“Walgreens has agreed to pay the state of Florida $683 million to settle a lawsuit claiming the drugstore chain helped fuel the state’s opioid crisis, the company announced last week. The settlement includes $620 million to be paid over 18 years and a one-time payment of $63 million for attorneys’ fees,” reports Kate Santich in Leader Telegram.

“As the largest pharmacy chain in the state, we remain focused on and committed to being part of the solution and believe this resolution is in the best interest of all parties involved, said Danielle Gray, executive vice president and global chief legal officer for Walgreens Boots Alliance, the chain’s parent company. Our pharmacists are dedicated.”

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“A Trump supporter whose Marine brother was killed in Afghanistan has had her $25million defamation case against Alec Baldwin dismissed after she claimed the actor instigated online harassment against her,” reports Jack Newman in Daily Mail

“Roice McCollum said she received threatening and hateful messages after the star reposted a crowd photo she had taken during the January 6 rally in support of Donald Trump, accusing her of being a rioter.”

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“A U.S. judge on Wednesday said he saw no reason to rule quickly in favor of JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) as it sues Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) over Elon Musk’s 2018 tweet that he might take the electric car company private,” reports Luc Cohen in Reuters

“JPMorgan sued Tesla for $162.2 million in November 2021, saying Tesla breached a 2014 contract related to stock warrants it sold to the bank, and which JPMorgan believes became more valuable because of Musk’s tweet.”

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“Columbia University was awarded slightly over $185 million in damages Monday by a federal jury that found that NortonLifeLock Inc. willfully and literally infringed two patents related to groundbreaking cybersecurity safeguards invented by Columbia professors, according to a press release from the university,” reports Marjorie Valbrun in Inside Higher ED

“The award was the result of a unanimous verdict stemming from a two-week trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Columbia brought the case in December 2013. The jury awarded the university $185,112,727 in reasonable royalties on the two patents through Feb. 28 of this year, the press release said, adding that the “finding of willful and literal infringement means the Court also has discretion” to triple the actual or compensatory damages.”

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“Johnny Depp’s United States defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard started on April 16. The trial is supposed to last six weeks and, just like a movie, is already full of twists, turns, suspense and drama,” reports Joshua Lee in Police1

“In 2012, Depp and Heard started dating. In 2014 they were engaged, and in 2015 were married. But by 2016, Heard filed for divorce stating irreconcilable differences. Soon after, Heard filed an order of protection saying Depp emotionally, verbally and physically abused her. Heard wrote an op-ed for “The Washington Post” speaking out against violence against women and the price they pay for speaking up against men.”

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“A three-bill package creating a framework for the distribution of about $776 million in opioid settlement funds in Michigan garnered widespread support as the state House approved it Thursday. But several Republicans in more rural areas criticized the settlement’s lack of money for small town,” reports Beth LeBlanc The Detroit News.

“R-Richmond, criticized Attorney General Dana Nessel from the House floor Thursday for failing to secure funding for all small communities. Yaroch said he had to tell the Memphis mayor pro-tem recently he wouldn’t get a direct payment from the settlement because the community’s population falls below the 10,000-person threshold.”

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“Thousands of Native Hawaiians who waited decades for homestead leases aimed at guaranteeing them access to ancestral lands may soon get some payment from the state. The state reached a $328 million settlement agreement with the Hawaiian beneficiaries, who first brought a class-action lawsuit,” reports Blaze Lovell Honolulu Civil Beat.

“The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands for mismanaging the public lands trust in the late 1990s. The settlement agreement, which was unsealed Tuesday afternoon, marked another turn in fortune this year for Native Hawaiians who have long struggled to take advantage of the program meant to ensure they have access to long-term.”

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“Illinois residents who have appeared in a photograph on the Google Photos app within the last seven years may be eligible for a cut of a $100 million class-action privacy settlement reached by Google this month. The lawsuit alleges Google’s face grouping tool, which sorts faces in the Google Photos app by,” reports Talia Soglin in Tech Xplore.

“The settlement was filed in Cook County Circuit Court April 14, and Judge Anna M. Loftus issued an order granting preliminary approval of the agreement Monday. Google did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement, which resolves a group of lawsuits filed by five named plaintiffs. The first lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court.”

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“Crown Resorts Limited (ASX: CWN) has finalised a $125 million settlement in the Federal Court today after years of battling displeased shareholders, who launched the class action lawsuit after the operator’s share price plummeted in late 2016 as a result of 19 employees being arrested in China. The bust,” reports Amila Dedovic in Business News.

“It was initiated on the suspicion employees were illegally promoting VIP gaming services despite Beijing implementing a crackdown on gambling adverts from overseas. Today’s ruling was the final tick of approval needed for Crown’s board, which announced the deal was “in the best interests of Crown and its shareholders six months.”

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“Venator Materials PLC (NYSE: VNTR) today announced that it received $85 million in cash from Tronox pursuant to its settlement agreement with Tronox related to the recent Superior Court of Delaware judgement in favor of Venator for $75 million. The settlement amount of $85 million includes an,” reports PR Newswire in their blog.

“Additional $10 million of value representing a negotiated amount of interest originating from 2019 when conditions were met that required Tronox to pay a $75 million Break Fee to Venator. The settlement agreement resolves all legal disputes between the parties contested in the Superior Court of Delaware. Venator is a global manufacturer.”

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“State lawyers are prepared to settle a landmark class-action lawsuit filed more than 20 years ago by Native Hawaiians waiting for homestead land leases. Attorneys representing the state have asked the Legislature to fund a $328 million settlement in the case with roughly 2,700 plaintiffs. The,” reports Andrew Gomes in Star Advertiser.

“The request follows 15 days of nearly back-to-back settlement conferences with a state Circuit Court judge between March 24 and April 13 in the case known as Kalima v. State of Hawaii. Lead plaintiff Leona Kalima and two other named plaintiffs filed the lawsuit in 1999, arguing that the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, overseer.”

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“The pandemic brought on a surge of zoom-bombing as hackers and pranksters crashed into virtual meetings with abusive messages and imagery. Now, Zoom has agreed to a historic payout of $85m as part of a class-action settlement brought by its users, including church groups who said they were,” reports Maya Yang in The Guardian.

“As part of the settlement agreement, Zoom Video Communications, the company behind the teleconference application that grew popular during the pandemic, will pay the $85m to users in cash compensation and also implement reforms to its business practices. On Thursday, federal judge Laurel Beeler of California granted final.”

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“Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc has agreed to pay $55 million to end an antitrust case in U.S. federal court over the pricing of disposable contact lenses, marking the largest settlement in the private class action and the last defendant to resolve claims. The settlement amount was shown in a court filing,” reports Mike Scarcella in Reuters.

“The plaintiffs’ lawyers leading the case in Tampa, Florida, federal court. They are seeking preliminary approval of the deal, which was first announced last month but without any details about the settlement amount. J&J Vision reached an agreement on the eve of a trial scheduled in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.”

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“Two pork producers agreed to a combined settlement of over $100 million to resolve claims they violated antitrust laws to raise the price of pork products. The settlement benefits consumers and companies that purchased pork products directly from defendant pork producers between Jan. 1, 2009, and,” reports Top Class Actions in their blog.

“Defendants in the case are: JBS Food Company, Clemens Food Group, Hormel Foods, Indiana Packers, Seaboard Foods, Smithfield Foods, Triumph Foods, Tyson Foods, and Agri Stats. JBS Foods is a meat producer that sells pork products under numerous brands including Swift, Primo. Smithfield  is a similar company selling meats including.”

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“Rebirthed dairy and plant foods processor, Noumi, is asking for $26.4 million from shareholders to cover a legal settlement with US almond farmer co-operative Blue Diamond. Last month the re-named Freedom Foods business paid about $23m in an initial upfront payment to Blue Diamond which,” reports Andrew Marshall in Farm Weekly.

“Which began litigation in early 2020 alleging Freedom had stopped paying for branding rights and Blue Diamond almond milk products in mid-2019. At the time Freedom Foods had long-established Australian distribution rights to the internationally-known Almond Breeze brand. Six months later Freedom’s then chief executive Rory Macleod.”

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“After the end of a half-hour hearing in federal court on Monday, the presiding judge removed his black robe, stepped down from the bench and chatted with the attorneys and the plaintiffs who were present. After nearly six years, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Geoffrey Crawford said he wanted to,” reports Tiffany Tan in VT Digger.

“Indeed, the hearing made it official: Bennington-area residents who sued a multinational plastics company for contaminating their soil and water will receive financial compensation and medical monitoring. On Monday morning, Crawford approved the $34 million settlement agreement that the complainants and Saint-Gobain.”

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“Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) said on Monday it agreed to pay $99 million to settle claims by West Virginia that it helped fuel an opioid addiction crisis in the state, removing the company from an ongoing trial that began earlier this month. West Virginia is still pursuing claims against Pharmaceuticals,” reports Dietrich Knauth in Reuters.

“J&J did not admit liability or wrongdoing in the settlement, the company said. The other companies, which have previously denied the accusations, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. West Virginia previously reached a $26 million settlement with Endo International Plc (ENDP.O), which had also been a defendant.”

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“TD Bank agreed to pay over $41 million as part of a class action settlement to resolve claims that it wrongfully charged non-sufficient funds fees, or NSF fees, after retrying transactions. The settlement benefits consumers who were charged retry NSF fees by TD Bank during various time periods,” reports Top Class Actions in their blog.

“Eligible periods vary based on state according to applicable laws. For example, the Illinois class period starts on Nov. 20, 2008 while the Colorado class period starts on Nov. 30, 2015. A full list of each state’s Class periods can be found in the settlement agreement. TD Bank is a North American bank that serves consumers across the US.”

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“Granite Construction Co. will pay $7.5 million and adopt a series of oversight reforms to end shareholder litigation over claims that its board concealed hundreds of millions in overruns affecting four mega-projects, including the Mario Cuomo Bridge across the Hudson River, according to a court filing,” reports Mike Leonard in Bloomberg Law.

“The deal, disclosed Thursday, would resolve a derivative lawsuit accusing Granite’s leaders of using accounting tricks to hide nearly $1.4 billion in total overruns of which the company itself was responsible for $340 million after recklessly assuming the risk of any overruns or delays as part of its aggressive pursuit of the infrastructure jobs.”

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“Rhode Island will get $15 million through a settlement with major oil and gas companies that allegedly polluted the state’s soil and groundwater with a gasoline additive, the attorney general announced. Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said the case, filed in 2016, alleged that Shell,” reports Insurance Journal in their blog.

“The companies agreed to pay $15 million to resolve the claims. The money will be used to remediate contaminated water supplies. Lawyers for the defendants did not immediately respond to email messages seeking comment Monday. According to court documents, the defendants expressly deny any and all liability associated with the.”

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