AAC


LITIGATION LESSONS Opioid litigation update


oid industry, in the Winter 2019 County Lines. I announced several items of what was then breaking news in the case:


G


1. Exciting all-day oral arguments in January and March 2019 in Jonesboro;


2. Victory in a battle to secure litigation privileges in this case — giving the government plaintiffs FOIA exemp- tions for attorney-client communications and attorney work product;


3. Negotiation and entry of a protective order governing production of confidential records and information in the case; and


4. Te beginning of the discovery phase of the case.


It has been nearly a year since I covered two pages of this dear magazine with details underlying that quick recap. Re- cent events warrant another update. First, I’m pleased to report that with discovery underway, the legions of lawyers working on this litigation have been very busy with squabbles about depositions and endless con- ference calls about the response to interrogatory number 65 and the fourth objection to request for production number 37 and so on. Tis is boring stuff for our readers, so I will say no more aside from this: the grinding work that must be done to get a case like this to trial is well underway. Your lawyers representing the plaintiff governments are


preparing for trial. We know that the certainty of a trial date is the best way to secure justice from the drug-company de- fendants in a case like this. Tey know it also, which is why their primary strategy is to delay, delay, and delay. Our cur- rent goal is to do everything in our power to be ready for trial as soon as possible, seeking a remedy for Arkansas and all of its governments, communities, families, and citizens. We believe more than ever that the case we’ve filed on your


behalves is the best case to take to trial that it could possibly be. We unified the governments on the front end, thanks to you. Nobody else did that. We’ve kept the case in state court in Arkansas with an Arkansas judge and the prospect of Arkansas jurors while most cases have been swept into the multidistrict litigation in Ohio. Te governments have a claim under the Arkansas Drug Dealer Liability Act, under which the governments contend that the defendants created, fueled, and participated in an illegal drug market. If that


22


reetings from the trenches of Opioid Justice for a United Arkansas! I last updated you about the united lawsuit filed by Arkansas counties, cities, and the state, against the opi-


claim is successful, the defendants can be made to clean up the illegal drug market, including drugs like heroin, which is part of the same illegal drug market according to the allegations in the complaint. We have the same public nui- sance claim that netted the state of Oklahoma hundreds of mil- lions of dollars for the first year of nuisance abatement in Oklahoma, from only a single opioid manufacturer. We recently filed an amended complaint to refine the par-


Colin Jorgensen Risk Management Litigation Counsel


ties. We now officially have all 75 Arkansas counties named as plaintiffs together in this single case, along with the 16 highest-population cities in Arkansas and the state. And we believe we have correctly named as defendants the opioid manufacturers and distributors who account for the vast majority of the alleged deluge and diversion of opioids into Arkansas over the many years of this epidemic. As part of discovery and trial preparation, we have begun


interviewing potential fact witnesses for trial. We have some leads, such as Arkansas Drug Director Kirk Lane and county judges, sheriffs, and first responders with compelling stories to tell about the Arkansas opioid epidemic. We need govern- ment officials to explain to a jury the impossible strain on government resources, funding, personnel, jails and prisons, courts, hospitals and treatment facilities, and so on, from the Arkansas opioid epidemic. We need community leaders and citizens to tell the stories of the harm to communities, fami- lies, employers, and schools, and the stories of individual lives destroyed by and lost to the Arkansas opioid epidemic. We need willing addicts and their willing families to tell the stories of addiction ranging from pills to heroin, from active addiction, to death by overdose, to recovery. What can you do to help? Thank you for asking! If you or someone you know has a compelling story to tell about the opioid epidemic in Arkansas, and you or that person are comfortable with the possibility of being named as a potential witness in this case, please reach out to AAC Liti- gation Counsel Colin Jorgensen at cjorgensen@arcounties. org or at (501) 372-7947. I will be honored to receive your call and hear your story. I will be honest with you about the implications of serving as a potential witness, and it will be your decision.


As always, thank you for your service and for the oppor- tunity to represent your counties in this unprecedented case.


COUNTY LINES, WINTER 2020


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48