3rd Cir. Upholds Dismissal of Contingent Fee Lawsuit Against Mazie Slater

PHILADELPHIA — A 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel has upheld dismissal of a complaint accusing the plaintiffs’ firm of Mazie Slater Katz & Freeman LLC and two of its attorneys of receiving contingent fees from the Olmesartan blood pressure drug MDL in violation of New Jersey law.

In a Feb. 15 opinion, the panel found the plaintiff failed to support his theory that awards disbursed from a settlement’s common benefit fund (CBF) to lawyers who had leadership roles in MDLs must be credited or paid to their clients.

“So the MDL plaintiffs were never entitled to the CBF …