction crisis. -
Opioid judge supports `negotiating class,’ tells critics like state AGs to `come up with a better model’
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - The federal judge overseeing multidistrict litigation against opioid manufacturers and distributors left little doubt he supports a plan developed by private lawyers to assemble an unprecedented “negotiating class” consisting of every city and county in the U.S. -
Ohio AG slams 'power grab' of private lawyers pushing the opioid litigation
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - Stepping forcefully into a debate that has been brewing since private lawyers first started recruiting local governments to sue the opioid industry, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and the National Association of Attorneys General have urged the federal judge overseeing multidistrict litigation to reject a proposed “negotiation class” consisting of every city and county in the country. -
Texas officials were 'in over their heads' when they struck deals with opioid lawyers
When it hired outside lawyers to represent it in lawsuits against the opioid industry, Harris County agreed to pay a contingency fee of 35%, more than double the rate in Dallas County and equal to the highest in the state. -
Opioid judge orders companies to pay bulk of special master costs because they have 'greater discretionary funding'
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - The judge overseeing hundreds of lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors has ordered defendant companies to pay three-quarters of the costs of special masters who are overseeing settlement negotiations. -
Opioid judge doesn't want media to know details of settlement talks
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - The judge overseeing multidistrict litigation against opioid manufacturers and distributors has named the teams of lawyers who will try to negotiate a settlement of hundreds of federal lawsuits - a complex task given parallel investigations and litigation by state attorneys general and potentially conflicting goals of private attorneys and their government counterparts. -
Usual Suspects: Lawyers used to getting their way in MDL process to lead opioid litigation
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - There will be a lot of familiar faces in U.S. District Judge Dan Polster’s courtroom in Cleveland on Jan. 31, when lawyers gather for a hearing on multidistrict litigation against the nation’s opioid manufacturers and distributors. -
Federal opioid judge makes plaintiffs lawyers play musical chairs
CLEVELAND – Plaintiff lawyers in national opioid litigation chose their executive committee so poorly that a federal judge made them choose again. A protest against the original committee had rung out from West Virginia. As a result, four lawyers lost seats, and five replaced them.