Susan B. (00:05):
Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of Tort Talk Thursday with Joe Fantini of Rosen Injury Lawyers. Joe, as always, thanks so much for taking time to connect with me.
Joe F. (00:14):
Thanks for having me, Susan. Always love getting together talking about the latest developments in the world of mass torts.
Susan B. (00:20):
Yeah, and so we’ll dive right in, start talking about some of the updates and insights that you have for us. But first, just want to thank today’s sponsor who is LitPro. LitPro works with legal practitioners in two different ways, both on the outsource litigation services, and they also offer traditional consulting. But on the transactional services side, they engage with clients on outsource services for parties involved in single event and also the complex mass tort litigation. Some of their work includes healthcare, lien resolution, claims administration, global program administration, and mass tort lien resolution. Additionally, they engage in management consulting and auditing projects with law firms seeking to refine their processes and ensure compliance. So thanks so much LitPro for sponsoring today’s tort talk Thursday. Joe, let’s dive right in. Let’s hear about Zantac. What’s going on?
Joe F. (01:08):
Yeah, Zantac focusing on the Delaware State Court litigation where we have over 70,000 cases pending. A really big ruling just came down. The defendant’s request for an interlocutory appeal of the trial court’s Dalbert decision was granted. So what this means is that it’s going to be going up to the Delaware Supreme Court. The briefing schedule is set. Defendant’s opening brief is due on October 1st. We have 30 days to respond and then a reply. Then there’ll be oral arguments early 2025. This is going to decide whether or not Daubert ruling, allowing all of plaintiff’s experts to come in will be able to outstand the scrutiny. So a big ruling, big decision. So we’ll hear about that in 2025.
Susan B. (01:52):
Okay. While firms are waiting to hear about the outcome of that, what should they be focused on if they have a portfolio or volume of cases that they’re working on?
Joe F. (02:00):
Yeah, so in Delaware State Court, there’s a lot work that’s getting done behind the scenes. Now by the end of October, we need to submit the proof of usage from all of the defendants and that for all of the plaintiffs rather. And then we also need the proof of injury by the end of January. So make sure you’re reaching out to your clients, getting all that information together. Okay,
Susan B. (02:20):
Perfect. Okay. What is the update and latest on toxic baby food?
Joe F. (02:23):
Toxic baby food? The last we talked, we were focusing on some of the discovery disputes. We had a case management conference and got some really good rulings from the judge focusing on the requirements that the defendants need to produce evidence of the testing that they did on the levels of metal in their products between 2012 and 2021. Also need to produce information about the water or testing they did during that same time period and give us information about the other third party companies they worked with. So this is real huge for the case, almost exactly everything we were asking for. We’ll learn a little bit more about what the defendants knew, when they knew and what they did, if anything.
Susan B. (03:03):
Awesome. Okay. And then lastly, social media litigation. Where do things stand there?
Joe F. (03:08):
Social media litigation. We had a ruling that just came down this week in the third circuit and a non-Maori case, so a tragic case involving a 10-year-old girl who unfortunately ended up passing away following participation in that TikTok Blackout Challenge. Basically what happened here was she saw on her phone the TikTok Challenge, the blackout challenge ended up passing away. A lawsuit was brought by her parents in the district court of Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The court ruled that TikTok had immunity under Section two 30. We appealed that up to the third circuit. The third circuit just came down and ruled there’s no immunity under Section two 30, which allows internet providers to have immunity for content produced and posted by other third party users. The court found that the algorithm that was used by TikTok was their own, and the content wasn’t therefore selected by this young child. That’s exactly the same arguments we’ve been making in the MDL. So that’s going to be really positive down the line when we get to those arguments down the road in the MDL. So we’re moving forward with Discovery, battling them out, but this ruling, even it was in a non mass tour case, it’s going to have huge ramifications in this litigation. Well,
Susan B. (04:23):
Thanks for sharing those updates. Joe, I wanted to make sure that we touched on and talked about all the upcoming conferences. Want to make sure that some of these conferences are on everyone’s radar, and I know that there’s one coming up that you’ll be attending. Tell us a little bit about that conference.
Joe F. (04:38):
Conference season is upon us here. Now, conference that I’ll be attending next is going to be this LF deal maker one in New York City on September 17th. It’s going to be the day focusing on mass torts. So there’s going to be information from the leaders in the mass tort bar, plaintiff’s bar lenders, seeing how we can work together, and those complex litigations come together. It’s going to continue for two days after that on more broader lending issues. But September 17th, NYC, be there if you want to learn about funding.
Susan B. (05:06):
Awesome. I know Shades of Mass that is coming up September the 19th through 21st. This is their third year of holding their conferences. Typically, they’re held in Atlanta or Miami. This conference is going to be held in Houston, so that’s great. And a couple of things to note about Shades of Mass. One is one of the keynote speakers is Congresswoman Maxine Waters. She’s got 40 years of experience in public service, and she made history as the first woman and also the first African-American chair of the House Financial Services Committee. And something else fun to note is that they’re entertainment for the conference is Fat Joe on Friday, September the 20th. So that should be a lot of fun. Another conference, really, I like to say that this is more of a retreat than a conference. This is Women in Mass that is being held September 23rd through the 26th.
(05:56)
Of course, we all know it’s hosted by Aimee Wagstaff. This is the 12th year of women in Mass. Just some things to note that are exciting for women is that Monday evening they have planned the first time attendee happy hour. So if anyone’s looking to get the feel of the conference, meet other people, there’s that happy hour that they can attend. And then Tuesday and Wednesday, there’s a free yoga class that’s followed by coffee bar, and that all happens before the panels begin. So an exciting way for women to come together, network, get to know one another. And like I said, it’s more of a retreat than a conference. And then Joe, I know I’ll be seeing you of course at MTMP, so tell us a little bit about that.
Joe F. (06:35):
Yeah, mass tort made perfect. It’s conducted twice a year. We have it going on in the fall and the spring. This one’s going to be in early October. It’s a three day jam pack conference with over 2000 attendees. We have vendors, we have all different types of plaintiff’s attorneys. We have those in leadership. So it’s a great way to learn about mass torts, connect with other people. So if you’re going to be out there, please make sure to reach out to me and Susan, we’d love to meet with you in person,
Susan B. (07:02):
And excited that Keith Urban is going to be the entertainment that’s on Wednesday, October the ninth. So like you said, Joe, they’re expecting over 2000 folks, so it’ll be a big conference. So anyway, as always, Joe, thanks so much for taking time to provide the updates and insights in the industry. And hope everyone has a great rest of the week. If you want to hear more week over week from Joe and learn about the insights, make sure you’re subscribing to our talk Thursday. Thank you.
Joe F. (07:28):
Thanks for having me, Susan.
