PURDUE NATIONAL OPIOIDS SETTLEMENT

Home Browse Search

Docusign Envelope ID:F617E359-4OD9-46EO-BD71-OF5OB4798B26 However, in no event shall more than one-third (5% out of the 15%) be used for litigation-related fees and expenses. D. Provision for State Back-Stop Agreement On August 6, 2021, Judge Dan Polster of the U.S. District Court,Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, issued an order(ECF Docket Number 3814) ("MDL Fees Order") in the National Prescription Opiate Litigation (MDL No. 2804) "cap[ping] all applicable contingent fee agreements at 15%."Private counsel representing Plaintiff Subdivisions should seek its contingency fees and costs from the Local Government Costs and Expenses Fund pursuant to the Governing Documents, and if applicable,the Attorney Fee Fund or Cost Funds under the settlement agreements with other Opioid Defendants. A Plaintiff Subdivision may separately agree to use up to one-third(5%out of the 15%) of its share of the CA Subdivision Fund to pay for fees or costs incurred by its contingency-fee counsel ("State Back-Stop Agreement"), pursuant to Exhibit R of the GESA and the MDL Fees Order, so long as: (1) such payments, together with any payments to contingency-fee counsel from the Local Government Costs and Expenses Fund related to such Plaintiff Subdivision, do not exceed 15% of a Plaintiff Subdivision's total gross recovery under this Agreement; and (2)Plaintiff Subdivision certifies that any payments made under a State Back-Stop Agreement will be made in accordance with the 95% Opioid Abatement use requirements under Section 5.02(a) of the GESA and Section 4.01(f)(i) of the MSA. Before seeking fees or litigation costs and expenses from a State Back-Stop Agreement,private counsel representing Plaintiff Subdivisions must first seek contingency fees and costs from the Local Government Costs and Expenses Fund funded pursuant to the Governing Documents. Further,private counsel may only seek reimbursement for litigation fees and costs that have not previously been reimbursed through prior settlements or judgments. To effectuate a State Back-Stop Agreement pursuant to this section, an agreement in the form of Appendix 2 may be entered into by a Plaintiff Subdivision,private counsel, and the California Office of the Attorney General. The California Office of the Attorney General shall, upon the request of a Plaintiff Subdivision, execute any agreement executed by a Plaintiff Subdivision and its private counsel if it is in the form of Appendix 2. The California Office of the Attorney General will also consider requests from Plaintiff Subdivisions to execute and enter into agreements presented in other forms. For the avoidance of doubt, this Agreement does not require a Plaintiff Subdivision to request or enter into a State Back-Stop Agreement, and no State Back-Stop Agreement shall impose any duty or obligation on the State of California or any of its agencies or officers, including without limitation the Attorney General. RI 0 6 0