Plaintiffs’ Co-Lead Counsel Announce Four Major Settlements with Juul Labs, Inc. Addressing U.S. Youth E-Cigarette Usage
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SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Co-Lead Counsel for Plaintiffs in the federal multidistrict litigation captioned In re: Juul Labs, Inc., Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2913, and the coordinated proceeding captioned Juul Labs Product Cases, JCCP No. 5052, today announce four separate global settlements with Juul Labs, Inc. Together, these settlements will help address youth use of e-cigarettes.

The settlements follow three-plus years of hard-fought litigation in both state and federal court. Co-Lead Counsel believe that resolving the litigation against Juul Labs and its officers and directors through settlement is in the best interests of all plaintiffs. The settlements build on Juul's recent settlements with states and territories. These settlements provided monetary relief to states and territories and required changes to Juul's marketing and other practices, including prohibitions on youth marketing and the sale of flavors not authorized by the FDA, but did not provide direct compensation to anyone. The four settlements announced today provide needed relief for individuals, local government entities, and Native American tribes.

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The four settlements resolve the personal injury, consumer class action, government entity, and tribal cases brought in the MDL and the JCCP.
  • The personal injury settlement will provide meaningful compensation to people suffering from nicotine addiction and other injuries.
  • The consumer class action settlement will remunerate consumers who purchased JUUL products.
  • The government entity settlement will provide resources to school districts, cities, and counties to abate youth nicotine addiction in their communities; and
  • The tribal settlement will provide similar much-needed funding for Native American tribes.

The Juul settlements include over 8,500 personal injury cases, over 1,400 government entity cases, and 34 tribal cases. "The scope of these suits is enormous," notes Lieff Cabraser partner Sarah R. London, who serves as Co-Lead Counsel for MDL Plaintiffs in the litigation. "These settlements will put meaningful compensation in hands of victims and their families, get real funds to schools for abatement programs, and help government and tribal entities prevent youth use of e-cigarettes across the U.S."

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The Juul settlements do not release claims against Altria Group, Inc., or its related companies that are also defendants in the federal or state litigation. Co-Lead Counsel remain committed to continuing the litigation against Altria, including in the San Francisco Unified School District bellwether trial scheduled for April 2023 in the federal MDL.

Next Steps

The Court will hold a hearing in the near future to review the proposed class settlement. If the settlement receives preliminary approval, a Class Settlement Administrator will be appointed to structure and initiate a formal claims process. At that time, the Class Settlement Administrator will notify class members about their rights under the Settlement. Meanwhile, a claims process will begin for the Personal Injury, Government Entity, and Tribal settlements.

Contacts

Sarah London
LIEFF CABRASER HEIMANN & BERNSTEIN, LLP
275 Battery Street, Fl. 29
San Francisco, CA 94111
Telephone: (415) 956-1000

Dena Sharp
GIRARD SHARP LLP
601 California St., Suite 1400
San Francisco, CA 94108
Telephone: (415) 981-4800
Filed Under: Business
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