KP Law involvement in opiod litigation

KP Law Joins Leading Local and National Law Firms Pursuing Opioid Litigation on Behalf of Massachusetts Municipalities

The opioid epidemic has reached a crisis level. Every municipality in Massachusetts is in some manner addressing the devastating impacts of this problem, from education to treatment, with costs being incurred by police, fire, public health, and school departments, among others. While this is a national issue, it is most definitely a local problem.

We share the concerns of municipalities and their desire to confront the root cause of this crisis. Accordingly, we have accepted an invitation to join a coalition of highly experienced local and national law firms to pursue litigation on behalf of individual municipalities against manufacturers and distributors of opioids. This tort litigation, filed against the primary responsible parties, is not a class action but will instead be separately filed to pursue the specific interests of each municipality.

We are pleased to partner with firms recognized on the local and national level as leaders in addressing this significant public health issue. The consortium includes, on a local basis, the firms of Rodman, Rodman & Sandman of Malden, and Sweeney Merrigan of Greenfield. Our experience with Rodman, Rodman & Sandman, who represented a number of municipalities in the successful MTBE litigation, and the local nature of both firms, led to our affiliating with them on opioid litigation.

When we worked with municipalities on the MTBE litigation, the cost for this service was borne by the municipalities through their legal budgets. With respect to the opioid litigation, we will instead be compensated for such services through the settlement or award funds. Thus, while we will be able to directly advise municipalities on this litigation, the municipalities will not be charged for our services as part of their regular billing. Instead, compensation for such services will be deducted from the attorney fee already proposed as part of the litigation and our involvement will not result in any additional cost to the municipalities. Of course, if no award is made or settlement reached, no compensation will be due to the firm.

Attached is information about the litigation, as well as background on the local and national team. Representatives of all the firms will be present at the Massachusetts Municipal Association Annual Meeting on January 19th and 20th. Visit us at booth 1027, or at the MOLA (Massachusetts Opioid Litigation Attorneys) booth number 815.

Please contact Attorneys Mark Reich (mreich@k-plaw.com), Jonathan Silverstein (jsilverstein@k-plaw.com) or Lauren Goldberg (lgoldberg@k-plaw.com) at 617.556.0007 or 1.800.548.3522 or visit www.massmola.com with any questions or for more information on how your community can get involved.