Welcome to Critical Mass, Law.com's weekly briefing for class action and mass tort attorneys. This week had two big trials to watch: In both, state attorney generals have targeted mass torts. One trial began over pelvic mesh, and one ended over opioids. Also, find out who's stepping in to defend against allegations of abused cows.

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U.S. District Judge Dan Polster

Sooner State Sizes Up Its Opioid Trial

The state of Oklahoma's historic trial over the opioid crisis wrapped up on Monday with closing arguments. Here's coverage from CNN. NBC News has this story. Lawyers for Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter asked a judge to rule that Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Pharmaceuticals, the sole defendant in the trial, should set up a $17.5 billion abatement plan over 30 years.

Cleveland County District Judge Thad Balkman said a verdict could be next month.

The trial got the attention of the American Tort Reform Association, which added Oklahoma to its Judicial Hellholes list. It also could guide nearly 2,000 other lawsuits that states, cities, counties and other governments have brought over opioids, most of which are before U.S. District Judge Dan Polster in Cleveland.

Polster is weighing whether to certify a “negotiation class” for the purpose of settling all the opioid cases. Not everyone is on board with the idea, and objections are due July 23. Former Connecticut Deputy Attorney Perry Zinn Rowthorn (Shipman & Goodwin), who co-authored this opinion piece on Monday with former Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen, told me:

“AGs do those kind of deals all the time. They're prepared to try to work them out in this case, but this distraction, which could cost valuable time, is potentially going to impede and delay settlements that have a much greater prospect of providing global peace and are not subject to legal uncertainty. AGs are in it. They're being impeded by the city and county litigation. This class concept, in service of the city and county litigation, doesn't really have legs in my view, and in the view of many. And the sooner the attention and focus turns toward working out deals with the AGs the better.”

CA Wants $700M in Mesh Penalties

The first trial brought by a state attorney general over transvaginal mesh products opened on Monday in California. Lawyers for Attorney General Xavier Becerra asked a judge to order Johnson & Johnson's Ethicon to pay more than $700 million in statutory penalties for deceiving doctors and their patients over the safety of the devices. California Deputy Attorney General Jinsook Ohta delivered the state's opening statement, countered by Johnson & Johnson attorney Carolyn Kubota (Covington & Burling). Meanwhile, in Texas: Clark, Love & Hutson is facing a legal malpractice lawsuitfiled by four women who claim the plaintiffs' firm missed the statute of limitations on potentially thousands of lawsuits brought over transvaginal mesh.

Who Got the Work?

A milk company whose supplier farm was accused last month of severely abusing its cows has lawyered up to defend against four consumer class actions. An undercover investigation by Animal Recovery Mission found that cows at an Indiana farm were regularly beaten and denied medical attention. Chicago-basedFairlife, the milk company that promotes the humane treatment of cows, has brought in Gabor Balassa (Kirkland & Ellis), according to filings this month before the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. The farm's founders have turned to Mark Mester (Latham & Watkins). The Coca-Cola Co., which distributes Fairlife milk products, hired Jeff Cashdan (King & Spalding).

Here's what else is happening:

Weed Wacker: A federal judge slashed an $80 million Roundup verdict to $25.3 million. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria found that $20 million in punitive damages was justified because “Monsanto deserves to be punished,” but the jury's original award of $75 million was “constitutionally impermissible.” Monday's ruling left nobody all that happy: Monsanto parent company Bayer plans to appeal, and plaintiffs' attorney Michael Baum (Baum Hedlund), whose firm won a $2 billion Roundup verdict two months ago, said there was “no valid basis for disturbing their punitive damages award.”

Cybersecurity Settlement: Attorneys general from 30 states reached a $10 million settlement with Premera Blue Cross over a cyberattack that compromised the Social Security numbers, medical records and other data of 10.4 million consumers. On May 30, Premera reached a $74 million proposed settlement of a class action that includes $32 million to compensate victims of the breach. A federal judge in Oregon has yet to approve that deal.

Girardi Joust: After reaching a $16 million settlement with an outside litigation funder, plaintiffs' attorney Tom Girardi (Girardi & Keese) still owes $6 million. That's according to Law Finance Group, a California funder that sued Girardi this year over allegedly unpaid loans. Last week, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge denied the funder's request for a stipulated judgment … at least, for now.

Thanks for reading Critical Mass! I'll see you next week.