Latest / The Jon and Marc Podcast / January 2026 Mass Tort Power Rankings: New #1, Big Trials Ahead

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January 2026 Mass Tort Power Rankings: New #1, Big Trials Ahead · The Jon and Marc Podcast

• 0:09
  First tort talk of 2026. We're here with Joe Fantini,
• 0:12
  Mark Rieu, I'm John Robinson. Today we are doing the January
• 0:17
  power rankings. So starting a new year, starting
• 0:19
  a new month, here are the power rankings counting down from #10
• 0:24
  for the torts that your firm should potentially be interested
• 0:27
  in over the coming month. And we are going to start at #10
• 0:32
  Joe Toxic Baby Food down a few spots from the last ranking.
• 0:36
  What are we looking for in this mass tort?
• 0:38
  Where does it currently stand as we enter the new year?
• 0:40
  Like you mentioned, John, we're focusing right now on what cases
• 0:43
  you should get involved with in the current environment.
• 0:46
  Coming in at #10 we have toxic baby food.
• 0:50
  There's a little bit of uncertainty about this
• 0:52
  litigation. We've been at it for almost 2
• 0:55
  years now. We had one bad ruling, if you
• 0:58
  recall, in the state court action.
• 1:00
  And now we're really waiting to hear from them, the Elk Court,
• 1:03
  on whether or not the plaintiffs, experts are going to
• 1:06
  be able to come in. So that's a huge ruling, and
• 1:09
  that's going to shape this litigation going forward.
• 1:11
  I don't think we're going to have a ruling before the end of
• 1:14
  January, but sometime in Q1 we'll get some guidance on that.
• 1:19
  And if the experts come in, expect this case to fly up the
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  rankings in the coming months. Yeah, there's also some
• 1:25
  relationship to other potential mass torts that we'll be talking
• 1:29
  about a little bit later #9. We have talcum powder, so a lot
• 1:33
  of news in talcum powder over the past month.
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  Currently the largest active mass tort.
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  Finally, we got that bellwether verdict a couple of weeks ago.
• 1:42
  Why does this case only come in at #9 despite the big verdict
• 1:46
  that we just saw? Yeah, Great points, John.
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  This is a litigation that people would probably expect to be a
• 1:51
  little bit higher in the power rankings.
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  But just do the fact for how long it's been around these
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  cases are some of them 15 years old, That's why it's coming in a
• 2:01
  little bit lower on the rankings with that huge verdict coming
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  out of the bellwether trial. There's going to be a lot more
• 2:07
  pressure on J&J in the coming months to end up getting these
• 2:11
  cases resolved. But it's the largest litigation
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  out there, more than 70,000 cases.
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  I don't think there's 10,000 more cases out there to acquire.
• 2:21
  So that's why it's still coming in.
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  If you have talcum cases, work them up as quick as possible,
• 2:27
  get them filed, get them on record.
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  There'll be a lot of pressure on J&J this year.
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  And I think finally we get a resolution for these really
• 2:36
  deserving clients. You think that happens in 26?
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  Yeah, that's the first bold prediction of tour talks or 26.
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  I'm expecting a global set settlement in talcum powder
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  before the end of the year. That would be incredible for
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  everyone. Maybe that's the theme of 2026
• 2:52
  Global Settlements. Yes.
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  At #8 we have weight loss, so people commonly just say the GLP
• 2:59
  ones or or Ozempic, but it is others other than Ozempic.
• 3:03
  We were at 8:00 last month. We're at 8 again this month.
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  We still have those two parallel lines of cases, both the vision
• 3:08
  loss and the gastrointestinal injuries.
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  How many cases do you think we're going to wind up seeing,
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  and where do you see this litigation panning out over the
• 3:16
  next couple months? Right.
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  Like you said, John, this litigation has been around for a
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  little bit, kind of new to the game, are these vision loss
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  cases? We have an MDL form for that
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  now. In addition to parallel
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  litigations going on with vision loss and the gastro injuries, we
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  also have parallel litigations going on in the MDL and in New
• 3:36
  Jersey State court. With regard to your question
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  about total number of cases for the vision loss cases, I think
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  we're going to come in under 5000 total cases at the end of
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  the day, maybe a three to 5000 litigation for those with the
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  gastrointestinal injuries. If you remember, we had a little
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  bit of a set back with the MDL judge requiring us to put forth
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  these gastro emptying studies in order to prove the
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  gastroparesis. We're appealing that issue, but
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  I think we get over 10,000 total for the gastro injuries, which
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  then makes it one of the larger torts that gets everybody's
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  attention. Also, I think we're going to be
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  under 2025 thousand between the two injuries, but there's
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  definitely a lot of opportunity out there still.
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  What are the next steps in that litigation?
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  Where is it going as we enter 26?
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  Yeah. So the vision loss is really in
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  its infancy. It's about a year, year and a
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  half behind the gastro injuries. So what we're going to be doing,
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  we're going to be looking for some expert work up and then
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  we're also going to be getting identifying the bellwether
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  cases. So no trials this year, but
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  there's a lot of opportunity to still get more cases.
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  A lot of people now are really focusing on those eye injury,
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  vision loss cases because those damages are huge.
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  All right, coming in at #7 it's our first technology platform on
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  the list. How does the recently formed MDL
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  impact the litigation? Yes, a Roblox.
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  This is the last MDL that was formed in 2025.
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  Definitely a lot of excitement about this litigation.
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  Horrible, horrible cases out there.
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  This platform we're alleging didn't do enough to really keep
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  our children safe. They didn't verify the identity.
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  This is a really important issue.
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  I know you guys have kids. Everybody wants to do right by
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  all the children out there. The reason why I don't have this
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  litigation higher on the rankings is I don't think we're
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  going to end up seeing a huge number of cases.
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  Fortunately, we'll see how this litigation shakes out, but
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  what's going to be a qualifying injury versus what doesn't end
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  up being a compensable case, that's really what's going to
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  need to be determined. It's probably going to be a
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  little bit similar to what we saw and what we're seeing in
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  these Uber Lyft sex abuse cases where that actual damages and
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  what the the child, the minor went through is really going to
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  be a heightened standard. So these are very important
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  cases. I just don't see this blowing up
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  into one of those massive mass torts like talcum powder
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  Roundup, but definitely a good cause to be involved with.
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  At #6 Our first really big jump of this month's power rankings,
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  Depo Provera moves up to #6 in the rankings.
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  Is there really a chance that Pfizer wins this preemption
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  ruling coming up? I don't think so.
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  If you remember, everybody was kind of on pins and needles
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  about this litigation because Pfizer's position was they went
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  to the FDA, they told him about this potential risk associated
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  with the signature injury here and that there was nothing they
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  could do. The FDA said they didn't need to
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  update the label and their hands are clean.
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  Well, it comes comes out before the end of 2025.
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  The FDA requires a new warning and updates it.
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  That basically pokes a hole in Pfizer's argument the whole
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  time. But we're kind of arguing is
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  that they knew or should have known and had the studies and
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  didn't release all of the data that would have required that
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  updated warning. So because of that, they're not
• 7:14
  able to get out of this litigation.
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  I think we beat back that pre emption argument.
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  The cases really go forward. We'll probably end up seeing
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  this being another one, more than 10,000 cases.
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  The reason why it's not higher on the list, just because this
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  product's been on the market for so, so long.
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  People are experiencing some trouble getting the PID, the
• 7:35
  product identification going back 20-30 years in these cases.
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  That's why we don't see it in our top three.
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  Got another tech platform at #5 Uber Sex abuse.
• 7:45
  We had some news come up just this week and we're only one
• 7:49
  week away from the second bellwether trial.
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  It's the first in the MDL. What are the key issues in the
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  litigation that we hope to hear from the jury in the upcoming
• 7:57
  trial? Like you mentioned, John, we
• 7:59
  have this bellwether trial teed up.
• 8:01
  It's going to kick off next week.
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  Uber, as Uber does, fought tooth and nail to get this pushed
• 8:08
  back. Their latest argument was that
• 8:10
  there was some attorney advertisements that could
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  potentially be prejudicial to Uber.
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  The judge saw right through that argument.
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  The trials going forward in Arizona.
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  Hopefully we're we're going to take some of the lessons learned
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  from the state court trial where the jury found that Uber was
• 8:27
  negligent, but that its negligence didn't necessarily
• 8:31
  cause the injuries to plaintiff. And we're able to put that
• 8:34
  puzzle together and paint a clearer picture for the jury and
• 8:38
  end up with a nice verdict in favor of these very deserving
• 8:42
  plaintiffs. We got some more bellwether
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  scheduled in 2026. I think we're going to do good
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  in this upcoming trial. The first Mass Tour bellwether
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  trial of 26 should be a win for the plaintiffs.
• 8:53
  Yeah, we hope so. This one's been going on for a
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  little while as well. At #4 dropping from #1 which
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  means we have we have a new top spot in this month's power
• 9:02
  rankings. At #4 we have Roundup for all of
• 9:05
  2025. We looked at Roundup as the top
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  spot in our power rankings. What is happening in 2026 with
• 9:12
  Roundup litigation? Right.
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  If you've been following along here, you know I'm a big fan of
• 9:17
  Roundup. I still believe in it, but I
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  just think there's some better opportunities out there at the
• 9:23
  moment, and that's why I fell a little bit in our rankings.
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  Everybody knows that Monsanto appealed up to the Supreme
• 9:30
  Court. The Solicitor General came in
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  and said that the case should be heard by the Supreme Court.
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  Typically, we see the Supreme Court file the Solicitor
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  General's advice 6070% of the time.
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  So we'll know before the end of January if the Supreme Court is
• 9:47
  going to take up the preemption appeal.
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  If they end up taking up the case, we'll have a decision
• 9:53
  before the end of June about whether or not preemption is a
• 9:57
  defense in these cases. But as you guys had Seth on here
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  at one of your tour talks about Roundup, even if Bear Monsanto
• 10:06
  wins on that argument, the cases are still viable.
• 10:09
  The plaintiffs still have other causes of action.
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  But because this case has been around so long, similar to what
• 10:15
  we're seeing with the Taup cases, there's probably some
• 10:19
  better opportunity to get some newer cases.
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  But I still believe in this case, it's just not coming in at
• 10:25
  #1 anymore. That's a good point to make
• 10:27
  here. It's not that Roundup
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  necessarily has dropped, it's that there's actually more
• 10:32
  positive movement in our top three.
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  So good call out though that interview we had with Seth was
• 10:38
  was a good update for those who are looking to get deep into the
• 10:40
  Roundup litigation. Yes, that's the man on the
• 10:43
  ground there. He's got the inside story.
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  So if you guys want to know what's going on really with
• 10:48
  that, make sure you check out that podcast with Seth Crompton.
• 10:52
  At #3 we have social media addiction, so one of the first
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  bellwether trials of 2026 will occur in social media addiction
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  litigation. What are you hearing about the
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  upcoming trial that gets this case into the top three?
• 11:03
  Yeah, there's a lot of buzz. There's probably the most
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  excitement going on right now with the social media addiction.
• 11:10
  You know, as these cases go forward, the more evidence we
• 11:14
  discover, the more rulings we're starting to see how the trial
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  court, potentially having Zuckerberg testify, all of these
• 11:22
  big tech companies being called into court, there's going to
• 11:25
  really be a lot of pressure on them.
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  And I think we're going to end up with a good result.
• 11:30
  We have these individual cases. We have some school district
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  cases. So a lot of pressure coming out
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  of the MDL and in the state court.
• 11:38
  I think we're going to get some big verdicts here, and if
• 11:41
  they're smart, Big Tech's going to end up settling these cases
• 11:44
  before we have too many trials. There's a lot of potential
• 11:47
  plaintiffs out there who are very worthy and need our help.
• 11:51
  I think this is a good one that's going to stay in our top
• 11:54
  three until we have a resolution.
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  Yeah, Mark and I have watched this one from its infancy,
• 11:59
  working with Matt Bergman in the Social Media Victims Law Center.
• 12:02
  Glenn and Laura there, They all do great work.
• 12:04
  I was speaking to Matt about a couple weeks ago about the
• 12:06
  upcoming trials, and there's definitely a lot of optimism
• 12:10
  moving into 2026 about this litigation, but it's also moving
• 12:14
  in other directions as well as we're seeing some of those AI
• 12:16
  cases start to get filed. So keep your eyes peeled, those
• 12:20
  of you watching for what's happening in this litigation.
• 12:23
  It's taking a bunch of different turns.
• 12:25
  We're looking at all the different platforms that are
• 12:27
  being used. And you're seeing this sort of
• 12:29
  bring other things to the surface, like Roblox and video
• 12:32
  game addiction, which also by chance comes in at #2 video game
• 12:36
  addiction. What do you like about this case
• 12:38
  and what brings it to #2? Like you mentioned, this case
• 12:41
  really piggybacks on what we're able to accomplish in the social
• 12:45
  media addiction. What I'm hearing in this
• 12:47
  litigation is we tried a second time to get the MDL formed,
• 12:53
  focusing on a more limited number of defendants.
• 12:57
  That request was denied, but all hopes not lost.
• 13:00
  We still have ongoing California, a great venue in the
• 13:05
  JCCP out there. This consolidated action, we're
• 13:09
  going to have a lot of action coming up in the coming months.
• 13:12
  There's been a lot of rumors coming out of potential early
• 13:15
  settlements. The defendants really don't want
• 13:18
  this information getting out on the news, hurting their stocks.
• 13:22
  So there's going to be a lot of pressure coming on them and I
• 13:25
  think there's probably the largest potential pool of
• 13:30
  plaintiffs out there. So a newer litigation with
• 13:33
  strong theories, deep pocket defendants, that always makes
• 13:37
  for an appealing mass tort. And that's why we have that
• 13:40
  coming in at #2 in the first Tort Talk rankings of 26.
• 13:45
  Before we hit #1 we've got one to watch.
• 13:47
  There's one on the list. We've got Bear Hugger.
• 13:50
  It's a legacy mass tort. We've got about 9000 active
• 13:53
  cases. How do you think this litigation
• 13:55
  plays out? Yeah, I'd be remiss if I didn't
• 13:57
  bring it up. You guys always hear me talk
• 14:00
  about once a mass tort crosses that 10,000 case threshold, it
• 14:05
  it has to get everybody's attention.
• 14:07
  So a long twisted history of this mass tort going back more
• 14:12
  than 10 years. But now finally, after a lot of
• 14:16
  fighting, a lot of distracting, some of these cases are really
• 14:20
  getting ready to go to trial. We have the MDL with about 9000
• 14:25
  cases. The judge entered an order
• 14:27
  making work up of 150 cases, not necessarily for bellwether, but
• 14:33
  for reman cases. A lot of activity going on
• 14:36
  there. We have a couple state court
• 14:38
  cases moving forward to trial. So there's pressure mounting on
• 14:42
  three M This product dominates the market share.
• 14:46
  There's a lot of cases out there, some big injuries.
• 14:49
  So keep an eye on it. I think we could see it rise in
• 14:52
  the coming months. I don't think we'll hear about a
• 14:55
  resolution in 26, but maybe in 27.
• 14:59
  One more before number one, we have a wait and see on Tylenol.
• 15:03
  Does the Second Circuit breathe new life into this litigation
• 15:06
  and give it another chance at potentially making its way back
• 15:09
  into our top 10? Like you mentioned there, John,
• 15:11
  we had the word argument with the Second Circuit.
• 15:14
  It went well. They seem to be receptive to our
• 15:17
  arguments that the judge and the MDL overstepped the bounds and
• 15:21
  went a little too far in that gatekeeping role.
• 15:24
  I think we have a little bit better than a 5050 chance of
• 15:28
  breathing life back into this litigation.
• 15:31
  So keep an eye on that one. We'll probably know in about 60
• 15:34
  or 90 days. But with that being said, do you
• 15:38
  guys want to get into the number one tort?
• 15:40
  Let's do it. Can we get a jump roll?
• 15:42
  Please coming in at #1 we have hair relaxer.
• 15:50
  So a new king in town here. This litigation has been around
• 15:53
  for a number of years. We have the all important
• 15:56
  science day coming up this week. That's going to be a chance for
• 16:00
  each side to really get in front of the judge, educate the court
• 16:03
  on the key findings, the key studies, the key plans.
• 16:07
  And from there, the momentum is going to keep building.
• 16:09
  A mass tort with more than 10,000 cases, big pocket
• 16:13
  defendants far along in the litigation.
• 16:15
  I think everybody's excited about this.
• 16:18
  This is the number one tour to start 2026.
• 16:21
  What a list our top 10 for January 2026.
• 16:25
  Thank you so much, Joe for putting this together and giving
• 16:27
  all of our watchers and listeners an opportunity to hear
• 16:30
  the case types that they should potentially be interested in at
• 16:33
  their firm. We will be all three of us at
• 16:36
  NTL because Joe made that decision 5 minutes before we
• 16:40
  went on to this podcast that he will be joining us at NTL as
• 16:43
  well. So make sure you reach out to us
• 16:46
  if you are heading to that conference.
• 16:47
  We look forward to seeing everybody there.
• 16:50
  And we'll be doing a tour talk live from NTL Miami, just like
• 16:55
  we did at MTMP. And we'll be recording the John
• 16:57
  and Mark podcast live from NTL as well.
• 17:00
  We're excited to see everyone in person.
• 17:02
  Just kick off the new year. Can't wait to see you guys down
• 17:05
  there. Miami in January.
• 17:06
  Let's do it everybody. Have a great week.
• 17:08
  We'll see you next week on Tor Talk.