At trial, Mr. Lanier’s experts said the counties would need more than $3 billion, which he described as an amount equivalent to “the sun, the moon and the stars.” Judge Polster, however, had agreed only to “the moon,” Mr. Lanier added, acknowledging that he was nonetheless quite pleased with that result.Adam Zimmerman, who teaches complex litigation at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles and who has closely followed the national opioid litigation, said: “Just imagine the costs for the other 3,000 similar plaintiffs in this litigation, or the nearly 20,000 incorporated cities around the country. With those kinds of numbers, it’s no wonder so many defendants have chosen to …
