quinn emanuel
quinn emanuel urquhart & sullivan, llp | business litigation report
INSIDE
U.S. Justice Department
Issues Guidance on
Dismissing Qui Tam False
Claims Act Cases Over
Relators’ Objections
Page 4
Practice Area Updates:
ITC Litigation Update
Page 6
EU Litigation Update
Page 8
Insurance Litigation Update
Page 11
$110 Million Antitrust and
Trade Secret Victory Against
Ticketmaster and Live Nation
and Other Victories
Page 10
Attorney Advertising
March 2018
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london | mannheim | hamburg | munich | paris | hong kong | sydney | brussels | zurich | shanghai | perth | stuttgart
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Opioids and Guns: Claims of Public Nuisance – Who May Be Liable
Two issues of importance to product liability
lawyers—and indeed the public at large—have
dominated recent news cycles: the opioid abuse crisis
and the scourge of school gun violence. When crises
like these arise, the question of who is responsible for
the resulting harms is typically resolved in the courts,
but often turns on thorny issues of public policy and
the political will of legislators. For certain industries,
like gun and vaccine manufacturers, Congress has
sought to shield them from exposure in the courts
through grants of a limited form of immunity.
Other industries like the tobacco industry were not
so protected and the courts were used to resolve
the scores of claims brought against its members by
various states and municipalities.
In the case of the current opioid crisis, dozens
of cities, states, municipalities and third-party payors
are seeking to hold the pharmaceutical companies
who manufacture FDA-approved prescription opioid
medications and the companies that distribute them
responsible for the consequences of opioid abuse,
which in large part involves the use of illegal street
drugs, such as heroin and fentanyl. Plaintis claim
defendants created a public nuisance and they seek
a wide spectrum of injunctive relief and damages,
including costs for law enforcement, addiction
treatment, and hospital care. See, e.g., City of
Cleveland v. AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation, et
al., No. 1:18-op-45132 (N.D. Ohio Mar. 6, 2018).
e claims in these lawsuits could potentially
make these and other FDA-approved medications
unavailable to patients suering from pain. is
article examines how the courts and lawmakers have
treated manufacturers facing potentially catastrophic
liabilities, often resulting from the lawful use of their
products.
Richard Smith Receives Houston Law Center Dean’s Award
e University of Houston Law Alumni Association has honored Richard Smith with
the Dean’s Award, recognizing exceptional alumni of the University of Houston Law
Center. Quinn Emanuel was one of the event sponsors, helping raise $500,000 for the
school’s advocacy programs, faculty research, student outreach, library improvements,
technology innovation, and student recruitment.
Q
Top Appellate Lawyer Joins D.C. Oce
Christopher Landau has joined the rm as a partner based in the Washington, D.C.
oce. Mr. Landau was previously a partner at Kirkland & Ellis for 25 years, where
he was head of the rm’s appellate litigation practice. Mr. Landau has vast experience
in courts across the country, brieng and arguing appeals on a wide variety of subject
matters in the U.S. Supreme Court, all of the federal courts of appeals, and multiple
state appellate courts. In the October 2015 and 2016 Terms, the U.S. Supreme Court
granted ve consecutive petitions on which Mr. Landau was counsel of record. Mr.
Landau is currently serving a three-year term as a member of the Judicial Conference
Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules, which addresses the need for changes in the
Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. He received his J.D., magna cum laude, from
Harvard Law School, where he was the Articles Editor for the Harvard Law Review and
was awarded the Sears Prize, given to the two students with the highest GPAs in their
second year. He received his B.A., summa cum laude, from Harvard College, where he
was rst in his class and Phi Beta Kappa. Mr. Landau clerked twice at the United States
Supreme Court, rst for Justice Antonin Scalia and then for Justice Clarence omas
before entering private practice.
Q
