On 14 March 2024, U.S. District Judge William Orrick of the Northern District of California issued an order granting final approval of a comprehensive USD 235 million settlement with Altria in the nationwide JUUL e-cigarette youth vaping predatory advertising, fraud, addiction and injury litigation, reports Lieff Cabraser’s lawyers.
The global settlement, reached shortly after the conclusion of the bellwether trial in San Francisco, is the culmination of “four years of a vast, unrelenting effort by plaintiffs and their counsel to hold Altria accountable for the 21st century’s ‘cigarettes redux’ youth nicotine plague”, the report said.
The settlement resolves all remaining personal injury, consumer and government class action cases brought against Altria under the national MDL and the JCCP in California (the earlier phase of vast litigation ended in late 2022 when JUUL entered into four substantial coordinated settlements with all plaintiff parties).
According to the report, the settlement includes over 8,500 personal injury cases and over 1,400 government entity cases, as well as a massive class of consumers. “The scope of these suits is beyond vast,” noted Lieff Cabraser partner Sarah R. London, Co-Lead Counsel for Plaintiffs in the litigation. “This settlement, in combination with the earlier JUUL settlements, marks a stunning and complete resolution of the JUUL/Altria litigation, and adds substantial additional compensation for victims and their families, get real funds to schools for abatement programs, and help local governments further prevent youth use of e-cigarettes across America.”