Welcome to Critical Mass, Law.com's weekly briefing on class actions and mass torts. Here's what's happening: Could some—or all—of the $289 million Roundup verdict get reversed? Labaton cuts a deal to end a lengthy over-billing inquiry, but the judge still has questions. And find out which law firm won last week's defense verdict in the latest mesothelioma trial over Johnson & Johnson's baby powder.

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Ready for a Roundup Reversal?

A San Francisco Superior Court judge tentatively struck $250 million in punitive damages from a $289 million verdict against Monsanto over claims that its herbicide, Roundup, caused a man's cancer. The judge's tentative order found there was not enough “clear and convincing evidence of malice or oppression” to warrant punitive damages against Monsanto.

At a hearing last week, the judge heard arguments on whether to make her decision final—even whether to toss the award altogether (prompting this replyin the San Francisco Chronicle from jurors in the case). The judge asked both sides to file proposed orders, which they did on Friday.

“Here, the evidence demonstrates that Monsanto was regularly being informed of valid science,” the plaintiffs wrote in their proposed order, “but sought to combat that evidence rather than share that information with its customers.”

Monsanto's proposed order called the plaintiffs' evidence “legally insufficient at each level.”

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Labaton Lands Deal in Over-Billing Inquiry

After more than a year of having its billing under a microscope, Labaton Sucharow has agreed to pay $4.8 million to settle a special master's investigation in a securities class action settlement with State Street.

But that might not be enough. U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf still had a lot of questions at a hearing on Monday.

About the deal: The New York plaintiffs firm acknowledged that it should have disclosed a $4.1 million payment to a Texas lawyer who had ties to the lead plaintiff, an Arkansas pension fund. Labaton also agreed to make several internal changes, such as bringing in a former federal judge to review its fee arrangements.

Harold Kim, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Legal Reform, called Labaton's actions “unprecedented.”

“The Special Master's report shows this was hardly isolated, and the firm hid similar fees in at least eight other cases. This shows why courts ought to scrutinize how these cases come about to deter abuse.”

Labaton countered with this statement after the hearing:

“We appreciate the Court's goal of reaching a final resolution that is in the best interests of the customer class and believe the proposed agreement put forward by the Special Master—arrived at after an exhaustive factual and precedential review—fulfills that purpose. We will work to address the outstanding issues raised by the Court in hopes that a final agreement can be approved soon.”

Who Got the Work

A team at Weil, Gotshal & Manges scored a big defense verdict in New Jersey for Johnson & Johnson in the latest trial over its baby powder's alleged link to mesothelioma. Here's my story on the decision last week. Diane Sullivan and Allison Brown, both partners in the Princeton, New Jersey, office, led the defense team, which also included Princeton associate Rachel Farnsworth, Miami associate Emily Pincow and New York associates Jed Winer, Alexis Kellert, Jack Nolan, Marihug Cedeño and Sara Lonks. Motley Rice's Christopher Swett, an associate in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, and Nathan Finch, a firm member in Washington D.C., represented the plaintiffs, Rosalind Henry and her husband, Fred.

Here's what else is happening:

Historic Hundreds: Hundreds of Native American tribes filed an amicus brief supporting cities and counties that have opposed motions to dismiss the opioid litigation. As I wrote last week, 448 of the 573 “federally recognized” tribes signed onto the brief—a figure that one key lawyer in the opioid case called “historic.” In other opioid news: One of the major manufacturing defendants, Insys Therapeutics, brought in a new chief legal officer andgeneral counsel. Here's Law.com's story. Mark Nance previously was global general counsel at Mylan N.V.

Bard Bust: A New Jersey state court judge has refused to toss a $68 million pelvic mesh verdict against C.R. Bard. Law.com's story notes that the April jury award came in the first bellwether trial in the New Jersey state court docket over Bard's pelvic mesh devices. That docket includes 131 other cases against Bard and 9,187 cases against Ethicon.

Falling Flat: Lead paint companies lost their petitions asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a public nuisance judgment that assessed millions of dollars against them. Law.com's story noted that the dual petitions, by Sherwin-Williams (Michael Carvin of Jones Day) and ConAgra (Paul Clement of Kirkland & Ellis), raised free speech issues because the case focused on their advertising and promotions of lead paint. But it's not just lead paint plaintiffs celebrating. Joe Rice, whose firm, Motley Rice, played a lead role in the lead paint case, called the Supreme Court's denial “a critical step forward for the national opioid litigation,” in which he also is co-lead:

“This is a positive outcome for those who believe the 'law of public nuisance'—a legal principle that many communities involved in the nationwide opioid litigation are also relying on—can help support public health in the case of widespread misconduct.”