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October 23, 2022 Update: 3M got some excellent news this week, albeit soft good news. The motion argues that the stay should not apply to these suits because they do not involve claims of direct liability against Aearo. March 3, 2022 Update: We are now 11 days from the next trial on the Steve Wilkerson case, an Afghanistan veteran. Wayman is an Army veteran who is claiming that 3Ms defective earplugs caused him to develop tinnitus which has made his PTSD condition worse. 3M Earplug Lawsuit | History of Litigation 3M Earplug Lawsuit - October 14, 2022 Settlement Talks Update 3 of the 9 plaintiffs lost and were awarded $0 damages. Call us at 800-553-8082 or get afree online consultation. There will be a day or reckoning. If you have a potential claim, do not delay. Fallon holds a doctorate in audiology and works for 3M as a Technical Senior Service Specialist. The trial was held at the federal courthouse in Pensacola, but it was presided over by a visiting judge from the Northern District of Alabama. What does this mean? April 8, 2022 Update #2: A defense verdict for 3M in the Kelley trial today.My take on the Kelley 3M verdict. 3M loses. Kevin Rhodes, 3Ms Chief Legal Affairs Officer, gave a somewhat delusional presentation at the Conference last Wednesday on the status of the earplug lawsuits. In one of the largest U.S. mass torts, 3M faces over 200,000 lawsuits in U.S. District Court in northern Florida. Most of the opening 2 days of the trial were devoted to the testimony of bioacoustics engineer Richard McKinley. This doctrine arose from the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Feres v. the United States. This is a huge deal because it means that the pending appeal in the Aearo bankruptcy is basically meaningless. Overview of the 3M Earplugs Litigation After the announcement in July 2018 that 3M paid the DOJ $9.2 to settle the qui tam lawsuits alleging that it sold defective earplugs to Army, thousands of veterans who had been living with hearing damage began filing product liability lawsuits against 3M. One big problem was that they were too small for the Armys carrying case. But 3Ms lawyers are frustrated. On Day 6, the jury was presented with short video deposition clips from several different fact witnesses including the plaintiffs wife, Heather Beal, and several other people who are presumably friends or family members of the plaintiff. 3M also filed a motion objecting to the plaintiffs request to present rebuttal testimony from their expert Dr. Gershwin. There have been some bell weather trials and most have been for the veteran / plaintiffs. Why? Our 3M earplug lawyers talk about Keipers role in a page on another bellwether CAEv2 lawsuit. 3M needs to wake up and offer reasonable settlement amounts to these soldiers. December 20, 2021 Update: Another bellwether test trial concluded last week in the 3M Combat Arms Earplugs litigation. This is not a deadline you can miss. Ron even fought to reduce how much I owed in medical bills so I could get an even larger settlement. We summarize where we today in this litigation overview of the 3M litigation. March 28, 2022 Update: The action continues in the 3M litigation. Need an attorney for the 3M Earplug Lawsuit? The rejection of 3Ms bankruptcy gambit is on appeal to the Seventh Circuit. 3M lawsuit legit ?? Anyone have real experience? : r/Veterans - reddit What does this mean? Most 3M earplug lawsuits rely on the legal concept of product liability, in which a plaintiff seeks to hold a manufacturer responsible for health problems caused by an unreasonably dangerous or otherwise defective product. The result in Palanki marked the 2nd win in a row for 3M in the bellwether trials (the Blum trial also resulted in a defense verdict). But Judge Rodgers has been steadfast about dismissing claims that are not viable. This sounds like a bad thing. This victory for 3M follows its biggest loss in the earplug bellwether trials. But the litigation and appellate calendar affords 3M the opportunity to put its head in the sand. February 7, 2022 3M Earplug Bellwether Trial Update:The first 3M earplug lawsuit trial of 2022 ended two weeks ago for two soldier plaintiffs (Wayman and Sloan). February 9, 2022, 3M Earplug Bellwether Trial Update: The $110 million verdict in the Sloan/Wayman trial was the final case in bellwether trial group C. After a pause in February, trials will begin in group D starting on Monday, March 14, 2022, in Tallahassee. Palanki was a 50-year-old Tennessee resident and veteran of both the U.S. Army and National Guard. }}, If nothing else, it is good momentum going into the 3M earplug settlement talks set to being on July 15, 2022. As noted earlier, in 2018, 3M paid the United States military $9.1 million to settle a defective earplugs lawsuit. In addition to the caps on attorneys fees, the new law . 3M Earplug Lawsuit Surpasses Asbestos As One of The Largest Multi-District Litigation Cases in History. December 23, 2022 Update:The MDL Judge has imposed a significant sanction on 3M blocking it from pursuing the Aearo bankruptcy. July 26, 2022 Update: 3M is trying to play the bankruptcy card, placing Aearo into bankruptcy. Retired judge Mark Falk and veteran settlement negotiator Ellen Reisman will assist Ms. Ellis. All Rights Reserved. I think 3M believes it will win this case and will be in a stronger settlement position after a victory. August 27, 2022: We have a ruling. On the 3rd day of trial, the plaintiffs presented the testimony of Elliott Berger. The request was granted partly because plaintiffs in 3M earplug cases pending in Minnesota state court were attempting to use the ruling by Judge Rodgers as a shield in their cases. Just how likely is a 3M earplug settlement? by Roy D. Oppenheim. The doctrine bars service members and civilian government employees from bringing claims against the U.S. government for injuries that arose out of or were sustained while engaged in activity incident to service.. Eventually, 3M agreed to pay a $9.1 million settlement to the DOJ to resolve lawsuit allegations that it supplied the Pentagon with defective equipment and for failing to disclose the design flaw. This prevents any proceedings from moving forward against Aearo in the earplug lawsuits, but not against 3M. The judge in the earplugs MDL, Casey Rodgers, pushed back on 3M and its lawyers at a hearing on Wednesday. Can you see why 3M wanted to hide from juries in bankruptcy court? It would be nice to close out Trial #16 with a win. The judge in the earplugs MDL, Casey Rodgers, harshly rebuked 3M and its lawyers at a hearing on Wednesday. Is The 3M Earplug Lawsuit Worth It? A 3M subsidiary Aero filed for bankruptcy and 3M said they should be allowed to avoid all these lawsuits since Aero is filing. The WSJ article briefly explains the massive size of the 3M earplug lawsuit and how it could cost 3M billions. So the design flaw was that the earplugs stem needed longer for soldiers with large, or even average, ear canals. In Luke Vilsmeyers trial, the jury awarded $50 million yesterday. Two more test trials are set for January 2022. The plaintiffs scored victories in the other Rounds. August 17, 2022 Update: On Sunday, Judge Casey Rodgers issued an Order denying the recent motion by the earplug plaintiffs asking her to rule that 3M has sole liability for the earplug claims and has waived any successor liability defense. The 3M earplug claim is a class-action lawsuit in which more than 300,000 of veterans are suing 3M for defective earplugs. That decision will significantly impact the course of the litigation moving forward and could potentially render the appeal in 3Ms controversial bankruptcy gambit essentially moot. 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. "@context": "https://schema.org", There is a lot of speculation that the trial was pushed back to allow settlement talks to continue. 3M has appealed Grahams decision, while plaintiffs have asked Graham to dismiss the Aearo bankruptcy. There are two sides to this coin. Our 3M earplug lawsuit attorneys get calls and online inquiries about this litigation every single day. October 11, 2022 Update: The 3M earplug plaintiffs filed a motion in the MDL asking for summary judgment on whether 3M can be held solely and independently liable for the earplug injuries. The sanctions imposed by Rogers completely bar 3M from pursuing this argument and impose sole liability for the earplug claims on 3M. The final 3M earplug bellwether trial concluded this afternoon and the result was the most significant amount awarded to a single plaintiff. What is the average payout for the 3M Earplug Lawsuit? This is good news for 3M. Plaintiffs attorneys pilloried Aearos analysis, calling it a sleight of hand.. September 15, 2022 Update: The 3M earplug settlement talks (Round 2) begin today in Pensacola, Florida. Day 7-9 has been a parade of experts and fact witnesses for the plaintiff. This means that the oral argument could be scheduled as soon as April or May 2023, and a ruling could come soon afterward. 3M's stock surges after company says DOD data show 90% of earplug Lets assume there are 200,000 legitimate cases, and the average settlement payout is $100,000 per person. October 4, 2022 Update: Judge Rodgers pushed back the David George trial set for October 24, 2022, to February 13, 2023, in an order signed yesterday. 3M should focus on settlement talks as opposed to this nonsense. Sloan filed a motion asking for prejudgment interest on the $15 million in compensatory damages. Settle these cases or start the next wave of trials next month beginning with David Georges trial that could lead down a path where 3M has to declare a very different kind of bankruptcy this time. May 18, 2022 Update: We stopped updating the trials and got so blowback from soldiers and former soldiers who wanted an update on the last bellwether trial. The new deadline for Aearos brief is now December 12, 2022. Dr. Packers direct examination lasted almost 5 hours, followed by a 2-hour cross-exam. The 3M earplug lawsuit is a class action lawsuit filed against the company 3M. For the first time, this litigation has meaningfully impacted 3Ms stock price. There have now been 7 rounds of bellwether trials involving 9 plaintiffs in the 3M earplugs litigation. A previous motion was filed in August which also sought to block 3Ms bankruptcy strategy, but the MDL denied that motion because it was essentially premature. Berger is a former 3M scientist and division head (now retired) who was part of the team that originally designed and developed the Combat Arms Earplugs. Finley was not the easiest case. September 20, 2022 Update: No global settlement. 3M lawyers had a great deal to work with in cross-examining him. Oh, and 3M stock is down 10% on the news, its worst day in three years. 3M Earplug Lawsuit | March 2023 Update | Settlement Talks Many veterans who call us wonder if the 3M cases are legit or if this is some scam. MDL Judge Casey Rogers has given 3M a deadline of December 5th to file a response. 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. Judge Rodgers rejected this argument and denied the motion. Day 6 of the trial featured a series of short video deposition clips and testimony from the plaintiffs wife, Heather Beal, and several other fact witnesses, including friends or family members of Mr. Beal. In one of the largest U.S. mass torts, 3M faces over 200,000 lawsuits in U.S. District Court in northern Florida. If you used 3Ms Combat Arms Earplugs in the military and have a severe hearing impairment, you may be entitled to financial compensation for your injury. How Much Do You Pay A Lawyer For A 3M Lawsuit? 2885) forward for pretrial proceedings. Dr. Crawford is an ENT doctor who spent 24 years in the Army where he specialized in hearing protection. This case lays out a three-part test that provides a claim is pre-empted if: 3Ms preemption arguments failed. That bankruptcy was admittedly different in some ways. May 16, 2022: Just as the first week of the Beal bellwether trial was wrapping up on Friday, the MDL Judge issued a show cause order threatening to hit 3Ms defense lawyers with sanctions for willful abuse of the trial process. Judge Rodgers has had a long history of frustration with 3Ms defense counsel dating back over two years. The objection is based on procedural grounds and will likely be granted. A federal jury awarded $110 million to two U.S. Army veterans who said 3M earplugs caused them to suffer hearing damage. In that case, like this case, J&J was using Chapter 11 to end run facing judgment from juries. Many veterans will understandably reject this settlement. At the same time, the plaintiffs brief in response to 3Ms appeal is due in the 11th Circuit early next month. It thinks it gets to define whether someone suffers from a hearing injury. The jury awarded total damages of $13,062,320 to Camarillorazo. Both trials are scheduled to last two weeks and then more 3M earplug lawsuits are set to go to trial in April and May. This is bad. So what exactly will this mean for 3M earplug plaintiffs? The Order concludes by imposing full liability for the earplug claims on 3M and barring it from attempting to shift liability to Aearo. The biggest roadblock to a mass settlement with 3M at this point is the raw number of plaintiffs (290,779 before the recent dismissals). May 20, 2022 Update: Good golly! This is called an MDL, which is like a class action lawsuit for pre-trial discovery purposes. 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. Like Bayer in the Roundup lawsuits, 3Ms biggest mistake that led to this debacle was buying a company without doing enough due diligence as to the potential litigation liabilities. The plaintiffs argue that this is an apparent conflict of interest. March 22, 2022 Update: Plaintiff Steven Wilkerson closed his case yesterday and 3M immediately filed a motion for judgment as a matter of law. September 7, 2022 Update:After being forced back to another mediation following the rejection of its questionable bankruptcy strategy, 3M is now seeking to have its puppet subsidiary take part in the mediation and involve the bankruptcy judge in that mediation.