Elizabeth J. Cabraser 

Although Elizabeth J. Cabraser has been a leader for plaintiffs suing over wildfires, oil spills, diesel engines, airbags and intrusive technology for most of her career, litigation against the makers, distributors and sellers of opioids has dominated her practice for the last several years.

“That is the single case that takes up most of my time and energy these days,” she said.

Cabraser serves on the plaintiffs’ executive committee, the settlement committee and the tribal committee in the national multidistrict litigation. National Prescription Opiate Litigation, 1:17-md-02804 (N.D. Ohio, consol’d Dec. 12, 2017).

In August 2021, she was appointed as plaintiffs’ lead counsel and chair of the plaintiffs’ steering committee in a newer multidistrict litigation against the international management consultancy accused of advising the manufacturers on how best to market opioids. In re McKinsey & Co. Inc. National Prescription Opiate Consultant Litigation, 3:21-md-02996 (N.D. Cal., filed June 8, 2021).

And she was a behind-the-scenes leader in the bellwether trial last year that ended with a powerful ruling by a federal judge finding Walgreens liable to San Francisco for the damage opioids have inflicted on the city. Last month, the pharmacy chain agreed to pay a $230 million settlement to the city over 15 years. City and County of San Francisco v. Purdue Pharma L.P., 3:18-cv-07591 (N.D. Cal., filed Dec. 18, 2018).

The settlement requires the money to be spent on responding to and abating the opioid epidemic in the city, such as with training and treatment programs.

Abatement is the goal of all the opioid litigation, Cabraser said. It’s also hers. “That’s my goal at this point, to make sure the money gets out onto the street to local governments that need it and can use it so that we can fight back,” she said. “Because lives continue to be at stake. That’s what motivates me in this opioid litigation. It’s necessary.”

The litigation has been described as the most complicated piece of civil litigation ever. And so far, Cabraser and the many other plaintiffs and plaintiffs’ counsel are doing well. “Nationally, we’ve been able to generate over $50 billion to be used for opioid abatement in a series of national settlements on behalf of the states, cities, counties and tribes against the major distributors, pharmacies and manufacturers,” she said.

More money will be coming from the bankruptcy of oxycontin maker Purdue Pharma. The 2nd Circuit late last month approved its controversial $6 billion bankruptcy plan. “That’s a major event in the litigation nationwide,” Cabraser said because it means the company’s revenues will be directed to abatement.

And the multidistrict litigation in Ohio is far from over. The nine national settlements are with governments and tribes. Next come the cases filed by third-party payors like unions and health plans. Cabraser and her firm represent many of those, too.

“I’m looking forward to additional opioid litigation until our job is done,” she said.

— Don DeBenedictis