Articles from Baron & Budd

Yesterday, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a complaint in intervention in four separate whistleblower lawsuits brought by whistleblowers under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and the False Claims Act (FCA) against Walgreens. One of those suits, brought by Baron & Budd, alleges that Walgreens engaged in harmful opioid dispensing practices that contributed to the ongoing opioid epidemic.

Today, Baron & Budd announced a $312.5 million settlement agreement has been reached with BASF Corporation resolving PFAS-related drinking water contamination claims. The settlement, part of the nationwide Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF) Products Liability Litigation (MDL 2873), will provide critical funding to public water systems throughout the country that have detected PFAS in their water supplies.

Baron & Budd is proud to share that the firm and multiple attorneys have been recognized by The National Law Journal for the 2024 Elite Trial Lawyers awards. President and Managing Shareholder Russell Budd was honored with the Lifetime Achievement award while attorneys Elizabeth Smiley and Noah Rich were awarded the Rising Stars of the Plaintiffs Bar.

Today, Baron & Budd announced that a $750 million settlement agreement has been reached with Tyco Fire Products to resolve PFAS-related drinking water contamination claims in the nationwide Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF) Products Liability Litigation (MDL 2873). The settlement will provide funds to public water systems in the U.S. that tested and found PFAS at any level on or before May 15, 2024. These funds will be paid in full by December 31, 2024, upon approval by the Court.

The nationally recognized law firm Baron & Budd is pleased to announce that seven of the firm’s shareholders have been selected to The Lawdragon Green 500: 2024 Leaders in Environmental Law. Scott Summy, John Fiske, Torri Sherlin, Carla Burke Pickrel, Celeste Evangelisti, Cary McDougal, and Stephen Johnston have been recognized by Lawdragon for the significant impacts they have made on the legal profession in the environmental practice.

Today, the national law firm Baron & Budd announced a $2.5 million settlement with ADCO Industries, Xiamen Atlantis MFC Co., Raymond E. Davis, and Calvin Chang in the largest customs fraud case in which the government has intervened involving a scheme to avoid payment of tariffs enacted during the Trump administration.

Today, the national law firm of Baron & Budd, alongside Diab Chambers LLP, announced the City of Chico has been awarded $43 million from the Fire Victim Trust for damages resulting from the 2018 Camp Fire. The City of Chico operated as the response and recovery hub for the Town of Paradise which was almost entirely destroyed by the fire. The funds will compensate the City for damaged infrastructure, largely roadways damaged by tens of thousands of first responder, FEMA, utility, and construction trucks. The Trust has also awarded over $9 million to the Thermalito Water & Sewer District for damages to its infrastructure, including sedimentation which affected its water systems.

Today, the national law firm Baron & Budd announced that it is dedicating significant resources from its whistleblower practice to investigate Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) violations related to fraud or manipulation in the carbon markets. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) recently announced that they are seeking whistleblowers specifically with information about potential fraud in the carbon markets.

Today, the nationally recognized law firms of Baron & Budd and Cossich, Sumich, Parsiola & Taylor announced that 3M Company has agreed to a nationwide class settlement, amounting to a record-breaking sum of up to $12.5 billion, with public water systems affected by PFAS chemicals in their drinking water. The lawsuits alleged that 3M and several other companies knowingly manufactured and/or sold products containing PFAS despite being aware of their detrimental impact on the environment.

Co-Leads/Interim Class Counsel in the AFFF multi-district litigation (“MDL 2873”) and settling Defendant 3M Company have reached an agreement on a national class action settlement to resolve claims for PFAS contamination in the public drinking water provided by Public Water Systems throughout the United States. 3M is obligated under this Settlement Agreement to pay a Settlement Amount of up to Twelve Billion Five Hundred Million dollars ($12,500,000,000). This is the largest drinking water settlement in American history. The Court-appointed Co-Leads of MDL 2873 Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee (“PEC”) and Interim Class Counsel Michael A. London of Douglas & London, P.C.; Scott Summy of Baron Budd; and Paul J. Napoli of Napoli Shkolnik – consider this settlement to be in the best interests of the proposed class. This agreement represents the first of many steps to begin to redress the harms of PFAS contamination in America’s drinking water supplies.

Baron & Budd is proud to announce that DuPont has agreed to pay $1.185 billion to public water systems across the United States that detect PFAS chemicals in their drinking water supplies. The lawsuits allege that DuPont and several other manufacturers sold PFAS-containing products when the companies knew that PFAS compounds would readily contaminate the environment and have the potential to cause human health problems including cancers.

Today, the nationally recognized law firm of Baron & Budd announced a settlement of $23.8 million in a whistleblower lawsuit filed against eye glass lens manufacturer, Essilor Laboratories of America, for violations of the California Insurance Frauds Prevention Act. The lawsuit alleged the company paid hundreds of millions of dollars in kickbacks and other incentives to eye care providers (ECPs) in exchange for selling its expensive lens products. This follows a $22 million False Claims Act settlement against Essilor in August 2022 in which Baron & Budd also represented the whistleblower client.

Today, the Dallas-based national law firm of Baron & Budd announced that it helped secure a historic $48.5 million settlement against TriMark USA, LLC and related entities—the largest amount ever recovered in the history of False Claims Act litigation involving allegations of small business fraud. The recovery eclipses the previous record settlement involving small business fraud—$37 million against Atlantic Diving Supply and related entities—which also resulted from a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Baron & Budd.

Today, the national law firm of Baron & Budd announced that it has selected Jeyka Pérez Arocho and Ianka Alicea as the winners of the Mesothelioma Cancer Victims Memorial Scholarship. Each winner will receive a $2,500 scholarship paid directly to the financial aid accounts at their universities.