State AG News

Trade group: Misunderstanding of medical sterilization chemical could lead to shortages, harm patients

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – With possible shortages looming amid debate over environmental impacts of ethylene oxide, a gas used to sterilize billions of medical devices each year, an industry advocate is advocating a more reasoned view of how the gas is used.

By Karen Kidd | Nov 12, 2019

State AG

'Wholly inadequate': Lawyers seek more opioid money by avoiding global settlement process

A proposed “negotiation class” to settle all opioid litigation by U.S. cities and counties could be in deep trouble, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit considers an appeal of the order creating the controversial class and lawyers in two states with big claims urge their clients to opt out before a Nov. 22 deadline.

Nov 12, 2019

Latest News

Purdue Pharma gets six-month reprieve from lawsuits as legal fees explode

Nov 9, 2019

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (Legal Newsline) - The judge overseeing Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy granted the OxyContin maker and its controlling Sackler family a six-month stay of opioid litigation as they try to negotiate a $10 billion-plus settlement of all outstanding claims.

New York AG drops two of her claims as trial against Exxon closes; Company calls her case a 'cruel joke'

By John Sammon | Nov 8, 2019

NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) – Closing arguments were made Thursday in a historic civil trial in New York Supreme Court in which the state’s attorney general alleges the oil giant Exxon Mobil deceived investors by minimizing the future cost impacts of climate change to paint a rosier fiscal picture.

New York scores January trial date for its opioid lawsuit

Nov 7, 2019

A New York judge has scheduled a Jan. 20 trial for opioid lawsuits by New York State and two counties, setting a short timeline for the companies to settle or face potentially crippling liability.

Massachusetts' lawsuit against ExxonMobil is 'dangerous' attack on free speech, professor says

By Dan Fisher | Nov 5, 2019

BOSTON (Legal Newsline) - The sweeping lawsuit Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has filed against ExxonMobil represents a serious attack on the First Amendment by accusing the company of expressing views about science the state disagrees with, said a law professor prominent in the field of freedom of expression and corporate speech.

Taxpayers fund 'rambling' testimony as judge looks skeptical of New York's case against Exxon

By Dan Fisher | Nov 1, 2019

NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - New York taxpayers might want a refund on their $500,000 investment in a $1,050-an-hour expert after the judge hearing the state’s closely watched climate lawsuit against ExxonMobil repeatedly interrupted his testimony with skeptical questions about his methodology and assumptions.

New York's climate change case against Exxon seems to be annoying the judge hearing it

By Dan Fisher | Oct 30, 2019

Compounding the state’s problems is a series of courtroom miscues by its lawyers that have led Supreme Court Judge Barry Ostrager to criticize and belittle them multiple times since trial began Oct. 22.

A rundown of the cabal of lawyers, activists and public officials with an anti-Exxon agenda

By John O'Brien | Oct 29, 2019

NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) – The ongoing trial in New York City is giving ExxonMobil another chance to show that nonprofits, private lawyers and elected officials have for years targeted the company as a scapegoat for climate change.

While New York goes to trial, Massachusetts AG finally sues ExxonMobil over climate change statements

By Daniel Fisher | Oct 28, 2019

BOSTON (Legal Newsline) - Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has launched her long-threatened lawsuit against ExxonMobil, accusing the oil giant of “deceiving the world about climate change” and defrauding investors by failing to fully disclose the risks embedded in its portfolio of hydrocarbon reserves.

Opioid settlement that derailed first federal trial could be a harbinger to a national deal

By Richard Jones | Oct 24, 2019

CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) – Monday’s $260 million settlement between two Ohio counties and several of the nation’s largest drug companies over allegations of complicity in the ongoing opioid crisis just might have provided a road map for reaching a larger settlement of similar claims across the country.

Michigan hires private lawyers also pushing opioid cases for PFAS lawsuit

By John O'Brien | Oct 23, 2019

LANSING, Mich. (Legal Newsline) – Michigan’s Dana Nessel has become the latest state attorney general to hire private lawyers to file a lawsuit over chemicals known as PFAS, setting up a tiered system to pay their contingency fee.

Ohio AG to colleagues: Let's limit fees to private lawyers in opioid settlement

By Daniel Fisher | Oct 18, 2019

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Legal Newsline) - Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has warned his fellow AGs that a reported $50 billion settlement of opioid claims will fall apart unless the states demand tight controls on fees to private lawyers and make sure the rest of the money is directed toward programs designed to address the opioid crisis, instead of state general funds.

DOJ watchdog isn't impressed with the opioid 'Whistleblower'; What will jurors in historic trial think?

By John O'Brien | Oct 17, 2019

CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) – Is he blowing the whistle or passing the buck? A badge-flashing, gun-toting bulldog, or an ineffective bureaucrat? Is he defined by an appearance on "60 Minutes," or the fact that trial lawyers pay him $500 for 60 minutes of his time?

Oklahoma judge admits to $100M mistake in landmark opioid verdict against J&J

By John Sammon | Oct 15, 2019

NORMAN, Okla. (Legal Newsline) – In a hearing Tuesday to clarify disagreements over a $572 million judgment against Johnson & Johnson for allegedly helping create an opioid epidemic in Oklahoma, attorneys for the state argued more money was needed to fully abate the problem, while lawyers for J&J requested joint liability credits to ease its burden.

After fiery hearing, Purdue Pharma gets two-week break from opioid lawsuits

By Daniel Fisher | Oct 14, 2019

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (Legal Newsline) - The federal bankruptcy judge overseeing Purdue Pharma’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization granted the OxyContin manufacturer and its controlling Sackler family a two-week respite from opioid litigation to work on a settlement that appeases warring state attorneys general and a growing list of municipal and private plaintiffs.

No luck for Ohio AG in attempt to halt first federal opioid trial

By John O'Brien | Oct 10, 2019

CINCINNATI (Legal Newsline) – A federal appeals court has turned away an attempt to halt the first federal opioid trial by ruling Thursday against Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who is concerned cities and counties in his state have usurped his authority.

Should we 'settle in for a decade' of fighting in Purdue Pharma bankruptcy?

By Daniel Fisher | Oct 9, 2019

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (Legal Newsline) - Purdue Pharma’s already contentious bankruptcy will face a pair of big tests later this week as the OxyContin manufacturer appears in hearings over issues including paying its employees and halting more than 2,600 lawsuits against the company and members of the controlling Sackler family.

Issues, like bias claims against judge, remain unresolved as bellwether opioid trials approach

By Dan Fisher | Oct 2, 2019

CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - The remaining defendants facing an Oct. 21 trial in Ohio over opioid claims have asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to stay proceedings until challenges by the Ohio attorney general and others are concluded.

Sixth Circuit seeks answers from judge as states try to derail opioid bellwether trial

By John O'Brien | Sep 25, 2019

CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) – The judge overseeing nearly 2,000 opioid lawsuits must address concerns that the cases over which he is presiding are an improper power grab by plaintiffs lawyers who signed up cities and counties as clients.

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