Lisa M. Gilford

As the national debate over opioid misuse intensifies, California law enforcement and private plaintiffs challenging Gilford's client, OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP, are seeking to revive their claims that the defendant and other drug makers falsely marketed the painkiller using third-party spokespeople to downplay addiction risk. Last year, Gilford persuaded Orange County Superior Court Judge Robert J. Moss to stay the matter pending the release of Food and Drug Administration studies currently underway.

On Oct. 19, the plaintiffs will urge Moss to lift the stay and let the case proceed. They want the makers of addictive painkillers to pay for the damages caused by a prescription drug epidemic. People of the State of California v. Purdue Pharma LP, 2014-00725287 (Orange Super. Ct., filed May 14, 2014).

Gilford, Purdue's lead counsel, defended against a two-front attack brought by Orange and Santa Clara counties and private lawyers who had prosecuted similar cases in other jurisdictions. "We filed successful motions arguing that the court should defer to the outcome of current FDA studies scheduled for completion in 2018 or 2019," she said. "The matter is unsettled, and it is our strong position that for the court to move forward now risks creating a remedy that could conflict with what the FDA studies will show. The plaintiffs are seeking injunctive relief that would change the way manufacturers market their drugs. We say that the FDA sets drug standards and our statements have not been misleading. We say that it would be inappropriate for the court to make factual findings while the science is unsettled."

She hopes to keep the case on ice while the FDA devises an updated national opioid policy. Her team wove together several common-law defenses to demonstrate that a 2007 opioid marketing settlement between Purdue and the California attorney general barred the plaintiffs' current claims

"Skadden has a tremendous litigation practice," Gilford said. "This is societally impactful work." By coincidence, her opposing counsel in the Purdue case include some of the plaintiffs' lawyers she got to know during her work as lead counsel for Toyota Motor Corp. in the massive unintended acceleration litigation that concluded in 2013. Among them are Top 100 honoree Mark P. Robinson Jr. of Robinson Calcagnie Inc. and Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas. "You run across the usual suspects," she laughed. "I respect them as colleagues and adversaries. Working with them makes for an efficient litigation process. We can often work things out without running to court for everything."

— John Roemer