Erin Bernstein Moderates Berkeley Law Panel on Public Law and the Opioid Crisis

On April 6, 2023, BBS founder Erin Bernstein moderated a panel at Berkeley Law School on “The Role of Public Law Offices in Addressing the Opioid Crisis.” The panel, presented by Public Health Law at Berkeley, explored the varied roles of public law offices in investigating, litigating, and remedying the opioids epidemic in the Bay Area. Sara Eisenberg, Chief of Complex and Affirmative Litigation at the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office, shared her perspective on her office’s successful federal trial against Walgreens, and Malia McPherson, Deputy City Attorney at the Oakland City Attorney’s Office discussed the differing strategies used in the state court public nuisance litigation.  Erin, Malia, and Sara illuminated the strategic use of California’s public nuisance and unfair competition laws to tackle local governments’ most intractable problems as well as the complex policy considerations in applying settlement funds toward remedies.