U.S. District Judge William Orrick of the Northern District of California. Photo by S. Todd Rogers. 'Courts Have to Do Better': Juul MDL Judge Dings Diversity Deficits at Plaintiffs Firms
At a Monday hearing, U.S. District Judge William Orrick, in the Northern District of California, allowed up to $150 million in attorney fees to move forward but questioned the lack of diversity among the 62 plaintiffs firms in the Juul multidistrict litigation.
December 18, 2023 at 03:23 PM
5 minute read
What You Need to Know
- U.S. District Judge William Orrick, who has spoken publicly about diversity in MDLs, required plaintiffs lawyers to provide a demographic report.
- Co-lead plaintiffs counsel Sarah London shared the judge's diversity concerns. 'It is a categorical problem in our bar,' she told him.
- Two objectors had challenged the fees, which included $76.5 million in a class action settlement and common benefit fees in three other Juul agreements.
A federal judge allowed plaintiffs lawyers in Juul Labs Inc. settlements to move forward on up to $150 million in attorney fees but said it was "troubling" that not a single lawyer among the 62 firms in the litigation was Black or Latino.
"It is stark to me that here you had 62 great firms, and apparently almost no Blacks or Latinos who either are lawyers there, or that the firms put up," U.S. District Judge William Orrick, of the Northern District of California, said at a hearing Monday. "There are excellent lawyers throughout this country who are not being involved in these MDLs, and when it has such a huge percentage of the caseload, you have to do better. The courts have to do better."
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