Paul Kiesel of Kiesel Law.. (Courtesy photo)

Twenty lawyers will lead nearly 100 lawsuits filed in California state courts against electronic cigarette maker Juul Labs.

In a Tuesday order, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ann Jones appointed Paul Kiesel, of Kiesel Law in Beverly Hills, California, and Mark Robinson, of Robinson Calcagnie in Newport Beach, California, as co-leads for the "private plaintiffs," or individuals with health claims in lawsuits coordinated in a Judicial Council Coordinated Proceeding, California's equivalent to multidistrict litigation. She also appointed two lawyers to represent public entities such as school districts: John Fiske, a San Diego shareholder at Baron & Budd, and Rahul Ravipudi, a partner at Los Angeles-based Panish Shea & Boyle, which has filed lawsuits on behalf of the Los Angeles Unified School District and the San Diego Unified School District.

The appointments are separate from the multidistrict litigation in federal court in San Francisco, where 21 attorneys are leading more than 300 lawsuits against Juul. Lawyers on the team in Los Angeles predicted there could be thousands of cases in California state courts against San Francisco-based Juul.

"I think the size of the JCCP will likely be a factor of multiples. I can't tell you if it's three or five or 10 or more, in terms of what's going to happen in the MDL, but the vast majority of the personal injury claims may well rest with us in Los Angeles," Kiesel said, adding that the existing 98 lawsuits include hundreds of plaintiffs. "I think it's going to be substantially larger than the MDL."

He said that the predicted growth is in large part due to lawsuits filed by the public entities, which could include school districts in other states.

At a Jan. 28 hearing, Jones said she was interested in "common initial discovery" that would get bellwether trials "ready to go."

"I would not foresee significant delay," she said.

Juul is under fire for marketing its products to children and as safer alternatives to tobacco cigarettes. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced a partial ban of flavored e-cigarettes that went into effect this month. Also, this month, the states of Massachusetts and Pennsylvania sued Juul, joining Illinois, California, Minnesota, New York and North Carolina.

Tuesday's order came in lawsuits brought by individuals with health claims and public entities. The appointments included two liaison attorneys, Ray Boucher of Boucher LLP and Thomas Girardi of Girardi Keese, both of Los Angeles. It also included Barrett Beasley of Salim-Beasley in Natchitoches, Louisiana, who joined Kiesel and Robinson on an executive committee and was one of 11 members of a steering committee.

Mark Robinson Jr. of Robinson Calcagnie/courtesy photo

The steering committee included Houston attorneys Rick Meadow, of The Lanier Law Firm; Robert Binstock of Reich & Binstock; and Adam Pulaski of Pulaski Kherkher, whose colleague, Leslie LaMacchia, serves as one of two federal/state liaison counsel in the MDL.

Jeffrey Haberman of Schlesinger Law in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, also joined the steering committee, while his firm's founding attorney, Scott Schlesinger, who has won numerous verdicts against Big Tobacco, was named trial counsel in the JCCP.

Also included were William Levin, of San Francisco's Levin Simes Abrams, and Dan Robinson, of Robinson Calcagnie, both serving as liaisons to the MDL.

Here were the other members of the steering committee:

• Francois Blandeau, founder of the Southern Institute for Medical & Legal Affairs and of counsel at Heninger Garrison Davis, in Birmingham, Alabama
• Brooks Cutter of Cutter Law in Oakland, California
• Frederick "Beau" Darley of Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, in Montgomery, Alabama
• Lewis Garrison of Heninger Garrison Davis in Birmingham, Alabama
• Hirlye "Ryan" Lutz of Cory Watson in Birmingham, Alabama
• Jacob Plattenberger of TorHoerman Law in Chicago