Milestone Cases
British Petroleum
Jim brought the landmark shareholder derivative case against British Petroleum arising from a series of significant safety, environmental, and operational disasters, including the Texas City, TX, refinery blast that killed 15 workers, a partial shutdown of the Prudhoe Bay oil field after a spill from a corroded pipeline, and a federal investigation into alleged propane price manipulation. The case resulted in BP agreeing to substantial corporate governance reforms and paying $373 million in penalties.
[link to complaint]
Average Wholesale Price Litigation
Jim was retained by the State of Alaska to bring claims against 41 of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world for artificially inflating the average wholesale price of their drugs so that, when this price but used in the State’s reimbursement formula, it resulted in providers being reimbursed by Medicaid at inflated prices. The companies “marketed the spread” between the actual and artificial price, convincing providers that they would make a higher profit from Medicaid prescribing their drug over a competitor’s drug. At one point, there were 276 defense lawyers representing the various defendant companies.
Alaska v. Merck (Vioxx)
Jim was retained by the State of Alaska to prosecute claims Merck for consumer protection violations in the marketing and sale of Merck’s blockbuster drug Vioxx. The case was initially transferred into federal Multidistrict Litigation (MDL), where Jim was appointed to the Government Actions Plaintiffs’ Case Management Committee. The case was eventually remanded back to Alaska court and settled.
Time Warner/AOL
Jim represented five Alaska-based institutional funds in an opt out action over the disastrous AOL/Time Warner merger. The case was filed in Alaska federal court under the Securities Exchange Act. His clients received approximately 10x the amount they would have received had they stayed in the class action.
Exxon Valdez (Governors’ Appeal)
Jim had the privilege of representing four former Alaska State Governors before the United States Supreme Court in the Exxon Valdez case. The former governors were Walter Hickel (governor from 1966-1969 and US Secretary of Interior from 1969-1970 and 1990-1994), William Sheffield (Governor from 1982-1986), Steve Cowper (Governor from 1986-1990), and Anthony Knowles (Governor from 1994-2002).
In re Boiler Chicken and Pork Antitrust Litigation
Jim was hired by the State of Alaska to file antitrust and consumer protection claims against 31 of largest chicken producers and 17 of the largest pork producers in the country. The defendants conspired to inflate the price of boiler chicken and pork in Alaska and elsewhere. The cases were settled for a population-based loadstar higher than any other state received.