Elizabeth Chamblee Burch
@eburch.bsky.social
Callaway Chair of Law @universityofga.bsky.social. Author THE PAIN BROKERS: How Con Men, Call Centers & Rogue Doctors Fuel America's Lawsuit Factory.
Views are my own. Here for stories, civ pro, MDL, class actions, torts.
www.elizabethchambleeburch.com
Views are my own. Here for stories, civ pro, MDL, class actions, torts.
www.elizabethchambleeburch.com
Kim Cross’s In Light of All Darkness taught me how a book can be both a page-turner and a field guide. Her precision + compassion shaped how I wrote The Pain Brokers.
Her book proposal was dissected by Nieman Storyboard:
niemanstoryboard.org/2023/11/17/b...
#ThePainBrokers #NarrativeNonfiction
Her book proposal was dissected by Nieman Storyboard:
niemanstoryboard.org/2023/11/17/b...
#ThePainBrokers #NarrativeNonfiction
November 20, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Kim Cross’s In Light of All Darkness taught me how a book can be both a page-turner and a field guide. Her precision + compassion shaped how I wrote The Pain Brokers.
Her book proposal was dissected by Nieman Storyboard:
niemanstoryboard.org/2023/11/17/b...
#ThePainBrokers #NarrativeNonfiction
Her book proposal was dissected by Nieman Storyboard:
niemanstoryboard.org/2023/11/17/b...
#ThePainBrokers #NarrativeNonfiction
Happy 50th birthday to procedural justice! 🎉Thrilled to celebrate with so many brilliant scholars who’ve pushed this field forward.
Here’s to the next 50 years of asking harder questions, building fairer systems, and imagining a more just future.
#MassTorts #ProceduralJustice @jurygirl.bsky.social
Here’s to the next 50 years of asking harder questions, building fairer systems, and imagining a more just future.
#MassTorts #ProceduralJustice @jurygirl.bsky.social
November 20, 2025 at 1:55 AM
Happy 50th birthday to procedural justice! 🎉Thrilled to celebrate with so many brilliant scholars who’ve pushed this field forward.
Here’s to the next 50 years of asking harder questions, building fairer systems, and imagining a more just future.
#MassTorts #ProceduralJustice @jurygirl.bsky.social
Here’s to the next 50 years of asking harder questions, building fairer systems, and imagining a more just future.
#MassTorts #ProceduralJustice @jurygirl.bsky.social
🧵1) Despite researching mass torts for over 20 years, what I uncovered in writing The Pain Brokers still shocked me:
November 18, 2025 at 9:54 PM
🧵1) Despite researching mass torts for over 20 years, what I uncovered in writing The Pain Brokers still shocked me:
2 weeks left to get a free copy of The Pain Brokers!
#ThePainBrokers #MassTorts #NarrativeNonfiction #InvestigativeJournalism #TrueCrimeReads
www.goodreads.com/en/book/show...
#ThePainBrokers #MassTorts #NarrativeNonfiction #InvestigativeJournalism #TrueCrimeReads
www.goodreads.com/en/book/show...
November 15, 2025 at 3:42 PM
2 weeks left to get a free copy of The Pain Brokers!
#ThePainBrokers #MassTorts #NarrativeNonfiction #InvestigativeJournalism #TrueCrimeReads
www.goodreads.com/en/book/show...
#ThePainBrokers #MassTorts #NarrativeNonfiction #InvestigativeJournalism #TrueCrimeReads
www.goodreads.com/en/book/show...
Note to authors who are members of the Anthropic copyright #classaction - give this a read before opting out.
A federal judge accused a third-party law firm of attempting to “trick” authors out of their record $1.5 billion copyright class action settlement.
news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/judge...
A federal judge accused a third-party law firm of attempting to “trick” authors out of their record $1.5 billion copyright class action settlement.
news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/judge...
Judge Flames Firm Luring Authors Out of $1.5 Billion AI Pact (2)
A federal judge accused a third-party law firm of attempting to “trick” authors out of their record $1.5 billion copyright class action settlement with Anthropic PBC.
news.bloomberglaw.com
November 14, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Note to authors who are members of the Anthropic copyright #classaction - give this a read before opting out.
A federal judge accused a third-party law firm of attempting to “trick” authors out of their record $1.5 billion copyright class action settlement.
news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/judge...
A federal judge accused a third-party law firm of attempting to “trick” authors out of their record $1.5 billion copyright class action settlement.
news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/judge...
Note to authors who are members of the Anthropic copyright #classaction - give this a read before opting out. 👀
www.bloomberglaw.com/product/blaw...
www.bloomberglaw.com/product/blaw...
November 14, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Note to authors who are members of the Anthropic copyright #classaction - give this a read before opting out. 👀
www.bloomberglaw.com/product/blaw...
www.bloomberglaw.com/product/blaw...
Reposted by Elizabeth Chamblee Burch
Internal documents and former company executives revealed how Cigna doctors rejected patients’ claims without opening their files.
“We literally click and submit,” one former company doctor said.
(Published March 2023 w/ @capitolforum.bsky.social)
“We literally click and submit,” one former company doctor said.
(Published March 2023 w/ @capitolforum.bsky.social)
How Cigna Saves Millions by Having Its Doctors Reject Claims Without Reading Them
Internal documents and former company executives reveal how Cigna doctors reject patients’ claims without opening their files. “We literally click and submit,” one former company doctor said.
www.propublica.org
November 14, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Internal documents and former company executives revealed how Cigna doctors rejected patients’ claims without opening their files.
“We literally click and submit,” one former company doctor said.
(Published March 2023 w/ @capitolforum.bsky.social)
“We literally click and submit,” one former company doctor said.
(Published March 2023 w/ @capitolforum.bsky.social)
Want a quick craft tip? Read @praddenkeefe.bsky.social Empire of Pain! It’s a writing lesson in reporting without access.
What book taught you something about writing or reporting?
📚 Books Behind The Pain Brokers.
#EmpireOfPain #ThePainBrokers #NarrativeNonfiction #InvestigativeJournalism
What book taught you something about writing or reporting?
📚 Books Behind The Pain Brokers.
#EmpireOfPain #ThePainBrokers #NarrativeNonfiction #InvestigativeJournalism
November 14, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Want a quick craft tip? Read @praddenkeefe.bsky.social Empire of Pain! It’s a writing lesson in reporting without access.
What book taught you something about writing or reporting?
📚 Books Behind The Pain Brokers.
#EmpireOfPain #ThePainBrokers #NarrativeNonfiction #InvestigativeJournalism
What book taught you something about writing or reporting?
📚 Books Behind The Pain Brokers.
#EmpireOfPain #ThePainBrokers #NarrativeNonfiction #InvestigativeJournalism
Meet the brave women at the heart of a real-life legal thriller, THE PAIN BROKERS.
Each received eerily similar phone calls. The callers knew their names, birthdays, medical histories, even their doctors. They were told they had a "ticking time bomb" inside them.
#TrueCrime #torts
Each received eerily similar phone calls. The callers knew their names, birthdays, medical histories, even their doctors. They were told they had a "ticking time bomb" inside them.
#TrueCrime #torts
November 13, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Meet the brave women at the heart of a real-life legal thriller, THE PAIN BROKERS.
Each received eerily similar phone calls. The callers knew their names, birthdays, medical histories, even their doctors. They were told they had a "ticking time bomb" inside them.
#TrueCrime #torts
Each received eerily similar phone calls. The callers knew their names, birthdays, medical histories, even their doctors. They were told they had a "ticking time bomb" inside them.
#TrueCrime #torts
Reposted by Elizabeth Chamblee Burch
My new post about Adrienne Hines's book, Bankruptcy Magic, and how it might help encourage the people who will benefit from filing bankruptcy to file bankruptcy. Link to her book, www.theladylikelawyer.com/bankruptcy-m...
November 11, 2025 at 6:17 PM
My new post about Adrienne Hines's book, Bankruptcy Magic, and how it might help encourage the people who will benefit from filing bankruptcy to file bankruptcy. Link to her book, www.theladylikelawyer.com/bankruptcy-m...
A 🧵 on mass tort plaintiffs
1) After studying 217 MDL plaintiffs across 42 states, I discovered the reality behind those late-night lawyer commercials. The numbers are shocking:
1) After studying 217 MDL plaintiffs across 42 states, I discovered the reality behind those late-night lawyer commercials. The numbers are shocking:
November 11, 2025 at 6:12 PM
A 🧵 on mass tort plaintiffs
1) After studying 217 MDL plaintiffs across 42 states, I discovered the reality behind those late-night lawyer commercials. The numbers are shocking:
1) After studying 217 MDL plaintiffs across 42 states, I discovered the reality behind those late-night lawyer commercials. The numbers are shocking:
Grateful to Eric Eyre for his powerful words about The Pain Brokers.
Eyre won a Pulitzer for investigative reporting and his book, Death in Mud Lick, is a riveting investigation into how corporate greed fueled the #opioid epidemic.
Eyre won a Pulitzer for investigative reporting and his book, Death in Mud Lick, is a riveting investigation into how corporate greed fueled the #opioid epidemic.
November 9, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Grateful to Eric Eyre for his powerful words about The Pain Brokers.
Eyre won a Pulitzer for investigative reporting and his book, Death in Mud Lick, is a riveting investigation into how corporate greed fueled the #opioid epidemic.
Eyre won a Pulitzer for investigative reporting and his book, Death in Mud Lick, is a riveting investigation into how corporate greed fueled the #opioid epidemic.
Alaska drops @motleyrice.bsky.social in opioid litigation, claiming the firm violated confidentiality and conflict-of-interest provisions. Utah terminated its contract with the firm on Oct. 16.
#MDL #MassTort #RepeatPlayers #LegalEthics @reuters.com www.reuters.com/legal/litiga...
#MDL #MassTort #RepeatPlayers #LegalEthics @reuters.com www.reuters.com/legal/litiga...
Alaska fires law firm Motley Rice in opioid litigation, joining Utah
The state of Alaska has terminated a contract with a national plaintiffs law firm it hired eight years ago to pursue a lawsuit over opioid painkillers, claiming it violated confidentiality and conflict-of-interest provisions.
www.reuters.com
November 3, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Alaska drops @motleyrice.bsky.social in opioid litigation, claiming the firm violated confidentiality and conflict-of-interest provisions. Utah terminated its contract with the firm on Oct. 16.
#MDL #MassTort #RepeatPlayers #LegalEthics @reuters.com www.reuters.com/legal/litiga...
#MDL #MassTort #RepeatPlayers #LegalEthics @reuters.com www.reuters.com/legal/litiga...
You have a “ticking time bomb" in you said the caller...
The Pain Brokers is a true story about 3 women who uncovered a con that turned their bodies into a business—and their fight for justice.
Want to read it first?
🎁 Enter this Goodreads Giveaway: www.goodreads.com/en/book/show...
#WomensHealth
The Pain Brokers is a true story about 3 women who uncovered a con that turned their bodies into a business—and their fight for justice.
Want to read it first?
🎁 Enter this Goodreads Giveaway: www.goodreads.com/en/book/show...
#WomensHealth
November 1, 2025 at 6:38 PM
You have a “ticking time bomb" in you said the caller...
The Pain Brokers is a true story about 3 women who uncovered a con that turned their bodies into a business—and their fight for justice.
Want to read it first?
🎁 Enter this Goodreads Giveaway: www.goodreads.com/en/book/show...
#WomensHealth
The Pain Brokers is a true story about 3 women who uncovered a con that turned their bodies into a business—and their fight for justice.
Want to read it first?
🎁 Enter this Goodreads Giveaway: www.goodreads.com/en/book/show...
#WomensHealth
Thread 🧵
1/ 🚨 Big development: The 4th Circuit has held that under West Virginia common law, conditions caused by the over-distribution of opioids can amount to a public nuisance. #opioids #ComplexLit #masstorts
1/ 🚨 Big development: The 4th Circuit has held that under West Virginia common law, conditions caused by the over-distribution of opioids can amount to a public nuisance. #opioids #ComplexLit #masstorts
October 29, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Thread 🧵
1/ 🚨 Big development: The 4th Circuit has held that under West Virginia common law, conditions caused by the over-distribution of opioids can amount to a public nuisance. #opioids #ComplexLit #masstorts
1/ 🚨 Big development: The 4th Circuit has held that under West Virginia common law, conditions caused by the over-distribution of opioids can amount to a public nuisance. #opioids #ComplexLit #masstorts
Justice may be blind—but she’s not taking the day off. 👩⚖️
Join the American Museum of Tort Law for National Tort Law Education Day on Nov. 1! Free, virtual, and fiery (literally). 🔥🚗
Register here: www.tortmuseum.org/event/nation...
#TortLaw #CivilJustice #LegalEducation #LawTwitter #AccessToJustice
Join the American Museum of Tort Law for National Tort Law Education Day on Nov. 1! Free, virtual, and fiery (literally). 🔥🚗
Register here: www.tortmuseum.org/event/nation...
#TortLaw #CivilJustice #LegalEducation #LawTwitter #AccessToJustice
National Tort Law Education Day - The American Museum of Tort Law
The American Museum of Tort Law proudly presents National Tort Law Education Day 2025. Now celebrating its 10th anniversary, the Museum continues its mission to educate, inform, and inspire Americans ...
www.tortmuseum.org
October 27, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Justice may be blind—but she’s not taking the day off. 👩⚖️
Join the American Museum of Tort Law for National Tort Law Education Day on Nov. 1! Free, virtual, and fiery (literally). 🔥🚗
Register here: www.tortmuseum.org/event/nation...
#TortLaw #CivilJustice #LegalEducation #LawTwitter #AccessToJustice
Join the American Museum of Tort Law for National Tort Law Education Day on Nov. 1! Free, virtual, and fiery (literally). 🔥🚗
Register here: www.tortmuseum.org/event/nation...
#TortLaw #CivilJustice #LegalEducation #LawTwitter #AccessToJustice
For the law-curious who want to be more engaged: a starter syllabus on how law collides with lives, power & justice. From A Civil Action to Just Mercy to the opioid crisis—and ending with my book The Pain Brokers (out 1.13.26). Full syllabus here: #LawStudents open.substack.com/pub/bethburc...
Law Curious
A Personal Curriculum for Understanding Justice in America
open.substack.com
September 21, 2025 at 9:23 PM
For the law-curious who want to be more engaged: a starter syllabus on how law collides with lives, power & justice. From A Civil Action to Just Mercy to the opioid crisis—and ending with my book The Pain Brokers (out 1.13.26). Full syllabus here: #LawStudents open.substack.com/pub/bethburc...
#MDL judges are ordering lead attorneys to file unfiled claims. Can they do that?
Judges have jurisdiction over claims, not the lawyers who practice before them. And lawyers owe fiduciary duties to their clients, not the judges who appoint them. 2 cases to 👀! www.law.com/2025/08/21/t...
Judges have jurisdiction over claims, not the lawyers who practice before them. And lawyers owe fiduciary duties to their clients, not the judges who appoint them. 2 cases to 👀! www.law.com/2025/08/21/t...
Two MDL Judges in High-Profile Cases, Alarmed by Unfiled Claims, Order Plaintiffs’ Firms to File Lawsuits | Law.com
In separate multidistrict litigation dockets over injectible birth control Depo-Provera and toxic chemicals in drinking water, federal judges ordered plaintiffs’ lawyers to file their lawsuits after d...
www.law.com
August 26, 2025 at 9:21 PM
#MDL judges are ordering lead attorneys to file unfiled claims. Can they do that?
Judges have jurisdiction over claims, not the lawyers who practice before them. And lawyers owe fiduciary duties to their clients, not the judges who appoint them. 2 cases to 👀! www.law.com/2025/08/21/t...
Judges have jurisdiction over claims, not the lawyers who practice before them. And lawyers owe fiduciary duties to their clients, not the judges who appoint them. 2 cases to 👀! www.law.com/2025/08/21/t...
Reposted by Elizabeth Chamblee Burch
This should be a doozy of a read. Story of 3 women (among millions) who were affected by pelvic mesh & who were preyed on by telemarketers, unethical Drs, and greedy lawyers. Women as cash cows. Pub 1/2026
@atriabooks.bsky.social @eburch.bsky.social
#medicine #health #legal #amreading #lawsuits
@atriabooks.bsky.social @eburch.bsky.social
#medicine #health #legal #amreading #lawsuits
August 1, 2025 at 12:35 PM
This should be a doozy of a read. Story of 3 women (among millions) who were affected by pelvic mesh & who were preyed on by telemarketers, unethical Drs, and greedy lawyers. Women as cash cows. Pub 1/2026
@atriabooks.bsky.social @eburch.bsky.social
#medicine #health #legal #amreading #lawsuits
@atriabooks.bsky.social @eburch.bsky.social
#medicine #health #legal #amreading #lawsuits
Reposted by Elizabeth Chamblee Burch
In two months, on August 5, my new co-authored book, Debt's Grip: Risk and Consumer Bankruptcy, published by University of California Press, will be out! (Co-authored with @boblawless.bsky.social and Deborah Thorne, University of Idaho.) More about the book here: www.ucpress.edu/books/debts-...
Debt's Grip by Pamela Foohey, Robert Lawless, Deborah Thorne - Paper
Scholarship is a powerful tool for changing how people think, plan, and govern. By giving voice to bright minds and bold ideas, we seek to foster understanding and drive progressive change.
www.ucpress.edu
June 5, 2025 at 10:41 AM
In two months, on August 5, my new co-authored book, Debt's Grip: Risk and Consumer Bankruptcy, published by University of California Press, will be out! (Co-authored with @boblawless.bsky.social and Deborah Thorne, University of Idaho.) More about the book here: www.ucpress.edu/books/debts-...
👏We are hiring!👏
UGA School of Law is conducting an open rank search for 4-5 positions in: torts, contracts, bankruptcy, environmental law, property, international law, and secured transactions, plus business/corporate law, administrative law, banking, & employment law.
Email: lawhiring@uga.edu
UGA School of Law is conducting an open rank search for 4-5 positions in: torts, contracts, bankruptcy, environmental law, property, international law, and secured transactions, plus business/corporate law, administrative law, banking, & employment law.
Email: lawhiring@uga.edu
July 1, 2025 at 8:53 PM
👏We are hiring!👏
UGA School of Law is conducting an open rank search for 4-5 positions in: torts, contracts, bankruptcy, environmental law, property, international law, and secured transactions, plus business/corporate law, administrative law, banking, & employment law.
Email: lawhiring@uga.edu
UGA School of Law is conducting an open rank search for 4-5 positions in: torts, contracts, bankruptcy, environmental law, property, international law, and secured transactions, plus business/corporate law, administrative law, banking, & employment law.
Email: lawhiring@uga.edu
Purdue's bankruptcy saga may soon draw to a close as all states and territories sign off on the revamped plan to transfer assets to a public benefit company.
Is everyone happy? Will the Sacklers be held to account?
No and maybe. A 🧵 www.bloomberglaw.com/product/blaw...
Is everyone happy? Will the Sacklers be held to account?
No and maybe. A 🧵 www.bloomberglaw.com/product/blaw...
June 20, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Purdue's bankruptcy saga may soon draw to a close as all states and territories sign off on the revamped plan to transfer assets to a public benefit company.
Is everyone happy? Will the Sacklers be held to account?
No and maybe. A 🧵 www.bloomberglaw.com/product/blaw...
Is everyone happy? Will the Sacklers be held to account?
No and maybe. A 🧵 www.bloomberglaw.com/product/blaw...
“Shadowy overseas #funders are paying to sue American companies in our courts,” said an ad that aired for some listeners of The Totally Football Show, “and they don’t pay a dime in US taxes if there is an award or settlement.”
@emilyrsiegel.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/product/blaw...
@emilyrsiegel.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/product/blaw...
Bloomberg Law
news.bloomberglaw.com
June 16, 2025 at 6:51 PM
“Shadowy overseas #funders are paying to sue American companies in our courts,” said an ad that aired for some listeners of The Totally Football Show, “and they don’t pay a dime in US taxes if there is an award or settlement.”
@emilyrsiegel.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/product/blaw...
@emilyrsiegel.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/product/blaw...
Reposted by Elizabeth Chamblee Burch
Wild story: a quality manager who warned about the shoddy construction of Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes was particularly concerned about the ones sent to Air India in 2014. That's when the Air India jet that crashed today was sent.
prospect.org/economy/2025...
prospect.org/economy/2025...
One of the Dreamliners That Gave a Boeing Manager Nightmares Just Crashed
Whistleblowers always warned that passengers would pay a price for Boeing’s tyrannical corner-cutting, especially with the planes shipped overseas.
prospect.org
June 12, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Wild story: a quality manager who warned about the shoddy construction of Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes was particularly concerned about the ones sent to Air India in 2014. That's when the Air India jet that crashed today was sent.
prospect.org/economy/2025...
prospect.org/economy/2025...
Reposted by Elizabeth Chamblee Burch
THE INTERCEPT’S PRESS FREEDOM DEFENSE FUND LAUNCHES RAPID RESPONSE FUND FOR JOURNALISTS COVERING CALIFORNIA PROTESTS theintercept.com/2025/06/10/j...
The Intercept’s Press Freedom Defense Fund Launches Rapid Response Fund for Journalists Covering California Protests
The fund will provide financial assistance for emergency medical support, legal support, equipment replacement, and other resources for affected reporters.
theintercept.com
June 13, 2025 at 12:06 AM
THE INTERCEPT’S PRESS FREEDOM DEFENSE FUND LAUNCHES RAPID RESPONSE FUND FOR JOURNALISTS COVERING CALIFORNIA PROTESTS theintercept.com/2025/06/10/j...