Latest / The Jon and Marc Podcast / Top 10 Mass Torts to Watch in 2026 | Power Rankings for Plaintiff Firms

Transcript

Top 10 Mass Torts to Watch in 2026 | Power Rankings for Plaintiff Firms · The Jon and Marc Podcast

• 0:00
  Joe, we tried to get rid of him, but he came back.
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  Welcome to Tour TALK. I'm Mark Ryu and joined as
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  always by John Robinson and Joe Fantini.
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  This week, we are counting down our top ten mass tort power
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  rankings. The litigations you need to
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  watch right now. We're breaking down why Hair
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  Relaxer is holding its crown, how Uber's $8.5 million verdict
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  is shaking up the top three, and why Roundup has hit a historic
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  low. And a new tort breaking to the
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  top 10. Plus, we've got the latest on
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  the social media trial, the brand new Roblox MDL.
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  Which cases are moving up? Which cases are falling off?
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  Let's dive into it. It's great to be back from Los
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  Angeles. I was there for the social media
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  addiction trial last week. You want to see my interview
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  with Matt Bergman that actually went live a couple days ago.
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  You should check that out. There's all kinds of great
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  insights about what's going on behind the scenes in that trial.
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  It's closed door, You can't get inside.
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  And we hear from Matt. And it's really is a great
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  interview. We're going to start the Mass
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  Tort Power rankings for February off at #10 We have Bear Hugger
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  finally cracking the top 10 Joe Legacy Mass with over 9000
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  cases. Has there been some good
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  progress in this litigation? There has finally John so this
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  mass towards more than 10 years old, but the numbers are.
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  Up there we. Have over 9000.
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  Filed cases. We're continued to see a couple
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  100 cases filed each month, but finally we're starting to get
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  some pressure on the defendants 3 M by basically getting these
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  cases worked up and ready. For trial, so.
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  The judge ordered 100 and. 50 cases to be worked.
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  Up in. Five separate groups.
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  Each one of them are going through the.
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  Traditional discovery expert. And then if there isn't some
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  sort of resolution, getting remanded.
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  To trials all across the country, so those cases.
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  Are finally moving and then we have some action outside of them
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  DL. A couple cases.
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  Filed in various. States across the country.
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  With a big trial kicking off next week in Texas.
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  So with the Texas trial? And these reman cases, they'll
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  be some movement this year. There's a lot of cases out there
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  with Bear. Hugger controlling 80 to 85% of
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  the market share. Yeah, it's great to see a new
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  entrant into the top ten with Bear Hugger at #9 We have some
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  disappointing news. Talcum powder.
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  The bellwether verdict out of Philadelphia resulted in only
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  250,000. What happens next with talc?
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  Surprising verdict there like you mentioned.
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  Out of Philadelphia. Almost a month long trial came
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  back with. 50. 1000 in compensatory damages and 200,000
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  in punitive damages for an estate of a woman who used
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  Johnson and Johnson. Products for years.
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  And then diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
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  Obviously we're hoping for a much higher number.
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  I think the. Positive takeaways are the
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  experts survive. The jury was on our.
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  Side we got. Punitive damages, certainly a
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  lot less than what we were hoping for, saw in.
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  Prior trials, but. I think this reinforces that the
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  jury is on our side and so is the science.
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  So we'll continue to move forward with this litigation
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  getting some. More bellwether trials worked up
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  cases towards trial. In the MDL we have almost 70,000
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  cases. So this is.
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  The largest MDLI think we're going to keep getting more
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  pressure applied to the defendants and I'm still
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  optimistic get a resolution before the end of 2026.
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  Coming in at #8 weight loss drugs, so staying flat over last
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  month with two lines of cases. Again, we've got the vision
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  cases, we've got the gastrointestinal cases, we've
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  got about 3000 gastrointestinal injuries filed in the MDL.
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  What comes next in the litigation?
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  Yeah. So like you said, we have
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  parallel cases going on. We just had the MDL form for the
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  vision loss cases in December. Right now we're seeing a lot of
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  the momentum in the gastrointestinal cases, over
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  3000 cases pending right now. We're doing some.
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  Discovery we're. Getting these cases.
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  Worked up. We'll have some summary
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  judgement motion. Practice.
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  Probably in the late spring here get some rulings and if we get.
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  That stage. I think we can start looking.
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  For bellwethers about. Spring or summer of next?
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  Year so those. Gastrointestinal cases, once we
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  get some positive rulings, I think the litigation is really
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  going to pick up. The vision cases are going to be
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  dragging a little bit, a lot less plaintiffs out there.
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  But I think the gastrointestinal litigation, we get past that
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  10,000 threshold maybe a year, 15 months once we get some good
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  rulings. Yep, keep making progress on
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  weight loss at #7 we have the relatively recently consolidated
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  Roblox, the newest mass toward on the list.
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  How's the MDL shaping out? Yeah.
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  So it's. Kind of the who's who getting
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  appointed. To Co lead.
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  Counsel in this. We got a.
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  Lot of excitement about who's going to be on that plaintiff
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  steering committee kind of guiding the litigation.
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  As more time comes out and I'm speaking to some of our
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  colleagues, it seems like there's going to be a lot.
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  More cases out. There than I initially
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  anticipated. I didn't think we were going to
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  get past maybe 5000 cases, but I know firms that are
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  investigating a lot of really serious incidents involving
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  roadblocks. So this is one that's going to
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  be kind of to watch as we move forward.
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  Robox is really focusing on trying to get these cases into
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  arbitration. They don't want them to.
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  See court they. Don't want to go in front of a
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  jury so once we. Fight back that.
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  I think we can get some good momentum going and then we'll
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  see. The dockets?
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  Really. Building in this litigation
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  probably in the second-half or the fourth quarter of 2020 26.
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  Yeah, there was some news about that last week, with Roblox
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  making some public statements about wanting to keep all these
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  lawsuits behind closed doors. Yeah, that, that's always.
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  What they want to try to do, not uncommon to see that from these
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  big powerful defendants, right? They don't want people to know
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  really what they're. Up to what?
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  They've done the injuries they've.
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  Caused so. I think we have some good
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  arguments to overcome that, whether the parents were able to
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  truly consent, maybe in some of the instance and some of the
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  cases. Out there.
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  Where the children consent, sending kind of minor consent to
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  something like this, all really important issues that are going
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  to be flushed out, but I think we can overcome that and this
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  litigation moves forward. My prediction, this continues to
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  move up the power rankings and we will see a lot of progress in
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  roadblocks over the next couple of years.
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  Yeah, I. Think you're right on that.
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  At #6 we have Depot Provera holding steady at number six.
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  Can we see a bellwether trial before the end of the year?
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  That's what we're scheduled. For right now, supposedly, we're
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  going to have. The first Bellwether trial kick
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  off. In December of 2026.
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  We were all a. Little bit concerned potentially
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  about a potential preemption ruling.
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  We're still waiting for that. Seems like we're going to be
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  able to survive that with no problem.
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  We have these pilot cases. That are being worked up.
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  So if we're able to get the bellwether scheduled about two.
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  Years out from the MDL forming. That would be great not only for
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  this litigation but also for all mass torts in the future.
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  Hopefully a road map to help. Us get these cases to the jury
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  because that's. When we know the.
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  Pressure really starts. Applying to the defendants so
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  we'll continue to see movement here in depo probera science
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  seems pretty strong the. Label was updated.
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  Things are in favor. So this will.
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  Keep rising, I think as well in 2026.
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  What is going on at #5 with Roundup?
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  The Power Rangers darling is falling.
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  It's coming in at #5 It's not to say, you know, people don't
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  believe in this. Case we still.
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  Think this is a winner. I think one of the biggest
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  developments recently was the oral argument is scheduled for
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  the Supreme Court. I believe that's going to be
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  April 27th and then we'll hear from the court before the end of
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  June on the ruling. So that's going to have a huge
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  impact. We actually saw.
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  In Paraquat, the defendants trying to stay the litigation or
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  seeking to dismiss missed the. Cases based.
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  Upon this issue being brought. Up to the.
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  Supreme Court, so not as much excitement right now.
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  I know people that. Are out there still.
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  Acquiring new cases. But it it looks like somehow,
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  someway, this litigation is really going to wind down before
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  the end of 2026. Bears set out.
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  To make that. Their goal?
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  This. Year, I think they're going to
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  accomplish it so. We'll keep our ear.
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  And eyes to the docket, see what type of filings come out,
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  anything unique we'll keep. You guys updated but still a lot
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  of people. Out there that need help these.
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  Cases are still. Viable.
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  We know the defendants already paid more than 10 billion.
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  It's just there's some. Hotter torts out there with
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  better. Opportunity right now to get
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  involved and help more people. Moving up the chain to #4 we
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  have video game addiction. It fell a little bit in the
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  rankings, but is this because of the strength of other cases or
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  is this because of issues with VGA?
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  I think it's because we have strength in other.
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  Cases. We have a lot of momentum going
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  on right now. There's been a lot.
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  Of trials to. Kick off 2026 and I think we're
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  learning a lot in this social media addiction trial.
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  So that's going to give us a little bit of a road map.
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  But I have and we have social media addiction ranked higher.
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  Because that's further. Along we're in front of a
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  jewelry right now. We kind of flushed everything
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  out, so video game addiction is going to take a little bit more
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  time. There's a lot of people.
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  Out there that need help, we're still formulating that
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  litigation it it's growing a little bit slower than we
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  thought had there been an MDL, but this one's going to keep in
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  the top five I think throughout 2026 and probably be around most
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  of 27 as well. Yeah, just so many people who
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  are involved in that litigation. So many possible defendants and
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  remember our our power rankings are the masked towards we
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  recommend getting involved with right now or at least
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  investigating, getting involved with so early on VGA.
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  This is one side I think take a look at just because there's,
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  there's just the breath of this potential litigation.
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  Moving on to #3 we did see a results come back a couple weeks
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  ago in the Uber sex abuse trial. It has now cracked into the top
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  three following that $8.5 million verdict.
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  Is Uber continuing to fight? What does this look like as we
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  move on to the next bellwether in the coming months?
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  Uber definitely is continuing to fight.
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  They've been one of the most fiercely defendant MDLS that
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  I've ever seen. But we.
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  Were able to have that huge. Breakthrough like you mentioned
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  that Arizona trial returned the verdict 8.5 million for a very
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  deserving client and this really is going to help the litigation
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  going forward because now Uber knows that we can and we have
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  one other. Trial so.
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  We're going to continue to get the.
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  Cases worked up they'll. Probably be another.
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  Series of bellwether trials. As you remember, Uber won the
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  first trial that came back. With a 0 sum verdict.
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  Now we won one for the good. Guys.
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  One for Uber. I think we're going to have to
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  do the dance another two or three more times before.
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  We see a global but. Uber's making changes to their
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  platform. It it is.
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  Helping bring about change which?
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  We all set out to do but this. Is 1 to get involved with?
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  There's still some. Cases out there.
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  We've been successful in trial, but they're going to continue to
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  fight us. I don't see.
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  A global. And the immediate future right
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  now? Yeah, It's just good to see that
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  we're making progress here. We did have Lyft consolidate
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  couple weeks ago. So, you know, Uber will continue
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  throughout 2026, and we'll see what happens as we move forward
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  to the next bellwether. At #2 We have social media
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  addiction. So this is the trial going on
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  right now in Los Angeles. We had Adam Mosseri take the
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  stand last week. Believe we have Zuckerberg
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  slated to take the stand this week at #2 This is a very, very
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  interesting litigation. What else can you tell us about
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  what's happening here? I think everybody's waiting to
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  see this Mark Zuckerberg versus Mark Lanier battle.
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  This is going to be 1, you know, for.
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  The history books, but there's a lot of.
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  Positive momentum on this litigation where in front of a
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  jewelry where we want to be right now.
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  I think if we come out victorious in this case, there's
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  going to be other bellwether trials coming up already.
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  Scheduled we have. School district ones.
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  Set as well, so there's already 56. 1000 cases between the MDL.
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  The state court, we have the various AGS.
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  Are in on it, so the. Pressure.
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  Is definitely mounting on these social media big tech companies.
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  We. Already saw two of them.
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  Settle out so. I think they.
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  Realize that. They have problems.
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  Here across the. Country and across.
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  The world. We're seeing changes being made.
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  We see. Spain is banning minors under
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  the age of 16. We're seeing similar laws being
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  enacted in Australia. So things are definitely
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  changing, but I think we're going to get a good result here
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  and then everybody's going to be in on it.
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  John, what what do you think? Do you think something can come
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  out of this trial that makes this the number one mass tort
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  out there? I do.
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  So I I've been paying very close attention to this and having sat
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  down talked with Matt Bergman. It was actually I sat down with
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  him the day that the defense did their opening statement and we
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  went right into one of the plaintiffs experts.
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  And one of the claims made by the defense is that for YouTube,
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  YouTube is not social media and YouTube is not addictive.
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  And that just makes absolutely no sense.
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  The these platforms are addictive.
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  They are social media. The claims are against them as
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  like product defects, which if if you eliminate the content
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  from the conversation, which I think Bergman and Lanier have
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  done a really great job at setting the table for, you wind
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  up looking at these in isolation from the content that's actually
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  on the platforms. And realizing that it doesn't
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  matter if someone's looking at things related to depression or
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  suicide or if they're looking at teddy bears and they're looking
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  at food places. It's the mechanisms that are
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  keeping people engaged that they can't look away from.
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  It's triggering things in people's brains that are keeping
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  them addicted and constantly swiping.
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  I don't see a way that Meta and, and Google step away from this
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  without losing this trial. Or, you know, maybe there's
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  still a chance that there is a settlement before this winds up
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  getting to verdict. But I think that this is
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  absolutely going to be in the plaintiff's favor.
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  And I think that moving forward, we're going to continue to see
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  plaintiffs do well here. And also in parallel, as you
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  mentioned, the social media companies start to put more
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  changes in effect as we're seeing it being forced upon the
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  companies in other countries. Here in the United States, we're
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  kind of leaving it up to the the companies to implement the
• 14:43
  changes that are necessary themselves, which they're they
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  are going to have to start doing or they're just going to
• 14:48
  continue to face lawsuit after lawsuit after lawsuit.
• 14:51
  Yeah, and I, I. Agree with what you said, we
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  could. See a settlement.
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  I would be shocked if this. Comes out in the full defense
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  verdict even. If it does.
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  Right, even if that under 1% chance?
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  It does. It's going to give us the road
• 15:03
  map like we saw an Uber. There's no way.
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  That we lose back-to-back. Trials in this litigation, I
• 15:09
  think it's going to give us a good.
• 15:10
  Idea about what's the value? Of one of these cases and then
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  hopefully we can work with the defendants, wrap our arms around
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  the total number. Of cases out there.
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  Come up with some reasonable settlement that's not only
• 15:22
  monetary and compensates all these victims, but brings about
• 15:26
  this change that's really need it.
• 15:27
  So this one could be the number one, maybe as soon as next
• 15:31
  month. We'll see what happens.
• 15:32
  I think maybe by the time people are watching this, we've got
• 15:36
  Zuckerberg on the stand and we'll, we'll see where the chips
• 15:39
  fall before we hit #1 we're going to give you the ones to
• 15:42
  watch that didn't quite crack the top ten.
• 15:45
  We've got toxic baby food which is currently waiting on Daubert.
• 15:49
  Yep, waiting for that Daubert opinion to come out in the MDL.
• 15:52
  Where more than two two months out from argument, so should be
• 15:55
  here within the next. 30 to 60 days.
• 15:57
  We also have. Do I believe it's pronounced
• 16:00
  duplexate or duplicate? Yep, that that's the new one on
• 16:04
  the block. Right, so this.
• 16:05
  Is a medication that's used to. Treat various.
• 16:08
  Type of ailments it could be. Used for severe.
• 16:11
  Eczema. It could be used for asthma and
• 16:14
  it causes. A very rare.
• 16:15
  Type of cancer, T cell lymphoma actually.
• 16:18
  Got word today that they're. Filing for JPML, Beasley Allen's
• 16:22
  taking the lead on that one. So we'll we'll have a hearing on
• 16:25
  that in a couple months. Could be a mass tort by the
• 16:28
  second-half of the year. Moving quick, definitely want to
• 16:31
  keep our eye on and ones that we're kind of holding onto, wait
• 16:36
  and see. We're still waiting on Tylenol.
• 16:38
  Does the Second Circuit breathe new life into this litigation,
• 16:41
  or does it go back to where it was a year ago?
• 16:44
  Yeah, we'll have to wait and see if that opens up.
• 16:47
  We'll have a ton of cases coming in and a ton of people to help.
• 16:50
  So no decisions imminent. I, I think we'll get in the
• 16:53
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  relaxer. It remains in the top spot from
• 17:21
  January. We currently have over 11,000
• 17:24
  active cases. What are some key dates everyone
• 17:26
  needs to keep an eye on as this litigation holds its number one
• 17:29
  spot in the power rankings? Yeah, the key.
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  Date we're trying to get. Is the bellwether.
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  Trial. So we don't have a firm.
• 17:35
  Date set. I don't think it's going to be
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  in 26. It's probably going to be in 27.
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  Hoping for a scheduling order with regard to that on the next
• 17:43
  month or two. We'll.
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  Have some summary judgment motion?
• 17:47
  We'll have some experts. We'll keep.
• 17:49
  You guys updated when that briefing comes out, but.
• 17:51
  We like this tort because. It's got the numerosity, it's
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  really mature, the defendants are there, the science is on our
• 17:58
  side and there's still a little bit of time, another year or so
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  to get involved. So.
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  Coming in and #1 staying there to.
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  Start the year but. Social media addictions,
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  definitely on the heels of hair. Relaxer.
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  We'll see how it. Shakes out next month it.
• 18:12
  Is great to see mass torts really making progress over the
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  last month. I mean, 2026 has been great.
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  So much activity. We're heading into conference
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  season. You got MTMP coming up in a
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  couple of months, a few other conferences that are happening
• 18:26
  in the next few weeks. Just so much going on.
• 18:30
  Thank you for joining us. Joe, thanks for.
• 18:32
  Having me guys.