We have finalized a tolling agreement for all individuals who have signed a retainer/representation agreement with our firms. This agreement provides us necessary time to collect information and documents about each individual potential case, and sets forth precise deadlines to share portions of what we collect with the defendants.
We are currently working with the same team that worked to obtain our clients’ VA documents to complete a “census questionnaire” that every client is required to complete, with a court-enforced deadline. Our clients should have received an email with a link to the census questionnaire. If you have not yet completed yours, please do so at your earliest convenience.
In the broader litigation, beyond gathering claimant-specific information, discovery is underway to develop evidence to support Plaintiffs’ claims. The plaintiffs leadership counsel have begun taking depositions of individuals with relevant knowledge, are working through issues regarding documents they have asked the Defendants to provide, and are developing arguments to oppose some of 3M’s anticipated defenses that are likely to be raised with the Court sooner than later. The Court recently ruled largely in favor of Plaintiffs in a discovery dispute, ordering Defendants to produce a number of documents in relation to the upcoming depositions of 12 witnesses who are current or former employees of the Defendants. Separate from discovery, the Defendants filed their former response (or “Answer”) to the master long form complaint that contains the allegations asserted on behalf of all plaintiffs in the case; in short, 3M denies that the dual-ended Combat Arms earplugs are dangerously defective and denies knowing of any defects with the earplugs.