Facts

McKinsey & Company is a worldwide consulting firm. One of its clients, Purdue Pharma, it the maker of Oxycontin. McKinsey helped Purdue devise marketing strategies for its products.

A group of private citizens, city governments, Native American tribes, school districts, and others filed suit against McKinsey in the Northern District of California.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS: Plaintiffs contended that McKinsey played a seminal role in helping Purdue carry out a targeted marketing campaign to increase sales; that these campaigns deceptively downplayed the dangers of addiction associated with Oxycontin; and that these deceptive campaigns led to the over-prescribing of opioids, resulting in the national opioid epidemic. The plaintiffs contended that McKinsey had acted fraudulently; had been negligent; had created a public nuisance; and had violated numerous state consumer protection laws.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS: McKinsey denied any wrongdoing or liability and all the plaintiffs' material allegations and claims. Moreover, McKinsey contended that it had never manufactured, distributed, or sold prescription medicine; and that it had never interacted with or made any representations to any of the plaintiffs.

Settlement Discussions

In August 2022, the parties participated in a two-day in person mediation session with Jed D. Melnick, Esq. and Simone Lelchuk of JAMS. They continued remote mediation with Melnick through early 2023, resulting in a settlement agreement.

Result

McKinsey and the government-unit plaintiffs reached an agreement wherein McKinsey admitted no liability or wrongdoing but agreed to pay $207 million to settle their claims. This was in addition to an approximately $641.5 million settlement agreement reached with other plaintiffs.