Beasley Allen represents the plaintiff in the first bellwether trial in the JUUL multidistrict litigation, set to begin in June. The JUUL lawsuit involves the case of a 16-year-old girl identified as B.B., who started vaping as a 12-year-old seventh grader. Her first puff on a JUUL e-cigarette was her first experience with nicotine. She quickly became addicted.
B.B. lives in McMinnville, Tennessee, a small town of about 13,500 located halfway between Nashville and Chattanooga. Despite its small size, McMinnville couldn’t escape JUUL’s aggressive marketing campaign targeting teens and tweens with stealthy vape pens, flavored e-liquids, and endorsements from social media influencers popular with teens.
Like countless other teenagers across the country, B.B. experiences various emotional and cognitive issues associated with her JUUL-created nicotine addiction. Her physical health has suffered, too. JUULing has caused her to suffer breathing difficulties and shortness of breath when active.
The second personal injury bellwether trial is scheduled for September, and a school district bellwether trial will follow in November. Beasley Allen represents two plaintiffs that the court has previously selected for the third and fourth personal injury bellwether trials; dates for those trials are yet to be determined.
Judge William H. Orrick of the Northern District of California, who is overseeing the JUUL MDL, has ruled that the parties must begin working up a second round of personal injury bellwether cases for trial.
To date, more than 3,000 JUUL lawsuits are pending in the MDL, consisting of more than 2,500 personal injury claims and 522 government entities, including school districts, cities, counties, and tribes. In California state court litigation in Los Angeles Superior Court, an additional 3,400 personal injury cases are pending, along with 83 government entity cases. Additionally, 14 states’ attorneys general have filed JUUL lawsuits seeking to recover funds spent to direct resources to the youth vaping epidemic.
JUUL MDL & Lawsuits
JUUL, the country’s top U.S. vape maker, used suspect marketing techniques to lure young people to its products, then got them hooked on them, creating a youth vaping epidemic. Beasley Allen’s JUUL litigation team is fighting for individuals and organizations that have been negatively impacted by JUUL and its vape products. We have also filed JUUL lawsuits on behalf of school districts and public entities across the country which seek to protect students and recover resources spent fighting the vaping epidemic.
Along with serving as counsel for the first bellwether trial, Beasley Allen’s Joseph VanZandt serves on the JUUL Plaintiff Steering Committee (PSC). VanZandt and Mass Torts Section Head Andy Birchfield lead our firm’s efforts to hold JUUL accountable for the damage it caused to thousands of youths and communities around the country. Beasley Allen’s Beau Darley, a lawyer in our Mass Torts Section, also serves on the PSC for the California state court litigation.
Our firm has the resources to represent clients throughout the country while never losing sight of the individual. If your client has been negatively impacted by JUUL, we can help. We have the resources to competently and conscientiously assist you in handling any group of cases, no matter how large.
