12 JUUL Injury Claims Selected For Bellwether Discovery Pool

12 JUUL Injury Claims Selected For Bellwether Discovery Pool

Introduction

Earlier this week, the parties involved in JUUL lawsuits pending in the federal court system issued a Joint Notice regarding the 12 randomly selected cases to be included in the bellwether trial discovery pool.

The case selection would follow a case-specific discovery process and face future challenges to the admissibility of expert witness testimony before the first bellwether trial.

In September, U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick III, overseeing the federal JUUL multidistrict litigation (MDL), had released a case management order establishing the method for the parties to choose the cases that will be prepared for early bellwether trials. The first five bellwether trials are expected to begin in 2022 on February 22, March 28, May 9, and August 1.

These bellwether claims will help the parties gauge how juries are likely to respond to certain evidence and testimony, which will be repeated throughout the litigation. The outcomes of these trial will not bind on other claims pending in the federal docket, instead will influence JUUL settlements to avoid the need for series of an individual trial.

Pediatrics, in its current issue for December, indicated that teens who used e-cigarettes with no intention of smoking cigarettes in the future were four times more likely to find themselves smoking cigarettes a year later as compared to the ones who did not use e-cigarettes. This indicates that the epidemic might grow and lead to a torrent of lawsuits concerning the popularity of vaping among teens and young adults.

Currently, more than 1,100 lawsuits and class action claims are filed against JUUL Labs Inc., each claiming that the manufacturer created false and misleading advertisements for JUUL, tormenting the U.S. with nicotine addiction problems in recent years.