Common benefit funds (CBFs) ensure fairness and equity in the distribution of legal fees and expenses in aggregate and complex litigation, including class actions, mass torts, trust and securities, and multidistrict litigations (MDLs), where the litigation is...
Effective Employee Onboarding Practices
Employers must be careful not to confuse employee onboarding with employee orientation. Onboarding involves much more than helping new hires fill out their direct deposit forms, select insurance plans, and set up their retirement account contributions. Instead,...
Fifth Consecutive Win for Roundup Litigation Plaintiffs
On December 5, Roundup litigation plaintiffs won their fifth consecutive victory against Monsanto, manufacturer of the weed killer Roundup, and its parent company, Bayer AG. In the second case to go to trial in the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia, the jury found...
LTL Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Update for Talc Litigation
On Friday, July 28, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey dismissed the Chapter 11 case filed by Johnson & Johnson’s talc unit, LTL Management LLC, stating that the debtor did not meet the requirements...
Verus, LLC Acquires MFR Claims Processing Inc.
Verus is pleased to announce that we have completed the acquisition of MFR Claims Processing, Inc., a PA-based asbestos claims management company. MFR Claims Processing, Inc. started operations in February 2004 as the claims handling entity for the Shook &...
Four Factors Plaintiffs Should Consider When Evaluating Loss Portfolio Transfers in Mass Tort Cases
Loss portfolio transfers are reinsurance contracts where a self-insured organization or an insurer typically cedes legacy liabilities to a reinsurer. The reinsurer assumes and accepts the ceding entity’s current and future claim liabilities, including the loss...
$224M J&J Talc Litigation Verdict Overturned
On October 4, 2023, the three-judge Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey threw out a $223.8 million talc litigation verdict against Johnson and Johnson (J&J), finding that the science relied on by the plaintiffs was not sound. The 2020 verdict...
Proposed Consolidation JPML Hearing on Uber Sexual Assault Litigation
Oral arguments on the petition filed with the Judicial Panel for Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) to consolidate all sexual assault cases filed against Uber into MDL No 3084, In Re: Uber Technologies, Inc. Passenger Sexual Assault Litigation, are scheduled to be heard...
Liability Forecasting: Vital for Mass Tort Settlements
Liability forecasting plays an important role in mass tort settlements. One effect of the four-decades-long asbestos litigation is that defendants in mass tort cases often create large settlement trusts through which they compensate current and future claimants for...
Leveraging Data to Negotiate Stronger Mass Tort Settlements
As with the other cases they litigate, plaintiffs’ attorneys will negotiate mass tort settlements to secure maximum compensation for their injured clients. But mass tort cases, for a number of reasons, are more complex to litigate and settle than typical personal...