Episode Details

On April 29. 2022, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held an oral argument during which Purdue Pharma bankruptcy estate attorneys tried to persuade the court of appeals it is in keeping with existing law and appropriate to release members of the Sackler family of liability in exchange for their contribution of some of the billions of dollars they or associates took out of the company.

To accomplish the release for the individuals, the court of appeals would probably need to reverse the decision on appeal handed down by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York denying release from liability in exchange for money.

Usually District Court rulings in civil cases are affirmed, more often than they are reversed.

Regardless of how the appeal comes out, and while the appeal is pending, members of the Sackler family concerned about their liability remain free to file individual bankruptcy cases in order to try to settle liability and be released individually. Apart from lawyers for Purdue Pharma's estate arguing for releasing the individuals without the need for the individuals to file their own bankruptcy cases, there were other attorneys arguing for release of the Sacklers as well, at the argument to the court of appeals. Attorneys from the DOJ were outnumbered and argued passionately against the civil releases on behalf of the US government.

Criminal liability was not at issue in the bankruptcy appeal but of course a lot of people in the courtroom would have been thinking about that in connection with the opioid crisis as well as thinking about congressional intervention.

The judges asked a lot of questions.

I am sure there are people more knowledgeable than I am about this situation. Based on what I have read in court filings in the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy and in the news about the chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, I wish the bankruptcy cases would never have been brought or would have been dismissed. They seem like a cynical way to try to force settlements with states attorneys general who were not amenable to settling with Purdue Pharma, and others, and delay paying out victims. That is just my personal opinion.

As the bankruptcy of the various Purdue Pharma companies has been pending for several years and stopping lawsuits from going forward, and a ruling is anticipated to be handed down by the court of appeals at some point, I thought it would be helpful to post the publicly available oral argument audio on YouTube for those who may be interested in hearing the oral argument recording who have not come across it before or wish to listen to it again. I am posting it on Substack as well. Let’s hope for the best outcome.

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