21-3255 - Authorizing Joinder in MOU re Opioid Litigation

Home Browse Search

members of the Negotiation Committee regarding the terms of any other Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Participant Settlement. 9. Expense Fund - The Parties agree that in any negotiation every effort shall be made to cause Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Participants to pay costs of litigation, including attorneys' fees, in addition to any agreed to Opioid Funds in the Settlement. To the extent that a fund sufficient to pay the entirety of all contingency fee contracts for Local Governments in the State of Florida is not created as part of a Settlement by a Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Participant, the Parties agree that an additional expense fund for attorneys who represent Local Governments (herein "Expense Fund") shall be created out of the City/County fund for the purpose of paying the hard costs of a litigating Local Government and then paying attorneys' fees. (a) The Source of Funds for the Expense Fund- Money for the Expense Fund shall be sourced exclusively from the City/County Fund. (b) The Amount of the Expense Fund- The State recognizes the value litigating Local Governments bring to the State of Florida in connection with the Settlement because their participation increases the amount Incentive Payments due from each Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Participant. In recognition of that value, the amount of funds that shall be deposited into the Expense fund shall be contingent upon on the percentage of litigating Local Government participation in the Settlement, according to the following table: Litigating Local Government Participation in the Settlement (by percentage of the population) Amount that shall be paid into the Expense Fund from (and as a percentage o the Cit /Count fund 96 to 100% 10% 91 to 95% 7.5% 86 to 90% 5% 85% 2.5% Less than 85% 0% If fewer than 85% percent of the litigating Local Governments (by population) participate, then the Expense Fund shall not be funded, and this Section of the MOU shall be null and void. (c) The Timing of Payments into the Expense Fund- Although the amount of the Expense Fund shall be calculated based on the entirety of payments due to the City/County fund over a ten to eighteen year period, the Expense Fund shall be funded entirely from payments made by Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Participants during the first two years of the Settlement. Accordingly, to offset the amounts being paid from the City/County to the Expense Fund in the first two years, Counties or Municipalities may borrow from the Regional Fund during the first two years and pay the borrowed amounts back to the Regional Fund during years three, four, and five.