Federal Judge Charles R. Breyer Selects Conroy for Leadership in Opioid Litigation Nationwide
New York – Simmons Hanly Conroy, one of the nation’s largest mass torts firms, is proud to announce the appointment of Shareholder Jayne Conroy to the plaintiff’s steering committee (PSC) for the multidistrict litigation (MDL) against McKinsey & Company for its role in the marketing of prescription opioid painkillers.
The Honorable Charles R. Breyer, of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, issued the appointment Aug. 16 in the order McKinsey & Co. Inc., National Prescription Opiate Consultant Litigation, No. 3:21-md-02996, MDL No. 2996.
The lawsuits allege that McKinsey & Company — a global management consulting firm — knowingly engineered what are described as “turbocharged” marketing tactics that caused an avalanche of opioid addiction.
The PSC will represent local governments, school districts, Native American tribes and health benefit plans. It will also represent the interest of children born with neonatal abstinence syndrome caused by mothers who used opioids during pregnancy.
U.S. District Judge Breyer will preside over the newly formed MDL, which is the second of its kind. The cases will be heard in San Francisco.
Judge Breyer selected Conroy as one of the 10 attorneys for the leadership committee out of the 26 who applied.
Throughout Conroy’s fight against the opioid epidemic, she has:
- Serves as co-lead of the National Prescription Opiate MDL, representing over 34,000 U.S. communities;
- Serves as lead trial counsel in the first opioid jury trial currently ongoing in Suffolk County, NY.
“Every one of those communities has a story about how the opioid epidemic has devastated the families who live there,” said Conroy. “The opioid litigation allows us to get some relief to these communities faster, which could actually help someone who has not been hurt yet.”
Conroy is a Named Shareholder of Simmons Hanly Conroy and is based in the firm’s New York City office. The firm and its attorneys have held many high-profile positions within mass tort litigation, including DePuy Pinnacle hip implants, the Volkswagen emission scandal, testosterone replacement therapy, transvaginal mesh, Lipitor, Yaz and more. Their work has resulted in billions of dollars for clients who were injured by dangerous drugs and defective medical devices.
The case is In re McKinsey & Co Inc National Prescription Opiate Consultant Litigation, Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, No. 2996.
