Critical Mass With Law.com’s Amanda Bronstad: Third Circuit Hears Post-Purdue Arguments in Boy Scouts Case, Lead Prosecutor in Tom Girardi Trial Joins Edelson
November 13, 2024 at 10:49 AM
7 minute read
Welcome to Law.com Class Actions: Critical Mass, a weekly briefing for class action and mass tort attorneys.
This week: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit heard Nov. 6 arguments on whether to change the third-party releases in the Boy Scouts bankruptcy. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ali Moghaddas, a lead prosecutor in the Tom Girardi trial, has joined Edelson PC. Find out who represents Pfizer in a growing number of lawsuits over Depo-Provera.
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.
‘The Panel Was Pressing Both Sides Pretty Hard’
In a Nov. 6 hearing that lasted three hours, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit heard arguments on whether to dismantle the third-party releases in the Boy Scouts of America’s Chapter 11 reorganization plan.
Here’s the coverage from ALM’s Ellen Bardash on the hearing, which involved 10 attorneys who represented the Boy Scouts, insurance companies and sexual abuse claimants who supported the plan. But some insurance firms and abuse claimants want changes, citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 27 decision in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma, which found non-consensual third-party releases in opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma’s $6 billion bankruptcy plan to be unlawful under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
Purdue isn’t only impacting the Boy Scouts case. At least three other bankruptcy judges have evaluated the decision in Chapter 11 plans involving Robertshaw U.S. Holding Corp., Tonawanda Coke Corp. and Smallhold Inc.
I asked Ellen what made the Boy Scouts' bankruptcy stand apart from the other cases. She told me:
“What sets this case apart most is the scope of it. The plan includes the largest sexual abuse settlement at least in the U.S. (maybe anywhere) and is set to pay out over 60,000 survivors. And there's the time element: the large majority of abuse claimants are elderly, and the longer this process is drawn out in the courts, the more are dying before getting compensation.”
So, did the Third Circuit panel give any indication of how it might rule? Ellen told me:
“The panel was pressing both sides pretty hard so I can’t say they were leaning one way or the other, but Judge [Margorie] Rendell, who used to be a bankruptcy attorney, seemed reluctant to shake up the third-party release practice without strong proof of problems in it.”
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Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
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