Appellate Partner Lann McIntyre to Participate in Ninth Circuit Oral Argument on Key COVID-19 Wrongful Death Suits

October 20, 2021

San Diego Partner and Vice-Chair of Lewis Brisbois’ Appellate Practice Lann G. McIntyre will participate in an upcoming oral argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on behalf of nursing home clients in two key COVID-19-related wrongful death matters. The argument is scheduled to take place on Thursday, October 21 at 9:00 a.m. PT and will be livestreamed (link in story).

San Diego, Calif. (October 12, 2021) (UPDATED October 20, 2021) - San Diego Partner and Vice-Chair of Lewis Brisbois’ Appellate Practice Lann G. McIntyre will participate in an upcoming oral argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on behalf of nursing home clients in two key COVID-19-related wrongful death matters. The argument is scheduled to take place on Thursday, October 21 at 9:00 a.m. PT and will be livestreamed.

At oral argument, Ms. McIntyre will contend that the wrongful death cases should remain in federal court because Lewis Brisbois’ nursing home clients were acting under the federal government's authority. That is, the nursing homes should be permitted to invoke the Federal Officer Removal Statute because during the COVID-19 pandemic, the government enlisted the nursing homes "to carry out the duty of the government itself to ensure the continued provision of 'services critical to maintaining the national defense, continuity of government, economic prosperity, and quality of life in the United States.'"

Moreover, Ms. McIntyre is expected to maintain that the cases should also be heard in federal court because the plaintiffs’ claims are preempted by the federal Public Readiness and Protection (PREP) Act, which confers immunity to "covered persons" who deploy "countermeasures" during a public health emergency. As reported in Law360, these matters are expected to impact the strategies of attorneys who are handling similar lawsuits in other jurisdictions across the country.

Ms. McIntyre has 39 years of experience both as a civil litigator and appellate specialist. She has briefed and argued cases in the Third, Fifth and Ninth Circuits and in every appellate court in California, representing both public and private clients in civil writs, appeals, and administrative mandate proceedings.

UPDATE: The livestream of this oral argument can be found the Ninth Circuit website here. The oral argument will take place in the Pasadena Virtual Courtroom 3 at 9:00 a.m. PT on Thursday 10/21. Clicking that link will take you to the virtual courtroom.