Law firms representing Purdue Pharma to pay U.S. $1 million -U.S. Justice Dept

[April 30, 2021]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Law firms representing opioid maker Purdue Pharma in the company's bankruptcy will relinquish $1 million in a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice's trustee program, the department said in a statement on Thursday.

The settlement must still be approved the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, the department said.

Purdue, maker of the OxyContin painkiller, filed for bankruptcy in September 2019 in the face of nearly 3,000 lawsuits accusing the company of fueling the national opioid crisis through deceptive marketing. It filed its bankruptcy plan in March.

The firms included in the DOJ settlement announced Thursday are Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, and Dechert LLP, according to the statement.

The department said the law firms "failed to adequately disclose" a join interest agreement between Purdue and the Sackler families who own it, and that "in this settlement, the parties have agreed to disgorgement" of its fees.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey)

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