Judge Who Sanctioned Abbott’s Counsel Tosses NEC Defense Verdict, 50+ Firms Are Now Leading Wildfire Litigation Against Edison

Welcome to Law.com Class Actions: Critical Mass, a weekly briefing for class action and mass tort attorneys.

This week: A Missouri judge who sanctioned Abbott’s lead lawyer at an infant formula trial last year tossed the subsequent defense verdict due to “widespread misconduct.” A Los Angeles Superior Court judge approved a team of more than 50 law firms to lead the wildfire litigation against Edison. Find out who was appointed to the Depo-Provera multidistrict litigation.

I’m Amanda Bronstad. Feel free to reach out to me with your input. My email is [email protected]. Follow me on LinkedIn or X: @abronstadlaw.

A Missouri judge who last year sanctioned Abbott’s lead counsel in a high-stakes trial over cow’s milk-based infant formula has tossed out the subsequent defense verdict in that case, citing “widespread misconduct” on the part of the defendants.

A quick backgrounder: The Oct. 31 verdict is the only defense win in the litigation alleging cow’s milk-based infant formula, provided to premature babies in hospitals, has caused NEC, a gastrointestinal illness that causes long-term illness or death. Another manufacturer, Mead Johnson, lost the first trial last year after an Illinois jury awarded $60 million in St. Clair County Circuit Court. Months later, a jury in 22nd Judicial Circuit Court in St. Louis, Missouri, awarded $495 million against Abbott.

The sanctions: 22nd Judicial Circuit Judge Michael Noble, in an Oct. 24 order, found that James Hurst (Kirkland & Ellis) had committed “bad faith on several occasions.” He barred Abbott’s lead counsel from presenting closing arguments at the trial.

New trial: In his March 13 order, Noble granted the plaintiff’s motion for a new trial, citing many of the same instances that led to his sanctions against Hurst. Both Abbott and Mead Johnson plan to appeal his order.

What’s next: The ruling comes as other infant formula trials are coming up. One trial involving four kids who got sick is coming up in June in Cook County Circuit Court in Illinois. And, in the multidistrict litigation, in the Northern District of Illinois, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer has scheduled four bellwether trials. The first one, set for May 5, involves a baby who was fed Abbott’s Similac cow’s milk-based product while in a West Virginia hospital, where she died at 16 days old.

Panish Shea, Baron & Budd, Many Others Lead Lawsuits Over Eaton Fire

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge approved a leadership team of more than 50 law firms to pursue wildfire litigation against Southern California Edison.

Here’s my story on Monday’s hearing, where Judge Laura Seigle approved the team proposed by interim co-liaison counsel Jerry Singleton (Singleton Schreiber), Amanda Riddle (Corey Luzaich) and Rahul Ravipudi (Panish Shea). The firms represent individuals and businesses with damages caused by the Eaton fire, which destroyed nearly 10,000 structures and killed 17 people.

Also: The judge approved a separate leadership team for government entities, such as Los Angeles County and the cities of Pasadena and Sierra Madre, which all sued earlier this month. Baron & Budd partners John Fiske and Torri Sherlin, and Diab Chambers partners Ed Diab and Kristen Barton will lead those cases. More than 100 insurance firms also have sued Edison, and those lawyers in leadership are: Jordan Everakes (Grotefeld Hottman), Amanda Stevens (Schroeder Loscotoff), Howard Maycon (Cozen O’Connor) and Matthew Delinko (Bauman Loewe).

Still unclear: Two class actions filed by Lawyers for Justice and DiCello Levitt. Steven Jodlowski (DiCello Levitt) wrote in his firm’s class action:

“The damages or other financial detriment suffered by plaintiffs and the other class members are relatively small compared to the burden and expense that would be required to individually litigate their claims against defendants, so it would be impracticable for the class members to individually seek redress for defendants’ wrongful conduct.”

Who Got the Work?

A federal judge in Florida named 56 lawyers to lead the multidistrict litigation against Pfizer linking injectable birth control Depo-Provera to brain tumors. U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers, of the Northern District of Florida, who heard five-minute arguments for leadership from 75 lawyers at a lengthy March 13 hearing, appointed Chris Seeger (Seeger Weiss) as lead counsel and Ellen Relkin (Weitz & Luxenberg) and Bryan Aylstock (Aylstock Witkin) as co-lead counsel. The March 16 order, which also named lawyers to an executive committee and steering committee, plus liaison counsel and various subcommittees, included 28 women and 28 men. Rodgers faces a judicial misconduct complaint filed last month by a conservative group that accused her of “explicit preference for females” after she encouraged women to apply for leadership of the Depo-Provera litigation.

Here’s what else is happening:

Roundup Reversal: A federal judge ordered the distribution of $24.2 million to lead counsel and four other plaintiffs’ firms that worked on the Roundup multidistrict litigation. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria, in the Northern District of California, who in 2021 severely reduced the common benefit fund from an estimated $800 million, rejected a special master’s recommendation to grant $0. Chhabria, while acknowledging a “degree of unfairness” his March 13 order would have on lawyers who did not rely that much on lead counsel’s work, called the distribution of common benefit fees “far from an exact science.”

Poppi Settlement: The makers of Poppi’s Prebiotic Sodas have asked a federal judge in the Northern District of California to approve an $8.9 million settlement in a consumer class action over the advertised health benefits of the popular drinks. The settlement, outlined in a March 14 motion for preliminary approval, gives class members 75 cents per can of Poppi, and up to $9 per 12- or 15-pack, with a minimum claim amount of $5 per household. On March 17, PepsiCo announced plans to purchase Poppi for $1.95 billion.

Buzbee Sued: Tony Buzbee (Buzbee Law Firm) was hit with a lawsuit from a former client accusing him of embezzling funds from his $700,000 settlement. Buzbee, who has sued rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, said the suits are retaliation for representing clients against celebrities. The March 10 suit, filed by former client Jose Bermudez in Harris County District Court in Texas, said Buzbee stole money from a settlement with Callan Marine involving a 2020 injury he suffered while working as a seaman on its vessel.

Thanks for reading Critical Mass! I’ll be back next week.