Roman M. Silberfeld

LOS ANGELES - Roman M. Silberfeld is the national trial chair of his law firm, which means he takes on many significant cases for important clients. For instance, a couple of years ago, he represented Gov. Gavin Newsom for a time in very long-running litigation seeking to improve mental health care for prison inmates. .

He is especially proud of his part in crafting the $26 billion national settlement of opioid litigation announced last year between the 50 states and the three main pharmaceutical distributors plus manufacturer Johnson & Johnson. Approximately 85% of the funds will go to municipal governments, which had filed thousands of lawsuits against the companies, to be used primarily for addiction treatment and prevention services. The remaining 15% will go to the states themselves. .

"The reason that's so heavily weighted to the cities and counties is because it's the cities and counties that represent the front line of defense to the problems of opioids," he said. "The state of California does a lot of great things, but it doesn't do that." .

California is to receive 9.9% of the total settlement, which Silberfeld believes could grow in the coming days to as much as $40 billion. As the attorney representing 18 cities and counties, Silberfeld was part of the 12-attorney team that negotiated with the state on behalf of municipal governments over how to divide California's share of the funds. .

"We came to what I think candidly everybody would agree is a model for how these agreements work," he said. .

Last month, Silberfeld wrapped up another national class action. He was co-lead class counsel in the litigation against Wells Fargo Bank for signing up auto loan customers for auto insurance they didn't want or need. The case settled for $423 million in June 2019, but final administration just concluded in December. In Re Wells Fargo Collateral Protection Insurance Litigation, 8:17-ml-02797 (C.D. Cal., filed Oct. 18, 2017). .

That settlement total did grow substantially because the deal actually required the bank to pay "at least" the announced amount and to pick up all administrative costs. So Silberfeld and co-counsel Roland Tellis sent out multiple notices to class members. "We noticed in six different ways," he said. .

As a result, more than $600 million was distributed to class members. By early December, just $1.5 million remained, which was given to several charities. .

Last year, Silberfeld served as president of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He spent his term bringing together the National Judicial College and other groups for a symposium on ways to preserve judicial independence and the rule of law. Some 250 judges, scholars and lawyers gathered in Chicago in May for the event. .

The organization will publish white papers on the issues soon. He said he hopes the symposium could be an annual event.