Opioid Judge Has Concerns About Motley Rice: 'I Can't Understand Why You Don't See That'
U.S. District Judge Dan Polster, who is weighing a disqualification motion in the opioid multidistrict litigation, raised concerns this month about Motley Rice obtaining confidential information while representing the state of Hawaii, the District of Columbia and the city of Chicago in other cases.
February 27, 2024 at 01:36 PM
6 minute read
What You Need to Know
- At a Feb. 12 hearing, U.S. District Judge Dan Polster, who is overseeing the opioid multidistrict litigation in the Northern District of Ohio, raised several questions to Motley Rice's Linda Singer about her responsibilities as outside counsel in separate government lawsuits.
- Brian Boone, of Alston & Bird, has alleged in a disqualification motion that Motley Rice, in the government cases, used its subpoena powers to obtain confidential documents from his client, OptumRx, and some of them pertain to opioids.
- The debate addresses a thorny but longstanding issue when private plaintiffs' firms serve as outside counsel to government entities, particularly state attorneys general.
A federal judge is weighing whether to disqualify Motley Rice from dozens of opioid lawsuits because the firm obtained confidential information when representing the state of Hawaii, the District of Columbia and the City of Chicago in separate actions.
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