Susan Barfield (00:05):
Hello everyone. Welcome to another Tort Talk Thursday, as always here with Joe Fantini. First Joe, it was so great to see you in person at the LF Deal Makers this week.
Joe Fantini (00:16):
Yeah, it was awesome connecting with you and all of our other colleagues up in New York. It was a really good conference.
Susan Barfield (00:22):
Before we dive in, just want to thank today’s sponsor who is The Joel Company. The Joel Company is based out of Santa Monica, and they specialize in top quality mass tort case acquisition. One of the things that I certainly appreciate is that they pride themselves on being a tight-knit experience organization committed to claimant centric advertising and intake, and they really tailor their campaigns to suit every law firm’s needs. So if you haven’t looked them up or haven’t heard about the Joel Company, I highly encourage you to do so. So thank you for sponsoring today’s episode. And speaking of being in New York this week: Joe, I think one of the things that I was excited to learn and hear more about was how mass tort is evolving, and there was, of course, a heavy emphasis placed on data and how to manage clean data. And I know Joe, that’s something that’s really important with you. So maybe speak on a little bit about why you believe clean data is so important.
Joe Fantini (01:16):
Yeah, Susan. Exactly. That was a really big topic, and it’s so important to have data, not only have the data, but also have it in a clean and manageable manner. So you want to have the basic information about the demographics of all your clients, but then also having that information related to the proof of usage or the proof of diagnosis in any treatment in a way so you can easily access it or submit it for a settlement or even submit it if you’re looking into getting information about some sort of funding. It’s really crucial, and I’ll be honest with you, that’s something I learned from Caseworks, working together with you, having that readily accessible and how important it is, and we’re going to see a lot more of that going forward.
Susan Barfield (01:59):
Yeah, for sure. One of the questions, and I know we were talking about it, is what are the torts that most of the people there were talking about and really excited about it? And I don’t know for you, but I heard a lot of discussions around baby food and so maybe give us a little update on what’s going on there.
Joe Fantini (02:16):
Yeah, baby food was probably the number one tort that people were excited about. So this is still what I consider a somewhat emerging tort. We only had the MDL formed earlier this year. We’re going through that initial process where we’re working on some of the motion to dismiss. We should have that ruled upon hopefully by the end of the year. But what makes this more exciting is for two plus years, attorneys have already been working on this litigation and there’s actually the first trial scheduled outside of the MDL in California state court, a really good venue. So we’re looking forward to getting that case to trial. I’d be surprised if the defendants didn’t settle that one out before we see it, but that was the tour that had a lot of buzz.
Susan Barfield (02:56):
I know Roundup, there’s a trial that was going on last week, so provide any updates as you’ve heard about ’em.
Joe Fantini (03:03):
Yeah, this litigation’s been a roller coaster where OMA is coming on a decade working on it. We had a little bit of a rough month for Roundup here with the third circuit preemption ruling, and then last week in Philadelphia we had the second defense verdict, so two out of five cases now ruled in favor of defendants. But what we’re most excited about is we have a really strong trial team working on a new Philadelphia Roundup trial. It kicked off last week. It’s underway as we speak now. Probably take us through the beginning or middle of October till we get a verdict, but this is with some of the best trial attorneys in the country, hoping for a really big verdict, which gets the momentum back in plaintiff’s favor.
Susan Barfield (03:41):
Yeah, fantastic. And lastly, another tort that was discussed in New York this week was Zantac. I know that we’re waiting on the appeal and wanted you to speak a little bit more on Zantac.
Joe Fantini (03:51):
Zantac, another litigation that’s been a little bit of a rollercoaster in Delaware where most of the cases are pending. 70,000 plus. We were successful and defeated the defendant’s motion to exclude our experts. They appealed that up. Briefings going to start in October. We’ll have argument in the beginning of 2025. It’s a really good opportunity now for the next six months or so to get new Zantac cases. And while that’s going on, GSK continues to settle. Other cases, the next two cases that were scheduled for trial in California just announced GSK settled both of them. They’re looking to clear the docket of any trials in 2024 and betting pretty much everything on this dalbert ruling in 2025. So again, I like that tort we’ll hear a lot more as the year goes on.
Susan Barfield (04:36):
Fantastic. Joe, as always, it’s great to have you on. We’re grateful for the time that you provide and the updates and insights that you share with the industry. Again, thank you to The Joel Company for sponsoring today’s Tort Talk Thursday. And if you want to hear more from Joe and week over week on these updates, make sure you subscribe to the link below. Thanks so much, Joe.
Joe Fantini (05:00):
Thanks for having me, Susan.
