20 Lawyers Picked to Lead Juul Lawsuits in California State Courts
In a Tuesday order, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ann Jones appointed a 20-lawyer team in the California state court lawsuits against San Francisco's Juul Labs. They included Los Angeles-area attorneys Paul Kiesel and Mark Robinson as co-leads for individuals, and John Fiske and Rahul Ravipudi for pubic entities, such as school districts.
February 19, 2020 at 03:50 PM
4 minute read
Twenty lawyers will lead nearly 100 lawsuits filed in California state courts against electronic cigarette maker Juul Labs.
In a Tuesday order, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ann Jones appointed Paul Kiesel, of Kiesel Law in Beverly Hills, California, and Mark Robinson, of Robinson Calcagnie in Newport Beach, California, as co-leads for the "private plaintiffs," or individuals with health claims in lawsuits coordinated in a Judicial Council Coordinated Proceeding, California's equivalent to multidistrict litigation. She also appointed two lawyers to represent public entities such as school districts: John Fiske, a San Diego shareholder at Baron & Budd, and Rahul Ravipudi, a partner at Los Angeles-based Panish Shea & Boyle, which has filed lawsuits on behalf of the Los Angeles Unified School District and the San Diego Unified School District.
The appointments are separate from the multidistrict litigation in federal court in San Francisco, where 21 attorneys are leading more than 300 lawsuits against Juul. Lawyers on the team in Los Angeles predicted there could be thousands of cases in California state courts against San Francisco-based Juul.
"I think the size of the JCCP will likely be a factor of multiples. I can't tell you if it's three or five or 10 or more, in terms of what's going to happen in the MDL, but the vast majority of the personal injury claims may well rest with us in Los Angeles," Kiesel said, adding that the existing 98 lawsuits include hundreds of plaintiffs. "I think it's going to be substantially larger than the MDL."
He said that the predicted growth is in large part due to lawsuits filed by the public entities, which could include school districts in other states.
At a Jan. 28 hearing, Jones said she was interested in "common initial discovery" that would get bellwether trials "ready to go."
"I would not foresee significant delay," she said.
Juul is under fire for marketing its products to children and as safer alternatives to tobacco cigarettes. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced a partial ban of flavored e-cigarettes that went into effect this month. Also, this month, the states of Massachusetts and Pennsylvania sued Juul, joining Illinois, California, Minnesota, New York and North Carolina.
Tuesday's order came in lawsuits brought by individuals with health claims and public entities. The appointments included two liaison attorneys, Ray Boucher of Boucher LLP and Thomas Girardi of Girardi Keese, both of Los Angeles. It also included Barrett Beasley of Salim-Beasley in Natchitoches, Louisiana, who joined Kiesel and Robinson on an executive committee and was one of 11 members of a steering committee.
The steering committee included Houston attorneys Rick Meadow, of The Lanier Law Firm; Robert Binstock of Reich & Binstock; and Adam Pulaski of Pulaski Kherkher, whose colleague, Leslie LaMacchia, serves as one of two federal/state liaison counsel in the MDL.
Jeffrey Haberman of Schlesinger Law in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, also joined the steering committee, while his firm's founding attorney, Scott Schlesinger, who has won numerous verdicts against Big Tobacco, was named trial counsel in the JCCP.
Also included were William Levin, of San Francisco's Levin Simes Abrams, and Dan Robinson, of Robinson Calcagnie, both serving as liaisons to the MDL.
Here were the other members of the steering committee:
- Francois Blandeau, founder of the Southern Institute for Medical & Legal Affairs and of counsel at Heninger Garrison Davis, in Birmingham, Alabama
- Brooks Cutter of Cutter Law in Oakland, California
- Frederick "Beau" Darley of Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, in Montgomery, Alabama
- Lewis Garrison of Heninger Garrison Davis in Birmingham, Alabama
- Hirlye "Ryan" Lutz of Cory Watson in Birmingham, Alabama
- Jacob Plattenberger of TorHoerman Law in Chicago
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All'Water Cooler Discussions': US Judge Questions DOJ Request in Google Search Case
3 minute readRead the Document: 'Google Must Divest Chrome,' DOJ Says, Proposing Remedies in Search Monopoly Case
3 minute readApple Asks Judge to 'Follow the Majority Practice' in Dismissing Patent Dispute Over Night Vision Technology
Law Firms Mentioned
Trending Stories
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.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250