OKLAHOMA CITY — Two attorneys who made millions of dollars representing the state in legal actions against opioid companies have been fired.
In a sharply worded letter, Oklahoma’s new attorney general terminated the contract with Michael Burrage and Reggie Whitten on Feb. 14.
“While your efforts under the Contract have certainly succeeded in enriching yourselves far beyond what you deserve, those efforts have fallen far short of delivering the results that Oklahomans are entitled to receive,” attorney General Gentner Drummond wrote.
Their Oklahoma City-based law firm, Whitten Burrage, will pocket over $34 million in fees under the arrangement, according to the letter.
The attorneys said Monday they are very proud of the work that helped the state recover more than $900 million in settlements to fight the opioid crisis.
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“Our Contract complied with Oklahoma law and we fully performed the services provided for in the Contract,” they said. “Courts have approved our fees multiple times and found them to be fair, reasonable and compliant with both the Contract and Oklahoma law.”
The termination of the contract was expected because Drummond criticized it when he first ran for attorney general in 2018 against Mike Hunter.
Drummond denounced the no-bid contract at the time as a political payoff to campaign donors. He also complained there was no limit on how much the attorneys could make.
“Opioid crisis victims lose. Taxpayers lose. Mike Hunter’s political cronies win millions,” a narrator said in a TV ad. “It’s time to stop insider deals.”
In his letter, Drummond wrote: “I was not the only Oklahoman to find the whole arrangement objectionable. The Legislature and Governor wisely took action to ensure that such a back-room deal could not be struck again.
“What should have been common sense then is law now.”
Whitten and Burrage, a former federal judge, turned for help in the litigation to a Texas-based law firm, Nix Patterson. It also made millions of dollars for its efforts.
The last attorney general, John O’Connor, praised the outside attorneys in a news release Jan. 4 “for their professionalism, hard work and dedication over the past five years.”
Oklahoma reached a number of settlements in its opioid litigation, most notably in 2019 when Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, agreed to pay $270 million.
It also won a trial against Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiaries. The pharmaceutical giant in 2019 was ordered to pay the state $465 million to combat the opioid crisis.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court threw out that verdict, though, two years later. Justices in a 5-1 decision found the company should not have been found liable for the opioid epidemic under Oklahoma’s public nuisance law.
In his letter, Drummond noted outside attorneys got $52.5 million in fees out of the Purdue settlement.
“Your firm’s staggering share of this settlement was over $16 million,” he wrote. “Had the Contract implemented even a 15% cap, as has been done in other similar opioid settlements, Oklahoma citizens would have benefited from an additional $12 million to fight the present and continuing effects of opioid addiction.”
He also blamed Whitten and Burrage for the loss at the Supreme Court in the Johnson & Johnson litigation.
“Your misguided efforts to hold Johnson & Johnson liable for its role in the opioid crisis solely through an untested use of Oklahoma’s public nuisance doctrine resulted in the squandering of a multi-million-dollar recovery for the State,” he wrote.
“Your firm had an obligation to provide competent representation, but by stretching the limits of settled law as the only foundation for recovery, you clearly erred and, in turn, failed in your obligations. In short, I believe that you cut corners for a quick pay day.”
He also complained the attorneys made an “unconscionable” deal with O’Connor on Jan. 6 to secure additional funding from a settlement that was “not negotiated by your firm.”
Drummond attached to his letter a Jan. 6 article from The Wall Street Journal about Burrage’s purchase of three condominiums last year in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for $13.45 million.
“It is evident that each of you personally benefitted from the excessively profitable payment provisions of the Contract that I am terminating,” he wrote.
In their statement to The Oklahoman, Whitten and Burrage said they voluntarily waived substantial fees and expenses so the state would have more money for the opioid fight.
They said the more than $900 million in settlements put Oklahoma in the top 10 of all states in per-capita recovery. They said the dedication to the fight in Oklahoma “paved the way for leaders across the country to recover billions for their own states.”
“The State’s settlement with Purdue was groundbreaking. Four years later, Oklahoma is still the only state to have ever received a penny from Purdue.”
They said they remain available to help the state if and when called upon.
Hunter in 2018 said he picked Whitten and Burrage because they were two of the state’s most successful lawyers. He also said they were committed to the opioid fight because of personal tragedies.
“They are pouring their hearts and souls into this case because they want the deaths of their loved ones to mean something,” said Hunter, who resigned in 2021.
Whitten and Burrage did not get paid anything for their months of work against Johnson & Johnson because the Supreme Court threw out the verdict.
January 2023: Oklahoma’s fight against the opioid epidemic reaches new settlements worth $226 million
On January 4, Oklahoma agreed to settlements with three major pharmacy chains and an opioid manufacturer. ABC News reports that the settlements total over $226 million.
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