Federal Judge Plans JUUL Bellwether Case Selection Process

Federal Judge Plans JUUL Bellwether Case Selection Process

Introduction

U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick III, overseeing the federal JUUL multidistrict litigation (MDL), issued an order establishing the method for the parties to choose the cases that will be prepared for the first bellwether trials, which is set to begin in early 2022.

JUUL is the most popular e-cigarette in the U.S. manufactured by Juul Labs, Inc., an American electronic cigarette company. The company holds 97 percent of the e-cigarette market, and the rest is covered by Vuse, MarkTen, Blu, and Logic. Around 75 percent of all e-cigarettes sold in the U.S. are manufactured by Juul. The company entered the market in 2015, and as per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), each JUUL pod contains a nicotine level of 20 regular cigarettes, which is higher than other e-cigarettes. JUUL is popular among teens and young adults due to its sleek design and nicotine level. Due to its dominance, the term Juuling is also popular among users.

JUUL, an e-cigarette, has been in news over its popularity among young users and for the growing number of lawsuits alleging that it leads to serious health problems, such as severe lung injuries, seizures, nicotine addiction and poisoning, and an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. The rise resulted in the formation of an MDL 2913, and the lawsuits are currently centralized in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, where JUUL Labs, Inc. is headquartered.

According to the order dated September 9, Judge Orrick indicated that he is considering the plaintiffs’ suggestions in bellwether case selection and case schedule process. The parties and the court will select a total of 24 cases, of which six will be selected by plaintiffs and six by the defendant. The remaining twelve will be randomly selected cases by the court for the initial bellwether discovery pool, which would be done by December 15, 2020.

The core discovery process, post the selection, will conclude by April 15, 2021. By April 22, the parties will be allowed to strike one case each from the pool, and on April 30, the parties will identify eight cases, four each, from the remaining pool. 

The court will then select individual cases, and a series of five bellwether trials are expected to begin on February 22, March 28, May 9, June 20, and August 1, 2022.

Apart from individual addiction claims, several class action lawsuits have also been filed by school districts and other entities who suffered damages from the vaping epidemic. The lawsuits allege that the manufacturer created false and misleading advertisements for JUUL, plaguing the U.S. in recent years.