I dont think this is going to work for 3M. One encouraging thing our 3M earplug lawyers saw over the weekend was an article by NBC News on the 3M earplug lawsuit. Judge Rodgers expressed apparent regret and frustration. 3Ms lawyers know it will not be granted. Many veterans will understandably reject this settlement. The 3M earplugs MDL is the biggest consolidated mass tort in history, but until now it has been off the radar. The median compensatory damage award is $583,448. Severe hearing damage lawsuits will be valued higher than tinnitus-only lawsuits. But no one seems to be connecting those dots. There is no question that the logistical challenges in the 3M earplug lawsuit also extend to settlement. What Is Going on Now With the 3M Earplug Lawsuit in January 2023? The story of the trial is below (and more on Wayman and Sloan). Our lawyers have consistently said that the average settlement amount in the first round of settlement will average between $50,000 and $100,000. Oppenheim Law 954-384-6114 On Day 4 of the trial, the plaintiff James Beal took the stand in the morning. What to know about the 3M Earplug lawsuit Claimant awarded $50 million by 3M for suffering hearing damage after using combat earplugs More than 280,000 former and current army veterans suffered from hearing loss and severe tinnitus. Judge Rodgers ruled that 3M government contractor defense, which protects some defendants from liability when building products to the governments specifications, does not apply in this case. March 15, 2022 Update: The Wilkerson and Vilsmeyer bellwether trials began today. A seasoned judge who has been on the federal bench for eight years, this will be Judge Rosenbergs first earplug trial. Why? April 8, 2022 Update #2: A defense verdict for 3M in the Kelley trial today.My take on the Kelley 3M verdict. This would seem to be a small problem for 3M. Despite 3Ms naked duplicity, Judge Rodgers did not provide the relief sought because 3M had not asserted any defense claiming that it was not a proper defendant in the litigation. So the average trial a few had multiple plaintiffs results in an average payout of $30 million per trial. I understand that submitting this form does not create an attorney-client relationship. How does this work practically? 3M is convinced that not all of these plaintiffs have valid claims. But these settlement amounts and timing predictions are just pure speculation. But settlement talks will continue in the next two weeks, and Judge Rodgers is encouraged by the progress made during the settlement negotiations. The only thing of note to us is that it was less vitriolic against the judges who dared to rule against 3M than we have seen in previous motions. Like the J&J case, Aearo has a funding backstop from its parent, which means it would not face the risk of financial distress because, ironically, a huge company was willing to pay its debts. On the 5th day of trial, the plaintiffs presented testimony from another expert, Dr. Mark Packer. He spoke to the jury about the hearing injuries suffered. 3M has maybe $35 billion in assets and is worth approximately $100 billion. The one thing that always stood out as the most hypocritical part of the bankruptcy effort was 3Ms effort to reduce the punitive damage award in Wayman because there were not six defendants but just one because 3M owns and controls 100% of the other five named defendants.. June 1, 2022 Update: MDL Judge Casey Rodgers reduced the $55 million verdict awarded to William Wayman, one of the two plaintiffs in the 11th bellwether trial that resulted in a blockbuster $110 million verdict. What does this mean? Fallow is an audiologist and Technical Senior Service, Specialist. U.S. Department of Defense records for more than 175,000 plaintiffs show that the vast majority of claimants in Combat Arms earplug litigation have normal hearing under medically accepted standards. This victory for 3M follows its biggest loss in the earplug bellwether trials. Unlike most other plaintiffs, Camarilliorazo is still an active-duty service member with the rank of Sergeant in the U.S. Army. In one of the largest U.S. mass torts, 3M faces over 200,000 lawsuits in U.S. District Court in northern Florida. Meanwhile, 3Ms appeal of the bankruptcy court ruling rejecting its strategy is on appeal to the 7th Circuit. The biggest roadblock to a mass settlement with 3M at this point is the raw number of plaintiffs (290,779 before the recent dismissals). Judge Rogers points out that it was only after 3M was unhappy with the outcome of the MDL that it suddenly changed its story and claimed that Aearo was actually the party with liability. 3M has used anonymity to its advantage because it has not had to deal with the intense external pressure of investors pushing for a resolution. We think 3M will lose the appeal. At 3:00 the jury submitted a question to the judge. Getting the 3M litigation into the mainstream media has oddly been a struggle given there are 300,000 soldiers bringing claims. Our lawyers have always said 3M would be foolish to let the 11th Circuit rule on this before settling the lions share of these lawsuits. The motion argues that the stay should not apply to these cases because they do not involve claims of direct liability against Aearo. But lets be real: if the answers were helpful to 3M, they would have gleefully trotted that information out today. U.S. service members are often exposed to loud noises from aircraft, artillery, guns, and explosives. Allowing an appeal will hold up new trials. Our lawyers are handling these cases. But it does not appear to be a good sign for those of us who were hoping that 3M might finally be ready to make a serious effort to settle the earplug lawsuits. If you have a solid claim, you support this, too. But didnt that already happen this weekend? At some point, someone will notice that the most significant mass tort in American history is averaging millions per verdict while 3Ms stock price trudges along.). 3Ms appeal will either go to the U.S. District Court for Indiana or the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel. LaBorde is a doctor of audiology and head of the Hearing Center MCC in Pensacola with expertise in hearing aid technology. Both trials are scheduled to last two weeks and then more 3M earplug lawsuits are set to go to trial in April and May. If 3M is allowed to move forward with the bankruptcy, the current earplug lawsuits will be automatically stayed and the current plaintiffs will become creditors. The bankruptcy court will appoint a plaintiffs lawyer committee to negotiate with 3M on a global settlement of all claims. Acting through its puppet subsidiary Aero Technologies, 3M has asked that the judge in Aeros chapter 11 bankruptcy, Hon. But Judge Rodgers has been steadfast about dismissing claims that are not viable. During that presentation, Judge Rodgers noted that the data was subject to multiple interpretations and that 3M has chosen to interpret it in a way that is most advantageous to its position. We summarize where we today in this litigation overview of the 3M litigation. December 23, 2022 Update: The MDL Judge has imposed a significant sanction on 3M blocking it from pursuing the Aearo bankruptcy. Blog Home. The gist of the argument is that any difference between the two companies is pure form over substance. But that same law firm represents 3M an apparent conflict. Because if it loses and the U.S. Supreme Court refuses to take the case, 3M will have fired the last arrow in its quiver. The executives at 3M that decided to buy Aearo Technologies need to accept this mistake and move on. The defense data demonstrates that approximately 85% of plaintiffs suffer from hearing loss or tinnitus, lead plaintiffs attorneys Bryan Aylstock and Chris Seeger said in a news statement. Wait what? Dr. Casali is a professor at Virginia Tech University and a prominent expert in the field of hearing protection and acoustics. February 27, 2023 Update: The federal government is with us. Hopefully, 3M will offer reasonable settlement amounts to these plaintiffs and thousands next month before a ruling is needed. 3M still owes Judge Rodgers some financial information. Just how likely is a 3M earplug settlement? But if you have yet to speak to a lawyer about your case, now is the time. May 11, 2022 Update: The 3M MDL class action judge dismissed over 20,000 cases because the plaintiffs failed to produce documentation (mostly official military service records) required to support their claims. The bankruptcy judge was not persuaded. The design of these earplugs was a comedy of errors. The motion argues that the stay should not apply to these suits because they do not involve claims of direct liability against Aearo. 3M should focus on settlement talks as opposed to this nonsense. This is a great summary of where we are in the 3M earplug litigation today. January 3, 2022 Update: The 3M earplug bellwether trials will resume on Monday with a pair of simultaneous trials featuring plaintiffs Ronald E. Sloan and Williams Wayman. 3M believes that a large percentage of these plaintiffs do not have legitimate claims. }} But the verdict is unlikely to move the needle in settlement negotiations. October 5, 2022 Update: No 3M earplug settlement remains. Is the 3M earplug lawsuit worth it? Because that was the point of this whole scheme to hide from juries behind the Bankruptcy Code. The fact that 3M is trying to involve the bankruptcy judge in the mediation suggests that they have no genuine interest in negotiating a settlement right now. If you have a potential claim, do not delay. They were developed by Aearo Technologies, which eventually sold their company to 3M. October 6, 2022 Update: 3M canceled the settlement talks set for October 6, 2022. This article will dive into several aspects of the 3M lawsuit. June 29, 2022: Plaintiffs Luke Estes, Lewis Keefer, Stephen Hacker, and Lloyd Baker filed their response to 3Ms 11th Circuit appeal this week. 3M will now be able to present certain arguments in the Aearo bankruptcy without the risk of being held in contempt of court by Judge Rodgers. The appeal challenges the bankruptcy court decision in Indiana, which derailed 3Ms effort to force the earplug cases into bankruptcy court. ", October 23, 2022 Update: 3M got some excellent news this week, albeit soft good news. The next bellwether trial begins today in the case of Denise Kelley. For Camp Lejeune cases that get filed as civil lawsuits, the bill will cap attorney's fees at 33%. To help push the settlement negotiations, Judge Rodgers appointed Randi S. Ellis as the special master for the mediation. 3M Co. said U.S. Department of Defense records for more than 175,000 plaintiffs show that most claimants in Combat Arms earplug litigation have normal hearing under medically accepted . The jury awarded total damages of $13,062,320 to Camarillorazo. The plaintiffs also filed a motion asking Judge Rodgers to preserve her prior Daubert rulings moving forward. Plaintiffs attorneys also filed an 84-page motion seeking to exclude or limit testimony from all of 3Ms expert witnesses going into Wave 3 of the trial cases. Yesterday afternoon 3M filed a motion in the Aearo Technologies bankruptcy which provided an estimate of how much it would cost to resolve the earplug litigation.In that motion, 3M claimed that medical testing records recently produced by the Department of Defense show 90% of the earplug plaintiffs have no hearing loss. May 4, 2022 Update: A new phase of the 3M earplug lawsuit is coming. Posted on July 15, 2021 in Class Actions, Consumer Law . This ruling could knock the bankruptcy issue out of play. July 18, 2022 Update: There was no global settlement in the 3M class action earplug lawsuit this weekend. The claimants in this MDL are all veterans who have fought and sacrificed their lives for the sake of the country's honor. Rhodes labeled the decision as wrong and noted that 3Ms appeal has been sent directly to the 7th Circuit. Following the bankruptcy ruling, 3M is facing enormous external pressure from investors and financial analysts who tell them they have no choice but to capitulate by dropping all of the legal gamesmanship and offer reasonable settlement amounts to veterans who have suffered from these defective earplugs. ", The next trial in group D will follow immediately after in Pensacola on Monday, March 28, 2022, with the case of Denise Kelley. This was comparable to the compensatory damage awards in prior bellwether cases. Casali has testified in previous bellwether trials. July 28, 2022 Update: Does the Aearo bankruptcy mean 3M will get an automatic stay on continued litigation? According to Judge Rodgers, both sides have dug in on their opposing data interpretations and the massive gap between the two results is what has prevented any meaningful settlement progress. I am so grateful that I was lucky to pick Miller & Zois. The claims would then be sent to their home federal court districts for trial. Dr. Casali is the director of the Auditory Systems Laboratory at Virginia Tech and an expert in hearing loss and protection. What does this mean? First, it's important to note that the circumstances of each of the thousands of cases vary greatly. But right before round two of the settlement mediation ordered by MDL Judge Casey Rodgers, top executives at 3M were at a conference spewing nonsense to financial analysts that the company was still moving forward with its bankruptcy strategy. June 27, 2022 Update: The Sunday edition of the Wall Street Journal featured an article entitled 3M Faces Billions in Liabilities Over $7.63 Earplugs. September 19, 2022 Update: There was no settlement from the settlement talks last week. Hopefully, that is not where we are. No one knows, and the average value is impossible to estimate. The plaintiffs have subpoenaed Berger as a witness in all of the 3M bellwether trials because his testimony is critical to establishing that there were known design flaws in the earplugs and they were not fully communicated to the Army. That motion has to scare lawyers on both sides. We get it. March 3, 2022 Update: We are now 11 days from the next trial on the Steve Wilkerson case, an Afghanistan veteran. Now that the bankruptcy play has failed, Judge Rodgers is pushing both sides to go back to the settlement table again. This will be the big test of 3Ms government contractor defense. The earplugs were never recalled, but 3M stopped making them in 2015. In addition to agreeing to hear the 3M bankruptcy appeal on an expedited basis, the 11th Circuit also granted 3Ms request to stay an order by earplug MDL Judge Casey Rodgers, which blocked 3M from challenging her MDL rulings in the Aero bankruptcy proceeding. After the District Court trials, 3M placed the Aearo subsidiary in Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Indiana.