Lawyer Monthly Magazine - November 2019 Edition

Another concern for our clients is keeping our cases in state court where we have filed them. The counties and cities I represent very badly want to have their cases heard in local courthouses, where the judges and jurors understand the community and how it has been impacted. The defendants, however, would strongly prefer to see the cases removed to federal court and consolidated in the multi- district litigation now pending in Cleveland, Ohio. More than 2,200 cases are now sitting in the MDL in Ohio. We want no part of the bureaucracy associated with that. If the defendants can ship the cases to Ohio, then the cases may sit in purgatory there for months, and more likely, years. This is of course why the defendants are filing notices of removal and removing almost every state court case to federal court, even where there is really no credible argument for federal jurisdiction. The challenge, naturally, is filing motions to remand in all these cases and eventually getting those motions heard and decided. As you have fought in such cases across the US, do different state laws impact the outcomes of cases? The short answer is yes. As just one example, almost all of the complaints that have been filed thus far rely to greater or lesser degrees on local nuisance law. We have clients with cases in many different states. The fact is that public nuisance laws vary from state to state, and are applied differently in different states. Also, some state laws provide that counties who are plaintiffs can be compelled to litigate in a venue outside of their own county, so it’s critical to understand these different state law nuances. Another thing I’ll mention is access to prescription drug monitoring program data. This “PDMP” data from the states can be invaluable to local governments seeking to better understand how their population has been impacted by opioids because it shows the quantities of opioids shipped into specific geographic areas over time. This can help plaintiffs more easily identify improper prescribing and dispensing practices. Some states have more restrictive access to this data than others. LM As someone who has fought for such cases, what do you think could be done to ensure justice is served and such a crisis does not reoccur? As I mentioned above, legislation is going to be critical to preventing a similar crisis down the road. But to ensure justice in the near term, the parties need the courts to set these cases for trial. The sooner the better. It’s that simple. What challenges do these cases present? How do you work around them? All litigation has its challenges. Here one issue is simply the sheer volume of the parties involved. In all of the cases my firm has filed, we have named upwards of 20 different defendants, including manufacturers, distributors, and sometimes pharmacies and prescribers. Having this many parties involved obviously presents some case management and logistical challenges. ABOUT JEFFREY REEVES Jeff is a trial lawyer whose practice is focused on h a n d l i n g complex busi- ness disputes in any forum. He represents companies and individuals in the technology, nutrition, life sciences, entertainment and other industries in business and tort cases and class actions, including handling high-profile, trade secret misappropriation, defamation, and data breach cases. Jeff is lead counsel for over 30 counties and cities in Arizona, Missouri, Kansas and Mary- land who are suing the opioid manufacturers and distributors seeking redress for the societal and financial ills that these lo- cal governments have suffered at the hands of those defend- ants (Federal judge decides Prescott’s lawsuit against opioid companies will be heard in Ari- zona, Arizona Republic, Aug. 7, 2019; Prescott City Council Hires Law Firms for Possible Opioid Suit, Knau.org, Feb. 13, 2019). He also sits in an ex officio ca- pacity on the Official Commit- tee of Unsecured Creditors for Insys Therapeutics, Inc. in the company’s Chapter 11 cases stemming from the nationwide opioid epidemic. CONTACT Jeffrey H. Reeves Senior Attorney ORANGE COUNTY OFFICE 535 Anton Boulevard Ninth Floor, Costa Mesa, California 92626-7109 714.549.6200 www.tocounsel.com Professional Excellence By Jeffrey Reeves, Theodora Oringher 75 NOV 2019 | WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM But to ensure justice in the near term, the parties need the courts to set these cases for trial. The sooner the better. It’s that simple.