Affirmative litigation refers to lawsuits initiated by local or state governments to proactively address public harms caused by corporate actions, seeking accountability, damages, or injunctive relief. These include actions against industries for the societal and economic costs of their products, alleging misconduct like public nuisance, deceptive marketing, failure to warn, or environmental damage.

Examples include:

• Opioid litigation where local and state governments filed thousands of lawsuits against opioid manufacturers (e.g., Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson), distributors (McKesson, Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen), and pharmacies (CVS, Walgreens, etc.) for fueling the opioid crisis.
• PFAS litigation in which water suppliers, airports and other subdivisions brought civil actions related to these “forever chemicals,” which are persistent, toxic substances used in products like firefighting foam (AFFF) and non-stick coatings. Governments sue manufacturers like 3M and DuPont for contaminating water supplies and endangering public health.
• Insulin pricing litigation against Big Pharma, PBMs and large insurers for allegedly colluding to artificially inflate the cost of insulin, which has skyrocketed over the past twenty years. Over that time, while the average cost of consumer goods and services has risen 1.75-fold, the cost of some diabetes medications has risen more than tenfold. These price increases do not derive from the rising cost of goods, production costs, investment in research and development, or competitive market forces. Instead, Defendants engineered them to exponentially increase their profits at the expense of payors like state and local governments, unions, and other self-insured entities.
• E-cigarette affirmative litigation against Juul Labs involves lawsuits initiated by local and state governments, including school districts, to hold the company accountable for public harms, particularly the youth vaping epidemic. These lawsuits, active from 2019 to 2025, mirror the affirmative litigation strategies used against opioid, PFAS, and tobacco manufacturers, focusing on public health costs and deceptive corporate practices.
• Social media litigation where local and state governments, including school districts, have filed lawsuits against social media giants, alleging their platforms contribute to a youth mental health crisis. Governments argue that social media platforms are designed to be addictive, particularly for children and teens, leading to increased rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide. They allege companies knowingly prioritized engagement over safety, using algorithms to promote harmful content and failing to provide adequate parental controls. These actions have strained public resources, such as school counseling services and healthcare systems.
• Tobacco litigation was one of the earlier affirmative litigation projects. Beginning in the 1990s, states sued major tobacco companies (e.g., Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds) for healthcare costs tied to smoking-related illnesses, culminating in the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA).

Emerging affirmative litigation projects include actions alleging deception about the effectiveness of plastic recycling by the waste industry, lawsuits against gun manufacturers, and an investigation into the role “Big Food” has played in the obesity epidemic through the development and promotion of ultra-processed food products.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., Young & Partners’ practice is national in scope, as we have trusted co-counsel relationships with leading law firms in all fifty states.

Founding Partner Tom Young has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for governmental entities and individual victims of various major disasters over the past 25 years, including the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the 2015 Volkswagen “dieselgate” emissions scandal, recent devastating hurricanes along the East Coast, the ongoing nationwide opioid epidemic, PFAS “forever chemical” contamination and more. The firm also represents individuals in mass tort actions who were allegedly harmed by various dangerous and defective products such as the herbicides Roundup and Paraquat, medical devices like hernia mesh, the pharmaceutical Zantac, talcum powder based consumer products (baby powder), infant formula associated with necrotizing enterocolitis in premature newborns, and service member veterans harmed by water contamination at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.

Young holds a Bachelor’s of Arts in Economics and a Juris Doctor, with Honors, from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. While there, Young was one of the first students awarded a Certificate in Environmental & Land Use Law. Young’s practice includes educating and assisting consumers, businesses, nonprofit organizations and government entities in understanding their rights as they pertain to losses due to negligence or disaster, in both state and federal court. Importantly, we only represent plaintiffs, not defendants, and never insurance companies.

He is a member of the Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society, the Golden Key International Honor Society, the Florida Bar, the District of Columbia Bar, the State Bar of Arizona, the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States, the Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C., the Florida Justice Association, the Arizona Association for Justice, and the American Association for Justice. Young was the 2012-2018 President of the Civil Justice Foundation and a former AAJ state delegate.

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