AAC
LITIGATION LESSONS Opioids
the plaintiffs are all state and local government entities, the plaintiffs’ records are generally subject to disclosure under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), including re- cords that are confidential by court rule in litigation, such as attorney-client communications and attorney work product. From the beginning, we have argued that because of the unique nature of this case, the Court should enter a protective order to protect the integrity of the case by allowing the governments to rely on litigation privileges that private parties (including the defendants in this case) are always afforded in litigation. Upon revisiting this issue on Jan. 29, Judge Honeycutt granted the FOIA protective order that we requested on behalf of the plaintiff governments to ensure fairness in this case. After the January hearing, we negotiated and submitted a written protective order to Judge Honeycutt, which she signed and filed, formalizing her rulings by lifting the stay of dis- covery, quashing the defendants’ cross-notices of depositions, protecting the defendants’ confidential data so that the gov- ernments can access records and data needed to prosecute the case, and protecting the plaintiff governments’ litigation privi-
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leges to ensure fairness in the litigation. We had another full-day hearing on March 28. We complet- ed oral argument on all motions to dismiss, and Judge Hon- eycutt has now taken all of them under advisement. She ruled from the bench on one issue in March, deciding that Prosecut- ing Attorney Scott Ellington has standing to bring claims on behalf of the state in this case. Tese rulings are significant — both for the case in Arkan- sas and how the case fits into the tapestry of opioid litigation across the country. From the beginning and through this writ- ing, this case has been the only case uniting counties, cities, and state government in a single action. To our knowledge, there is no other case uniting even counties and cities together, much less with the state as a plaintiff in the same case. Be- cause of Judge Honeycutt’s rulings, the united Arkansas case is also now one of the few cases in the country that is in state court (not part of the national MDL case) and is proceeding to discovery. With no further delay, we — the governments of Arkansas — will prosecute this case and move closer to our unchanging goal: Opioid Justice for a United Arkansas.
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COUNTY LINES, WINTER 2019
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