Background
On September 11, 2019, Judge Polster of the Northern District of
Ohio granted certification of a novel "negotiation class"
of cities and counties in the opioid MDL. The impetus for the
creation of the negotiation class was to encourage global
settlement of the claims against opioid distributors and
manufacturers, which has thus far been impeded by the possibility
that many of the cities and counties that are already litigating
their claims would opt out of a settlement class. To counter this,
Judge Polster's order requires cities and counties that wish to
opt-out of the negotiation class to do so before any settlement is
reached, which will allow the parties' knowledge of the exact
size of the class to inform the negotiations.1 Any
settlement requires preliminary approval by the court, an approval
of at least 75% of the voting class members, and final court
approval.
