Bartlit Beck Team Receives “Litigator of the Week” Runners-Up Honors by The American Lawyer
Bartlit Beck lawyers Brian Swanson, Jeannie Tinkham, Jordan Golds, Rachel Smith, Kaspar Stoffelmayr, Kate Swift, and Michael Nance received “Litigator of the Week” runners-up honors by The American Lawyer following a victory for Walgreens, in Florida Health Sciences Center v. Sackler, a Florida RICO opioid case tried in Broward County Circuit Court from September to December 2025.
Excerpt from “Litigator of the Week Runners-Up and Shout Outs,” The American Lawyer, May 29, 2026
“First up this week are teams from Zuckerman Spaeder, Markus Moss, Jones Day and Bartlit Beck that defended CVS, Walmart and Walgreens from claims brought by 15 Florida hospitals under the state’s RICO statute seeking up to $1.5 billion in damages related to the opioid epidemic. After 51 days of trial in Broward County Circuit Court last year, jurors deadlocked in December after 14 days of deliberations, resulting in a mistrial. This week, Judge Carol-Lisa Phillips, who oversaw the trial, granted the pharmacy defendants’ request for a directed verdict. Phillips found that the hospitals’ claims were “purely contingent” on harms to patients, making them indirect to the hospitals themselves and insufficient to meet the proximate cause requirement under the Florida RICO statute. CVS was represented by Eric Delinsky, Adam Fotiades, Marcos Hasbun, Sasha Miller, Paul Hynes and Steve Herman of Zuckerman Spaeder. Walmart was represented by David Markus and Margot Moss of Markus Moss and Tara Fumerton and Anthony Dick of Jones Day. Walgreens was represented by Brian Swanson, Jeannie Tinkham, Jordan Golds, Rachel Smith, Kaspar Stoffelmayr, Kate Swift and Michael Nance of Bartlit Beck.
