Draft:Brad E. Beckworth

Introduction
Bradley E. Beckworth is an American trial lawyer and Partner at the law firm Nix Patterson, LLP. He has led a number of high-profile cases, with total verdicts and settlements resulting in billions of dollars in recoveries for his clients.

Personal Life and Education
Beckworth grew up in Conroe, Texas and graduated from Baylor Law School in 1997. Beckworth and his wife, Stacey, have two daughters, Caroline and Katie. The family lives in west Austin.

Legal Career
Beckworth served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Richard Schell, then Chief Judge of the Eastern District of Texas, from 1997-1998. Beckworth joined Nix Patterson in 1998, where he is co-managing partner

Opioid Litigation
In May of 2019, Beckworth became the first trial lawyer to take an opioid manufacturer to trial for causing America’s opioid epidemic. In June of 2017, Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter chose Beckworth and his Nix Patterson team to represent the State of Oklahoma in a lawsuit against several major pharmaceutical companies for their alleged role in causing Oklahoma’s opioid epidemic.

The lawsuit alleged that the defendants—including Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson, Janssen, Cephalon, and others—conspired to intentionally mislead Oklahoma healthcare providers and residents about the addictive and harmful nature of opioid medications in order to increase drug sales in the State. The State argued the companies created a public nuisance, causing the deaths of thousands of Oklahomans and depleting the state’s resources due to the vast health care, law enforcement, and treatment costs of the state’s addiction crisis.

Trial Judge Thad Balkman set the case for trial to begin on May 29, 2019 and would not allow either side to move the trial date. Beckworth and his team worked around the clock for more than a year, with several members of the team moving into and living in their office for weeks at a time. In March of 2019, Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, settled before trial, agreeing to pay $270 million. As part of the settlement, the founders and owners of Purdue Pharma, the Sackler family, also agreed to contribute $75 million. Similarly, Teva Pharmaceuticals, one of the biggest makers of generic drugs, settled on the Saturday before trial began and agreed to pay $85 million.

On May 29, 2017, Beckworth delivered the State’s opening statement in its trial against Johnson. The trial was carried live on several continents. Beckworth explained Johnson & Johnson’s role in causing the epidemic, explaining that the company knew that “when you oversupply people will die.” The company’s stock price dropped dramatically in the next few hours, losing over $20 billion in market capitalization. On Aug. 26, 2019, after a seven week-long trial, Judge Thad Balkman of Cleveland County District Court in Oklahoma ruled that Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Janssen Pharmacuticals were liable for overly aggressive and deceptive marketing practices that contributed to the state's opioid epidemic and ordered them to pay $572 million to the state. Judge Balkman’s ruling was the first of its kind in the country to find an opioid manufacturer liable for the harm caused from the opioid crisis in the United States. In November 2019, Judge Balkman revised the ruling and lowered the judgment against Johnson & Johnson to $465 million.

On November 9, 2021, in a 5-1 decision, the Oklahoma Supreme Court reversed Judge Balkman’s ruling, and held that Oklahoma’s public nuisance law does not does not extend to the manufacturing, marketing and selling of prescription opioid. However, Johnson & Johnson ultimately entered into a “global settlement” under which it paid over $26 billion to settle the majority of the litigation pending against it by states and political subdivisions.

After the Johnson & Johnson trial, Beckworth negotiated settlements for Oklahoma with Endo Pharmaceuticals, McKinsey & Company , McKesson Corp. , Cardinal Health , and AmerisourceeBergen. The State’s total recoveries exceeded $1 billion.

Beckworth and trial team’s work was featured in Episode 7 of the Heartland Emmy award-winning series “Killing Pain."

Beckworth and the Nix, Patterson trial team also represented the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations in their opioid litigation and led the State of Washington’s lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson for its role in causing Washington’s opioid crisis. In January 2024, the State of Washington announced that had settled its claims against Johnson & Johnson for $149.5 million.

Royalty Owner Litigation
In 2020, Beckworth led the NP trial team in a federal class action trial on behalf of Perry Cline, a farmer, and thousands of oil and gas royalty owners against Sunoco Logistics LP. In August of 2020, United States District Judge John Gibney found in favor of Cline and the Class and ordered Sunoco and its parent company, Energy Transfer Partners to pay over $155 million in damages, which included $75 million in punitive damages.

In 2015, Beckworth led the NP trial team in another historic case on behalf of royalty owners, Pummill v. Cimarex, which resulted in a verdict and judgment in favor of royalty owners that resolved several key issues in favor of Oklahoma royalty owners.

In addition to these verdicts on behalf of royalty owners, Beckworth has led cases that have resulted in hundreds of millions in recoveries for royalty owners including a $155 million settlement against QEP Energy Company, an $87.5 million settlement against Range Resources  , an $80 million and a $16 million settlement against XTO Energy Inc. , and a $52 million settlement against EnerVest Energy.

Indian Nations Timberland Litigation
Beckworth represented the Chickasaw Nation and the Choctaw Nation in a historic lawsuit against the United States, alleging that the U.S. government mismanaged over 1.3 million acres of timberland that belonged to the Nations but were held in a trust controlled by the U.S. government. Between 1903 and 1940, the U.S. government sold off the land, allowing timber companies to generate billions in revenue. The lawsuit argued this money should have gone to the tribes if the land had been managed properly. The case settled for $186 million, the fifth-largest settlement out of the 86 tribal trust actions that have been filed.

The history behind the tribal lawsuit was featured in an online documentary entitled “The Tragedy of Broken Trust.”

In addition to the financial payment, the United States also agreed to formally apologize to each Indian Nation for the United States conduct toward the tribes.

Delphi
Beckworth and his law firm Nix Patterson represented the Teachers' Retirement System of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement System in a lawsuit against Delphi Corp., claiming the Funds lost money as investigations into alleged accounting fraud dragged down Delphi’s stock price. The lawsuit alleged that Delphi’s top executives and outside parties conspired to keep the company’s stock price artificially high through a series of sham transactions and accounting tricks. In July 2007, the Funds reached a $284 million class settlement with Delphi and several of its former officers, directors, and underwriters.

Brocade
Beckworth also represented the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System in a lawsuit against Brocade Communications Systems Inc., a California-based technology firm, alleging that the company backdated its stock options which caused the Arkansas system to lose more than $1 million from investments in the company's stock over a five-or six-year period. .The parties ultimately settled for $160 million, representing the largest backdating settlement as of 2008. . The lawsuit was featured in a Pulitzer Prize-winning series by the Wall Street Journal.

Moneygram
Beckworth and his Nix Patterson team reached an $80 million settlement on behalf of investors in MoneyGram International, Inc. on allegations that MoneyGram made false and misleading statements surrounding the quality and nature of asset-backed securities held in MoneyGram’s investment portfolio.

CompSource
Beckworth and Nix Patterson filed suit in the Eastern District of Oklahoma on behalf of CompSource Oklahoma—a statutorily-created state workers compensation insurance company—and other participants in BNY Mellon’s securities lending program, alleging that BNY Mellon breached its fiduciary duties (under both common law and ERISA), breached its securities lending agreements, and was negligent in connection with its investment of its clients’ funds in medium-term notes of Sigma Finance, Inc. After three and a half years of litigation, the parties reached a $280 million cash settlement.

Sports Representation
In 2013, Beckworth represented celebrated Texas A&M University football quarterback Johnny Manziel (popularly known as “Johnny Football”). Beckworth successfully fought back against the NCAA’s efforts to impose a multiple-game suspension on Manziel for allegedly attempting to earn money as a college athlete.

In 2023, Beckworth represented former University of Michigan staff member, Connor Stalions. The NCAA alleged that Stalions had engaged in improper “advanced scouting” in violation of an NCAA bylaw. As of May 2024, the matter was still pending.