William Levin Appointed as Liaison Counsel in Juul JCCP

William Levin Appointed as Liaison Counsel in Juul JCCP

The Honorable Ann I. Jones appointed William Levin, partner at Levin Simes LLP, as liaison counsel for the Juul JCCP (California’s equivalent of a Multi-District Litigation or “MDL”) pending in Los Angeles, California. Levin’s appointment as liaison counsel between the federal MDL pending against Juul in the Northern District of California and state JCCP will ensure continuity, and when necessary, disparity, between the progression, strategy, and movement of the MDL and JCCP cases.

Judge Jones appointed nineteen (19) other attorneys to leadership positions in the JCCP on February 18, 2020. Levin joins this esteemed group of top attorneys leading the charge in cases brought against e-cigarette giant Juul in state court.

The claims pending against Juul are vast, and include allegations of improper marketing to youth through school visits, social media platforms, and fruit flavored pods; fraudulently marketing its product as a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes; incorporating nicotine salts (as opposed to freebase nicotine) into its pods making their product more palatable to young persons and those new to vaping; behavioral issues in adolescents and young adults due to severe nicotine addiction; personal injuries including respiratory failure, stroke, vape lung, and death. Levin brought the first wrongful death suit against Juul in the JCCP, alleging Juul caused the death of an otherwise healthy teen.

Levin is not new to mass torts. He was a member of the Plaintiffs’ Negotiating Team in the AMS MDL and engaged in ongoing, intense, and detailed settlement discussions for eight months. His efforts ultimately led to the creation of the classification model that was used in all AMS settlements and adopted in part by other mesh litigations in the resolution of their cases.

Case Management Order Appointing William Levin to JUUL Lawsuit Liaison Counsel