Mobilizing for Justice in the Purdue Opioid Bankruptcy

Background

In 2019, the opioid crisis continued to devastate communities across the U.S., with Purdue Pharma at the center of mounting litigation for its role in aggressively marketing addictive opioids like OxyContin. The company filed for bankruptcy under the weight of tens of thousands of claims by individuals and families who had suffered life-altering consequences due to opioid addiction.That same year, Anne Andrews, a nationally recognized mass tort attorney, approached Jacob Malherbe and the team at Mass Tort Ad Agency with a challenge: Could they help build a national referral network of law firms capable of identifying and signing up opioid victims to file claims in the Purdue bankruptcy proceedings?

Challenge

The window for filing claims was limited. Thousands of potential victims lacked legal representation or didn’t even know they qualified. The task was enormous:

• Reach and educate people about their rights.
• Connect victims to trusted legal counsel.
• Assemble and coordinate a capable team of law firms willing to act swiftly and ethically.
• Most critically: help provide closure to victims of one of the most tragic public health crises in modern history.

Anne made the goal clear: 10,000 filed claims would be a major success.

Solution

Jacob and his team got to work immediately, leveraging their deep expertise in digital advertising for legal services. Their approach included:

• Nationwide Awareness Campaigns: Facebook and Instagram ads informed people about the Purdue bankruptcy and their right to file a claim.
• Prequalified Lead Generation: A sophisticated intake process connected those affected to legal teams quickly and efficiently.
• Referral Network Assembly: Over 50 law firms joined forces, unified by the mission of helping victims seek justice and compensation.
• Claim Management Coordination: Andrews & Thornton handled the legal workup and claim filing while the referral firms ensured intake scalability.

Results

The outcome far exceeded expectations:

• 142,000 qualified leads generated.
• 87,000 claimants signed — over 8x the original goal.
• One of the largest coordinated claim efforts in the Purdue bankruptcy process.
• Thousands of individuals were empowered to seek justice and begin healing.

Impact

Beyond the numbers, this was a human story — of lives disrupted by addiction, families torn apart, and a legal system attempting to provide restitution. For Jacob and his team, the effort wasn’t just about marketing or metrics; it was about making a difference.

“It was a wonderful experience to help so many people who had become addicted to opioids. For many, this was a step toward closure.” — Jacob Malherbe

Conclusion

This case exemplifies what’s possible when technology, empathy, and legal expertise converge. By bringing together a network of law firms, digital outreach, and a shared sense of purpose, Mass Tort Ad Agency played a pivotal role in one of the most significant bankruptcy claim efforts in U.S. legal history.

Helping Survivors of Abuse Step Forward — The Boy Scouts of America Bankruptcy Campaign Background

Background

Shortly after the success of the Purdue Pharma opioid bankruptcy campaign, another significant national case emerged — this time involving the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). For decades, survivors of childhood abuse within the organization had remained silent, carrying their pain in isolation. But as lawsuits mounted and public attention intensified, the BSA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in an effort to consolidate and address the legal claims.

Once again, Anne Andrews, a pioneer in mass tort bankruptcy litigation, turned to Jacob Malherbe and the team at Mass Tort Ad Agency to help identify survivors and connect them to trusted legal resources before the bankruptcy claim deadline.

The Challenge

Unlike previous campaigns, this one required not just outreach — but sensitivity and soul.

• The victims were mostly men over 40, many of whom had never spoken publicly about the abuse they suffered.
• The emotional burden of reliving trauma from childhood created major obstacles to engagement.
• The bankruptcy deadline added urgency, with legal pathways closing quickly.

The team faced an unspoken but profound challenge: encouraging tens of thousands of men to share the most painful memories of their lives — not just for justice, but to protect future generations.

The Strategy

With Anne Andrews once again serving as the lead claim handler and legal architect, Jacob and his team sprang into action:

• 30+ law firms were activated through a tight referral network to intake and support survivors.
• Emotional, respectful video and social media campaigns were launched, speaking directly to men in their 40s, 50s, and 60s.
• Every message was personalized, not about lawsuits or money — but about healing, accountability, and legacy.
• Ad copy and creatives were carefully tested to strike the right tone: “It’s time to be heard.” “You are not alone.” “You can help protect future scouts.”

Results

The response was both overwhelming and humbling:

• The campaign brought in over 20,000 survivor claims — out of 93,000 total filed in the BSA bankruptcy process.
• It was one of the most successful survivor engagement campaigns in bankruptcy history.
• Many men reported that, for the first time in their lives, they felt seen, heard, and supported.

Reflections

“The hardest part was knowing that for each claim, someone had to relive their childhood trauma. But the result was worth it. We gave thousands of men a voice — and a path to healing.” — Jacob Malherbe

Years later, Jacob returned to the Boy Scouts — this time as a father, bringing his 8-year-old son to see firsthand the reforms the organization had implemented since emerging from bankruptcy.

“I can truly say that no other child will have to live through the horrors of the past. The changes I saw were real, and I would now trust BSA with my own son. Sometimes what we do is for future generations — so they don’t have to suffer. That makes it all worth it.”

Conclusion

This campaign was more than a legal effort — it was a national reckoning, a movement to help survivors find their voice and ensure the past would never be repeated. The BSA bankruptcy campaign stands as a testament to the power of purpose-driven marketing, legal collaboration, and empathy.

30,000 and Counting — The Roundup Campaign That Proved Facebook Was Built for Mass Torts

Background

For decades, Roundup, the popular weedkiller manufactured by Monsanto (later acquired by Bayer), was marketed as safe. But as lawsuits piled up linking glyphosate — the active ingredient — to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and other blood cancers, the tide began to turn.

Lawsuits were filed. Scientific evidence mounted. And yet, no major national settlement came — year after year.

That’s where Jacob Malherbe, Mass Tort Ad Agency, and a powerful alliance with Intakedesk and Howard Kastner came in.“We thought it would settle every year. It just didn’t. But we never stopped.” — Jacob Malherbe

Strategy: The Power of Patience, Partnerships, and Platform

This campaign wasn’t just about running ads — it was about building an ecosystem:

• Advertising (Mass Tort Ad Agency): Generating qualified leads through smart, creative, high-budget campaigns.
• Intake (Intakedesk): Masters in converting leads with care and precision into viable claimants.
• Partnership (Howard Kastner): A long-term collaborator who shared the vision and stuck with the campaign for over five years.

Over the course of the campaign:

• $50 million+ was spent on Facebook ads.
• 30,000 individuals suffering from blood cancers were signed and supported.
• Campaigns were continuously refined to reach those most in need.

The Facebook Factor: Built for Mass Torts

What made this campaign truly unique was the realization of Facebook’s original promise — not just as a social platform, but as a hyper-intelligent matchmaker between real people and real help.

“What I saw with Roundup is why I came to Facebook in the first place. No platform knows more about us — our interests, our pain points, our needs.” — Jacob Malherbe

Key advantages:

• Algorithmic Targeting: Facebook learned what a Roundup mass tort client looked like — their demographics, interests, behavior.
• Lookalike Audiences: The platform helped scale exponentially by finding others just like them.
• Precision and Efficiency: Years of data refinement meant higher quality leads at lower cost — the longer the campaign ran, the smarter it got.

Creative That Converts

No algorithm works without powerful content. What stopped the scroll and started the journey?

• Emotive copy that addressed health fears with empathy.
• Striking visuals — of gardens, gloves, hospital beds — that instantly connected product use to pain.
• Video stories that mirrored real lives of victims.

Facebook, when combined with Jacob’s storytelling and targeting expertise, became the ultimate mass tort engine.

Results

• 30,000 blood cancer victims reached and signed over multiple years.
• One of the longest-running and largest single-tort Facebook campaigns in legal advertising history.
• Built a blueprint for persistent, data-optimized tort marketing that can be replicated for future mass injury cases.
• And — as of today — the case still isn’t over. But the support system is strong, and thousands of clients now have the representation they deserve.

Reflection

“Sometimes we work for years with no guarantee. But with the right partners and the right platform, you can keep showing up for people who need help — and you can do it at scale.” — Jacob Malherbe

Conclusion

The Roundup campaign stands as a testament to long-term vision, cross-functional collaboration, and the unmatched potential of Meta’s platform in legal advocacy. It showed the world that Facebook isn’t just for connection — it’s for justice at scale.

Breaking the Silence at USC — The George Tyndall Sexual Abuse Scandal

Background

In May 2018, a breaking story in the Los Angeles Times exposed a decades-long pattern of sexual abuse committed by Dr. George Tyndall, the campus gynecologist at the University of Southern California (USC). For over 30 years, complaints from students and even faculty had been ignored — and in many cases, actively suppressed — by university leadership. Despite serious allegations of misconduct and abuse, Dr. Tyndall had remained in his position, protected by those in power.

While many read the article with shock and outrage, Jacob Malherbe saw something more: an opportunity to help victims be heard — and a pathway to justice.

The Spark: Using Google Alerts for Legal Marketing Insight

Jacob wasn’t relying on tips or headlines passed around — he was actively hunting for injustice using Google Alerts, a secret weapon he uses with precision.

“I live by Google Alerts. When that USC story hit the LA Times, I knew what to do instantly.” — Jacob MalherbeHe had long understood that mass torts often start as news stories — and when that story hits, first to screen wins.

Taking Action: A New Frontier in Legal Campaigns

At the time, sexual abuse mass torts were not widely run. Jacob and his close attorney partner Darren Miller were entering relatively uncharted waters.

• Jacob immediately called Darren and said, “Let’s see if women will come forward if we ask.”
• They launched a pilot digital ad campaign, targeting affected alumni and students from USC.
• With just $37 in ad spend, the campaign signed its first client.
• Encouraged by the immediate response, they scaled the campaign rapidly.

What followed was a watershed moment:

• Women began coming forward — quietly at first, and then in growing numbers.
• Other attorneys followed suit, launching their own campaigns.
• The silence at USC was broken. The floodgates had opened.

Results

• Mass Tort Ad Agency’s campaign signed over 400 women impacted by Dr. Tyndall’s abuse.
• In total, over 700 women came forward.
• Each received a $1.2 million settlement, totaling over $850 million.
• The University of Southern California was put on national notice, and the precedent was set: universities must take Title IX seriously or risk losing federal funding.

Impact

This was more than a mass tort — it was a cultural reckoning.

The campaign helped catalyze broader awareness that institutions of higher education are not above accountability. Jacob and his team’s work not only helped hundreds of women find justice but also sent a message across the country that student protection is non-negotiable.

“We were the first to the screen and the first out with ads. That made all the difference. But more than that, we gave these women what the university didn’t: a voice, respect, and justice.” — Jacob Malherbe

Jacob has since advised others on how to ethically and swiftly respond when injustice is uncovered — especially when institutional systems have failed.

Conclusion

The USC Tyndall case is a defining example of how legal marketing, when done with integrity and urgency, can drive large-scale impact. By acting quickly, leveraging news alerts, and prioritizing survivor dignity, Jacob helped launch one of the most significant sexual abuse claim efforts in university history.

When Law Wasn’t Enough — Helping Victims of the Las Vegas Shooting

Background

On the night of October 1, 2017, the unthinkable happened. A lone gunman opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas, unleashing chaos on the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival below. The result was one of the deadliest mass shootings in American history:

• 60 lives lost
• More than 400 wounded
• Thousands traumatized

As the news broke across every television screen in the country, Jacob Malherbe watched the tragedy unfold and immediately knew: the victims would need help — fast.

But there was a problem.

The Legal Roadblock

Unlike most injury or mass tort cases, traditional legal doctrine didn’t offer a clear path for justice:

• How could anyone argue that the hotel should have reasonably foreseen such an unprecedented act?
• Could security protocols be blamed for someone sneaking firearms into a room using ordinary luggage?
• Many lawyers, citing textbook liability principles, refused to take on the case.

“Almost every lawyer I knew said, ‘There’s no case here. It’s tragic, but the law doesn’t allow us to help.’” — Jacob Malherbe

But Jacob refused to accept “no” as the final answer.

The Strategy: Appeal to Humanity, Not Just Law

Rather than chase a near-impossible legal theory, Jacob looked at the situation through a community lens:

• The victims were mostly local — Las Vegas residents and workers.
• The casinos were local too, deeply tied to the city’s reputation and economy.
• It wasn’t just a legal question. It was a moral one.

Jacob approached several attorneys and proposed a new theory of resolution:

“This won’t be about what the law allows — it will be about what decency demands. These casinos will settle, not because they have to, but because they should.”

While skeptical, a handful of trusted attorneys followed Jacob’s lead and launched a grassroots effort to sign up victims — with no guarantees.

Results

Persistence paid off:

• 500 clients were signed by Jacob’s campaign — a remarkable show of faith given the legal uncertainty.
• In the end, 4,000 victims came forward.
• The case resulted in a landmark $800 million settlement.

What was once considered legally impossible became a moment of corporate accountability and community healing.

Reflection

“Sometimes, it’s not the law that gets you there — it’s the decency of the defense to do the right thing in catastrophic cases. Even if we hadn’t won a settlement, letting victims know someone was fighting for them… that alone was worth everything.” — Jacob Malherbe

This case wasn’t about winning in court. It was about restoring dignity, offering hope, and reminding the world that even in the darkest moments, there are people who care enough to try.

Conclusion

The Las Vegas shooting campaign is a defining example of how bold thinking, moral clarity, and human empathy can open doors where the law seems shut. Jacob Malherbe’s approach helped bring resolution not only to the victims, but also to a city struggling to make sense of an unimaginable tragedy.

Shining a Light on Video Game Addiction — 100,000 Clients and Counting

Background

As a father of three boys — two of whom are passionate gamers — Jacob Malherbe understood firsthand the powerful grip video games can have on children. But when he met Tina Bullock and learned about her organization’s mission to hold gaming companies accountable for their addictive design practices, everything crystallized. “I knew what she was talking about. My boys were spending way too much time on video games. I saw it in my own home — and I knew I wasn’t alone.” — Jacob Malherbe

The data was staggering:

• 38 million American kids play video games.
• 10% or more could meet criteria for clinical addiction.
• Children with neurological disorders (ADD, ADHD, Autism, spectrum disorders) are particularly vulnerable to the dopamine spikes from gameplay “wins.”

Jacob immediately drew parallels to the Opioid epidemic — another addiction hidden in plain sight, devastating families across the country.

The Hidden Crisis

Video game addiction is often dismissed as a “parenting issue.” But what Jacob uncovered was far more alarming:

• Children and teens playing 8+ hours a day, ignoring friends, family, and school.
• Severe withdrawal reactions when access to games was restricted.
• Stories of self-harm and suicide attempts directly tied to gaming addiction.

“When we reached 10,000 signed clients, 12% reported a suicide attempt. I was like, what the hell? And that percentage stayed the same as we signed more.” — Jacob Malherbe

This wasn’t just kids “having fun.” It was a public health crisis.

The Campaign: Persistence Without a Finish Line

Jacob and his team at Mass Tort Ad Agency began building the Video Game Addiction campaign in December 2024. They worked through holidays, often around the clock, because the need was so urgent:

• Christmas Eve until 6 p.m.
• New Year’s Eve until 8 p.m.

“This campaign felt like it would never end. The more victims I saw, the worse it got.” — Jacob Malherbe

With the help of Intake partners and committed attorneys, the campaign gathered unprecedented momentum:

• Facebook and Instagram ads educated families on the signs of gaming addiction.
• Careful intake processes supported parents, many of whom were in crisis themselves.
• Parallel efforts uncovered shocking patterns in user data, time spent, and neurological impact.