The Detroit Bar Association has named Weitz & Luxenberg attorney, Benjamin VanSlyke, the winner of its 2024 Community Impact Award. He was recognized particularly for his work on the opioids epidemic litigation.
2024 Outstanding Young Lawyer Award
Mr. VanSlyke received the award on July 15, 2024. The ceremony was held during the 35th Annual Barristers’ Summer Breeze and Law Clerk Party. The event recognizes “the accomplishments of young attorneys who, despite being in the early stages of their career, have demonstrated great potential as future leaders of the legal community.” (1)
The Community Impact Award is given to “a young attorney whose integrity, competence and accomplishments have significantly impacted the local community, or have had a demonstrable impact on the broader state or national landscape,” says the Detroit Bar Association. (2)
“The scope of the award parallels the type of work we do at W&L,” reflects Mr. VanSlyke. “It reinforces what I like about the work I do. I am excited about receiving this award because it is my first professional award. It is pretty cool!”
Working on the Opioid Litigation
Mr. VanSlyke joined the firm just in time to witness the peak of hard-fought litigation that ultimately secured national settlements exceeding $50 billion in the opioid litigation.
But just prior to the first opioid settlement payments beginning to flow to Michigan local governments, Ottawa County filed a meritless lawsuit to obstruct the settlement. Mr. VanSlyke was instrumental in handling this dispute and getting the lawsuit dismissed. By rebutting the county’s arguments, his work was critical in allowing the settlement to move forward.
“I feel like my role was very impactful. Seldom in legal work do you get a feeling of instant gratification, yet here, I did,” he explains.
There were 2,820 fatal overdoses in Michigan during 2023 alone. (3) According to one government report, over 2,000 Detroiters lost their lives to overdoses over the past decade, a large portion due to opioids. (4)
The administration of the opioid settlement is ongoing. The opioid settlements include over one billion dollars over the next 18 years into Michigan. Of these funds, 50% go directly to county, city, and township governments to assist with fighting the epidemic. (5)
Getting Justice for Camp Lejeune Water Contamination
The other litigations Mr. VanSlyke is contributing to include working with W&L’s Environmental, Toxic Torts, and Consumer Protection Litigation group. In this role, he crafted an original complaint for W&L’s Camp Lejeune water contamination cases. Ultimately, his draft of the complaint became the master complaint for the entire Camp Lejeune litigation, nationwide. This, too, was recognized by the Community Impact Award.
After President Biden signed the PACT Act of 2022, military personnel and their families could seek justice for exposure to contaminated water on this Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina. The legislation covers people exposed between 1953 and 1985, when base water was contaminated with toxic chemicals, including: TCE (trichloroethylene), PCE (tetrachloroethylene), vinyl chloride, and benzene. The first trials for Camp Lejeune are expected to begin in 2025.
Doing Pretrial Work on Roundup and Other Litigations
Along with these cases, Mr. VanSlyke has had a hand in W&L’s Roundup litigation. In W&L’s Roundup litigations, he has played a supportive role. He says, “I’m primarily a pinch hitter. I help with pretrial preparation whenever the team needs an extra pair of hands.”
Mr. VanSlyke’s skill at pretrial preparation is applied to many W&L litigations involving major corporations like 3M, sealants like coal tar, and the insulin price hikes, among others.
Michigan Association for Justice
Also, the Michigan Association for Justice (MAJ) has recently selected Mr. VanSlyke to be part of its Leadership Academy, beginning in August 2024. MAJ is “dedicated to advancing the needs and interests of trial lawyers in relentless pursuit of a fair and effective legal system.” (6)
As a member of this Leadership Academy cohort, Mr. VanSlyke will learn more about the inner working of the organization and opportunities to put his leadership abilities to work on behalf of important causes within his state.
“I’ve excelled in leadership roles in the past, most notably steering a legal journal through COVID as its 2020-2021 editor-in-chief during my final year of law school. I am excited at the new opportunities the MAJ Leadership Academy presents to put these skills to use in ways that will continue to benefit my community,” says Mr. VanSlyke.
Background Shaped His Legal Career
Prior to attending law school, Mr. VanSlyke worked in the nonprofit sector, on behalf of human trafficking victims. He believes this experience helped shape his interests when it comes to his legal practice.
“It was a natural transition for me to move into helping clients who have been harmed in some way. So, I keep chipping in where I can,” he points out. “And I plan to continue doing so throughout my legal career.
