Welcome to Law.com Class Actions: Critical Mass, a weekly briefing for class action and mass tort attorneys. And happy new year!

This week: Plaintiffs lawyers have petitioned the Fourth Circuit to reverse a federal judge's July 4 ruling involving the nation's three largest distributors of opioids. Johnson & Johnson's Ethicon unit won another transvaginal mesh verdict, even after two jurors got COVID-19. Find out who is representing Twitter in a class action brought over owner Elon Musk's mass layoffs.

I'm Amanda Bronstad. Feel free to reach out to me with your input. My email is [email protected], or follow me on Twitter: @abronstadlaw.