Welcome to Critical Mass, Law.com's weekly briefing for class action and mass tort attorneys. Wrongful death lawsuits over COVID-19 have targeted a nursing home, a cruise ship and a retailer. The Sixth Circuit's ruling that a "clear abuse of discretion" occurred in the opioid MDL has implications for other judges. Who's representing Princess Cruise Lines in more than a dozen lawsuits filed by passengers and their families over the coronavirus?

Feel free to reach out to me with your input. You can email me at [email protected], or follow me on Twitter: @abronstadlaw.

Chang Chen with his wife Juishan Hsu and 21-year-old daughter Vivian Chen. All contracted the coronavirus. Chang Chen died on April 4.

Who's Suing Over COVID-19 Deaths, and Why?

Princess Cruise Lines, Walmart and Life Care Center of Kirkland, the nursing home in Seattle where the first U.S. outbreak of coronavirus occurred, now face wrongful death lawsuits. Here's a look at them:

>>On April 15, two wrongful death lawsuits hit Princess Cruises: Gerald Singleton (Singleton Law Firm), and Rusty Hardin (Rusty Hardin & Associates) filed one on behalf of a passenger of the Grand Princess, and Debi Chalik (Chalik & Chalik) filed another from the Ruby Princess. Both suits allege Princess Cruise did little to protect passengers despite knowing about coronavirus outbreaks on previous voyages.

>>Stephen Mickelsen (Mickelsen Dalton) filed the first lawsuit over the death of a resident at Life Care Centers of America, owner of the Seattle nursing home where more than 37 residents died from COVID-19. The suit, filed on April 10 on behalf of the daughter of a woman who died on March 4, alleges the nursing home was on "high alert" about COVID-19 since January but "lacked a clear plan of action," failed to report the outbreak for 17 days, and even hosted a Mardi Gras party.

>>Tony Kalogerakos (Injury Lawyers of Illinois) filed a wrongful death lawsuit on April 6 against Walmart on behalf of an employee at the store in Evergreen Park, Illinois, who died of coronavirus. The suit claims Walmart did not provide enough precautions or personal protective equipment to its employees.

Although 40,000 have died from the coronavirus in the United States, not every death makes a lawsuit, Hardin said. He told me:

"The mere fact that somebody died, the tragedy occurred for so many thousands of people, doesn't automatically make somebody liable or responsible for it. There's a requirement where somebody had a duty, was on notice, that that particular circumstance carried real threats that they were responsible to, and they consciously disregarded it."

Dan Polster, U.S. District Judge of the District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Courtesy photo

6th Circuit Finds "Clear Abuse of Discretion" in Opioid Ruling

Opioid MDL Judge Dan Polster got dinged last week when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit found that a Nov. 19 pretrial ruling was a "clear abuse of discretion."

Polster is no stranger to the Sixth Circuit, which has rejected other appeals brought primarily by the opioid defendants. This time, Polster had allowed the lead plaintiffs, two counties in Ohio going to trial on Nov. 9, to amend their complaint to include claims against the pharmacies, such as CVS and Rite Aid, as dispensers of opiate pharmaceuticals, and not just distributors.

The Sixth Circuit, acting on a petition for writ of mandamus filed by the pharmacies, found that Polster made his ruling nearly 19 months past the deadline he set to amend the complaint. Polster, who had insisted his ruling was done for efficiency purposes, has since postponed those claims for a later trial.

Why does it matter? The Sixth Circuit's ruling delves into a common complaint: that MDLs judges brush aside the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in order to quickly obtain global settlements. That's according to John Rabiej, who is working with the Complex Litigation Center, George Washington University Law School:

"These types of rulings are what the defendants in other cases have been raising concerns about. In other words, the transferee judges have a goal in mind, and they're used to having been pushed a little bit by judges to reach settlements, but not as aggressively as they are in these mass tort MDLs."

Who Got the Work?

A team of lawyers from Maltzman & Partners appeared for Princess Cruise Lines in a growing list of lawsuits filed over the coronavirus. Ed Nield and Gabrielle Nield, who are of counsel, have appeared along with Jeffrey Maltzman, managing partner of the firm, based in Coral Gables, Florida, in more than a dozen lawsuits.

Here's what else is happening:

Class Report: Coronavirus class actions keep coming. Lawsuits target major banks for prioritizing larger loans as part of the $349 billion COVID-19 relief program for small businesses, insurance firms for rejecting coverage to small businesses (see here and here), and Major League Baseball and Ticketmaster for failing to refund ticket holders. Meanwhile, class action attorneys predict a "huge explosion" in cases filed by workers over safe conditions, unpaid wages and layoffs.

Xarelto Fees: U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon has appointed five lawyers as "fee allocation liaison counsel" in charge of recommending how to disperse $93 million in common benefit fees tied to the Xarelto litigation, which settled a year ago for $775 million. The lawyers are: Brian Barr (Levin Papantonio); Andy Birchfield (Beasley Allen); Leonard Davis (Herman Herman & Katz); Gerald Meunier (Gainsburgh, Benjamin); and Michael Weinkowitz (Levin Sedran & Berman). His April 13 order said 70 firms had submitted time and expenses.

Edelson Assists: Chicago plaintiffs' firm Edelson PC has donated more than $119,000 to local businesses fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, including a $15,000 donation to a distillery making hand sanitizer and $50,000 to a packaging manufacturer making personal protective equipment for first responders. In total, Edelson has pledged to donate $250,000.

Thanks for reading Critical Mass! Stay safe, and I will see you next week.