Law firms that litigate cases on behalf of state, county, and local governments take on a huge challenge and tremendous responsibility when they agree to take the case. These cases often involve large companies with sophisticated legal teams, and the affected community may be in of serious need of compensation to remedy the damage.
The key to this public/private partnership is that it costs taxpayers nothing, because the attorneys work on a contingency-fee basis.
In what may be the most significant government action case litigated since the states sued Big Tobacco, cities, counties, and states across the country filed lawsuits against the manufacturers of opioids to hold them accountable for the opioid epidemic they allegedly started.
Morgan & Morgan was selected by Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear to investigate potential litigation against drug manufacturers, distributors, and retailers for their role in Kentucky’s opioid problem. Additionally, we filed opioid lawsuits on behalf of 17 governments in West Virginia, including McDowell County — one of the counties hardest hit by the opioid epidemic in the entire country.
Those lawsuits were later consolidated into a multi-district litigation with similar lawsuits filed by other cities and counties from around the country. The MDL is led by an executive committee of 20 attorneys, including Morgan & Morgan’s Government Action Group Chair, James Young.
Previously, our attorneys represented the Cherokee Nation and Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in a lawsuit against Volkswagen over the company’s emissions scandal.
Our attorneys also represented more than 35 Florida cities, counties, and school boards in lawsuits against British Petroleum and related companies after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. We eventually settled the case and obtained millions on behalf of our clients for the decreased tax revenue that resulted from the spill.
We filed opioid lawsuits on behalf of 17 governments in West Virginia, including McDowell County — one of the counties hardest hit by the opioid epidemic in the entire country.
James Young, Greg Stumbo, and the rest of the Government Action team have unique skills and backgrounds they developed while working for the Attorney General, serving as Attorney General of Kentucky, as FBI Special Agents, as Assistant United States Attorneys, or special counsel for litigating state agencies. Their qualifications and subject matter expertise give them an ability to quickly dissect and deftly navigate complicated government claims with ease.