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Juul Lawsuits: How Your Firm Can Be Part of the Solution

Written by Jessie Hoerman | Aug 08, 2019

"I would skip class to get nicotine because I felt anxious and uncomfortable without it. With nicotine, it makes me nauseous to the point of getting sick, and without nicotine, I feel nauseous constantly."

This is the description of Juul addiction told from an 18-year-old whose life was altered when she started vaping during high school, believing there was no nicotine in her fruity flavored Juul.

Holding Juul accountable for the epidemic they were driving (according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention) is the right thing to do. This is a litigation that requires no advertising; lawyers who want to be part of the solution can take part in this litigation simply by reaching out to friends, colleagues and former clients.

SimplyConvert knows the addiction and lung injury criteria and is ready to help you help your community!

Who are the injured individuals?

According to FDA Commissioner Gottlieb, approximately 2/3 of Juul users are “new users of nicotine,” meaning, on an overwhelming basis, Juul products are not being used by adult smokers as a smoking cessation device (as it was originally intended).

The FDA estimates that more than 5 million middle and high school students across the country were defined as “current” e-cigarette users in 2019. Sadly, the injured individuals in the Juul teen addiction cases are likely to be some of the 20.8% of high school students and 4.9% of middle school students in the U.S. who are part of this public health epidemic.

As these cases move forward, we are likely to learn more about when a teen brain becomes fully developed so that addiction injuries can be treated with adult treatments. Until then, SimplyConvert defines the teen brain (and qualifies individuals for cases) as those under the age of 27 at the time they began using Juul.

What does an extreme addiction injury look like?

According to addiction specialists, the behaviors teens addicted to Juul experience more closely resemble opioid or marijuana addiction rather than traditional tobacco cigarette addiction.  Here are a few descriptions from addicted teens:

"I suffered an inability to function on a daily basis during school hours as well as a lack of appetite and inability to sleep."

"I went to my doctor for help and he put me on a drug to help me stop. This drug did virtually nothing to help."

Teen brains are particularly vulnerable to addiction because they are still developing and that it is easier for the undeveloped brain to fall victims to addictive products because they have less impulse control.

Physical injuries include (but are not limited to):

  • Cardiovascular disease
  • Heart attack/heart problems
  • Lung/respiratory problems
  • Mental health/behavior problems
  • Nicotine poisoning
  • Pregnancy Complications/birth defects
  • Seizures
  • Suicidal thoughts/attempts
  • Strokes

How many lawsuits have been filed and where?

There are two groups of cases that are currently moving through the courts. Cases that are filed in state courts and those that will be moved to the Federal Multidistrict Litigation in California.

In October 2019, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ordered the class action lawsuits and many of the currently filed personal injury cases to the Northern District of California under the Honorable Judge William H. Orrick III, where Juul Labs is location.

It is worth your time to review one of the Juul lawsuits filed, the marketing efforts taken by Juul Labs were ripped right out of the Big Tobacco playbook.

What does SimplyConvert’s “all-knowing” Chatbot know?

SimplyConvert walks all potential clients through a series of questions regarding addiction and injuries related to Juul use/addiction.

SimplyConvert divides the Juul litigation into two “leads.”  Lead 1 is the lung injury cases (that state courts are currently looking into) and Lead 2 is the addiction cases.

In order to meet a Lead 1 qualification, the individual must have been diagnosed with a lung injury and can not be a previous smoker. Lung injury cases apply to all vaping devices, not just Juul, and include individuals of any age.

On the other hand, in order to qualify for a Juul addiction case, the individual must be under the age of 27, a non-smoker and must have used Juul. Diagnosis with an injury other than addiction is not required.

What should my firm do with Juul cases?

One of the goals of creating our “all-knowing” bot was the ability to offer legal users the best legal representation possible – instantly.  Every school in every city has been affected by this Juul epidemic, there is nothing stopping your firm from becoming quickly and actively involved in the solution by simply sharing a page from your website with the Juul bot code snippet. SimplyConvert will do the intake work for you.

If your firm is actively involved in the litigation, thank you! If you are not, there is no reason for you to not act as a local resource for your clients and refer the cases to those lawyers that will be at the forefront of fighting Juul.

Everyone wins by using the SimplyConvert referral management platform

SimplyConvert partners with law firms that are actively involved in the litigations, giving potential claimants the best shot at a successful outcome. In addition, as a conduit to these law firms, your firm may have the opportunity to create an additional revenue stream in the form of referral fees (depending upon your state bar rules).

We truly believe that the best lawyers for teens dealing with extreme addiction from Juul are those that are actively involved in these cases and we have worked out a relationship with these lawyers that we are happy to share with you upon request.

Why not be part of the solution to giving users the best possible representation and “enable” these contracts?