In recent years, local governments and other political subdivisions have increasingly brought their own affirmative legal actions—sometimes independently and sometimes in tandem with their states—to pursue remedies for corporate misconduct. Because of the profusion of claims and the impact on the enforcement authority of states, public litigation involving subdivisions can bring unique challenges, as well as opportunities.
Local governments’ legal status varies from state to state. This includes what kinds of claims they can bring, what happens to any judgments or settlements they recover, and the extent to which their litigation can be effectively controlled or resolved by their state’s attorney general.
Local jurisdictions also vary widely in population, geographic size, and leadership structure. Many cities and counties in the United States have higher populations than some states.
Given the extraordinary complexities that subdivision litigation presents, experienced guidance is invaluable. Morningstar Law Group’s Government Investigations, Negotiation, and Litigation attorneys have experience that few can match. Our team’s chair, Swain Wood, has been nationally recognized for the leading role he played on behalf of a bipartisan multistate coalition of state Attorneys General in negotiating with representatives of thousands of local governments and subdivisions nationally to achieve nearly universal nationwide participation in the $26 billion national opioid settlements with Johnson & Johnson, AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson. Our team also includes lawyers who have decades of experience successfully resolving significant disputes involving local governments and political subdivisions, and have received national recognition for their work in this area.
