Providence Was Shortchanged on Social Media MDL Subcommittee, Judge Told

Kessler Topaz attorneys for the city of Providence, Rhode Island, object to the notice filed June 12 in the social media multidistrict litigation by co-lead counsel in the MDL from Lieff Cabraser, Seeger Weiss and Motley Rice, the attorneys wrote U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers for Northern California in Oakland in a letter Wednesday (docket 4:22-md-03047). The notice asked the court to establish a six-member subcommittee for overseeing and litigating issues in the MDL unique to school districts and other governmental entities. Though “ostensibly filed” on all the plaintiffs’ behalf, “we were not consulted, notified, or contacted” before the notice was filed, said the Kessler Topaz attorneys. Though they support creating a subcommittee to represent governmental entities, they ask that counsel for the city of Providence be appointed to the subcommittee or that the court set a briefing schedule so that the city's counsel can apply to be named, they said. None of the firms identified in the proposed leadership structure represents a large municipality like Providence, they said. The firms also don’t represent any governmental entities from New England, they said. The conduct of the social media defendants’ in the MDL “has caused significant harm to communities throughout this country, including cities and municipalities in New England,” they said. It’s "imperative" that the subcommittee include counsel for the city of Providence to ensure “better representation” of the communities affected by the defendants’ conduct, they said.