Robbins Geller Helps Secure Historic $235 Million Settlement with Altria in National Youth E-Cigarette Cases

Unprecedented in scope, speed, and significance, the global settlement, reached just after plaintiffs concluded their case in the bellwether trial in San Francisco, is the culmination of four years of a vast, unrelenting effort to hold Altria accountable for the 21st century’s ‘cigarettes redux’ youth nicotine plague.

Robbins Geller and co-counsel recently secured a historic $235 million settlement with Altria, formerly Phillip Morris and one of the world’s largest tobacco companies, in the nationwide Juul e-cigarette youth vaping predatory advertising, fraud, addiction, and injury litigation. The settlement was reached shortly after the plaintiffs’ case was presented in a bellwether trial in San Francisco.

“This comprehensive settlement is a remarkable testament to our clients’ courage and perseverance, and the dedication and hard work of our litigation team,” said Robbins Geller partner Aelish Marie Baig, who was appointed to the leadership committee for plaintiffs. “It will provide meaningful relief and protection for youth and families nationwide, and impactful resources for schools and governmental organizations. As a San Francisco lawyer and mother of school-aged kids who, like all kids these days, are exposed to vaping, I am immensely proud to have been part of the team that helped secure these historic settlements.”

This is the second historic consumer protection case that Baig has successfully resolved in less than a year. She was recently honored, together with her co-trial counsel, as a California Lawyer Attorney of the Year by The Daily Journal and one of the country’s top women trial lawyers by The National Law Journal for successfully prosecuting Walgreens for facilitating the opioid crisis in her hometown, San Francisco. The court issued 112-page opinion ruling in favor of Baig’s client, the City and County of San Francisco, and finding Walgreens liable for creating a public nuisance. The Altria settlement follows four years of hard-fought litigation in both state and federal court in multi-district and coordinated proceedings. The settlement builds on plaintiffs’ earlier successful efforts to hold Juul accountable and will provide monetary relief as well as continuing mandatory changes to Juul/Altria’s marketing and other practices, including prohibitions on youth marketing and the sale of flavors not authorized by the FDA.

The settlement remains subject to court approval.

About Robbins Geller

Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP is one of the world’s leading complex litigation firms, representing plaintiffs in securities fraud, shareholder derivative, antitrust, corporate takeover, and consumer fraud and privacy cases. With 200 lawyers in 9 offices, Robbins Geller is one of the world’s largest plaintiffs’ firms, and the Firm’s attorneys have obtained many of the largest securities, antitrust, and consumer class action recoveries in history.

The Firm is ranked #1 on the most recent ISS Securities Class Action Services Top 50 Report for recovering over $1.75 billion for investors in 2022. This is the third consecutive year in which the Firm topped these rankings. The Firm’s attorneys secured the largest-ever securities fraud class action settlement – $7.2 billion – in In re Enron Corp. Securities Litigation.

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In re Juul Labs, Inc., Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation, No. 3:19-md-02913-WHO (N.D. Cal.).