Sylvius von Saucken Managing Director

Sylvius von Saucken is the General Manager of Epiq’s Mass Tort Solutions, a/k/a the Garretson Resolution Group, having served the mass tort industry as a thought leader and problem solver for some of the nation’s largest and most complex mass tort settlements. Mr. von Saucken leverages his more than 18 years’ experience to manage Epiq’s mass tort business, also serving as a lead subject matter expert for clients and colleagues. He regularly consults with clients about best practices, innovative approaches to lien resolution and other payment complication challenges, including how to manage qualified settlement funds efficiently and cost-effectively. Mr. von Saucken has served as a lead designer of global settlement models, working to create synergies with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 

Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Mr. von Saucken also works extensively on Epiq’s relationships with the United States Federal Government, including the Office of General Counsel, Dept. of Veterans’ Affairs.  Mr. von Saucken, in conjunction  with his then-partner, Matthew Garretson, worked closely with Sr. U.S. District Court Judge, Alvin K. Hellerstein, as part of the team that designed the settlement paradigm in In re World Trade Ctr. Disaster Site Litig., 270 F. Supp. 2d 357, 361 (S.D.N.Y. 2003).

Mr. von Saucken has: (a) served as the Successor Trustee of the (BP) Medical Settlement Trust, which is the administration vehicle for the BP Oil Spill Medical Settlement  established in In Re: Oil Spill by the Oil Rig “Deepwater Horizon” in the Gulf of Mexico, on April 20, 2010, MDL No. 2179, involving over 250,000 claims, a Gulf Coast Outreach program, and hundreds of millions of dollars of payments over the past seven years; (b) oversaw Epiq’s administration of the Tronox, Inc. Tort Claims Trust, in In re Tronox Incorporated, et al., Case No. 09-10156 (Hon. Michael E. Wiles), an environmental remediation trust involving more than 40,000 claims and hundreds of millions of dollars; and (c) oversaw Epiq’s administration of both fund administration and lien resolution activities in: (i) In re: National Football League Players’ Concussion Injury Litigation, MDL No. 2323, and (ii) Denhollander v. Michigan State University, Lead Case No.1-17-cv-29 (Hon. Gordon J. Quist), the nation’s first #MeToo settlement involving the survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of convicted felon, Dr. Lawrence Nassar.  Mr. von Saucken continues to serve as the national probate consultant for the attorneys who represent gold star families who secured judgments against the Islamic Republic of Iran, leading to a distribution order  in Peterson, et al. v. Islamic Republic of Iran, et al., Case No. 1:10-cv-04518 (KBF) (June 6, 2016), following more than a decade of litigation which culminated in the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Bank Markazi, et al. v. Peterson, et al., 578 U.S. ___ (2016), No. 14-770 (April 20, 2016).

PREVIOUS PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Prior to joining Epiq, Mr. von Saucken practiced law in Cincinnati, Ohio for 14 years as a government benefit, income tax, estate, probate, trust and transfer tax attorney, who represented corporate and individual clients across the country.  Mr. von Saucken is a seasoned trust attorney, who also served as a Receiver for the Boone Circuit (Kentucky) Court in Abbott v. Chesley, Civ. Action No. 05-CI0436 (Judges Crittenden, followed by Morris, presiding), where he oversaw and managed the primary assets subject to litigation arising from a diet drug mass tort settlement, including a horse farm in Lexington, Kentucky and two-time National Horse of the Year, Curlin.

In June, 2016, in In Re: Amendments to Rule Regulating The Florida Bar 4-1.5 – Fees and Costs For Legal Services, (No. SC 16-104), Mr. von Saucken argued before the Florida Supreme Court on a proposed Florida Bar rule that would have impacted lien resolution protocols for attorneys in that state.

EDUCATION

Mr. von Saucken holds a B.A. in Diplomacy / Foreign Affairs & Political Science from Miami University (OH) and a J.D. from the Salmon P. Chase College of Law, where he has served as an adjunct professor, co-teaching courses in Federal Wealth Transfer Taxation and Estate Planning. 

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

Mr. von Saucken is a past Board President of the Sister Cities Association of Greater Cincinnati (n/k/a Cincinnati USA Sister City Association), a non-profit organization responsible for managing citizenship diplomacy exchanges as part of mayor’s agreements between the citizens of Cincinnati and their respective Sister Cities (currently nine). 

ACCOLADES

Mr. von Saucken was recognized by his peers as one of Ohio’s “Rising Stars” in Ohio Super Lawyers magazine in 2005, while engaged in private practice.

ADMITTED TO PRACTICE

Mr. von Saucken is an active member of the Ohio State Bar Association.

PRESENTATIONS

Mr. von Saucken has spoken before numerous state and national bar associations, as well as judicial conferences on a variety of topics impacting the settlement continuum, from Medicaid component estate planning, trust administration and taxation, taxation of settlements, Medicare repayment rules, strategies and practice tips, to Medicare Set-Asides, Qualified Settlement Funds, Medicaid lien strategies and resolution, special needs trusts, and government benefit preservation strategies. A representative sampling of his speaking engagements over the past decade include:

• Mass Torts Made Perfect (Webinar on Veterans Administration and FMCRA claims)
• RISE, Medicare Secondary Payer Forums (Mass Tort Lien Resolution and MSP/ MMSEA updates)
• SNAP Seminar (Trusts and Taxation) 
• OAJ Seminars, Deficit Reduction Act, Settlement Planning, Taxation of Settlement, Medicare Secondary Payer 
• National Crime Victims Seminar
• NBI Seminars (Trusts; Settlement Planning) 
• NAMSAP Seminar (Medicare Set Asides and Qualified Settlement Funds) 
• CBA Seminar (Medicare Set Asides and Settlement Planning Issues) 
• LBA Seminar (Medicaid/Care and Govt. Benefit Preservation Settlement. Issues) 
• SEAK Workers’ Compensation Seminar (Medicare Set Asides) 
• SDTLA, WILG Seminars (Medicare Set Asides and MSP Compliance) 
• Multi-State Workers’ Compensation Seminar (Resolving Conditional Payments) 
• Central Ohio Self-Insured Association (MSA’s, Settlements & The New Reporting Rules) 
• Ohio Academy for Justice (Lien Resolution: The Ultimate Update) 
• Academy of Special Needs Planners (The new Medicare Reporting Rules and MSAs) 
• Wisconsin Association for Justice (ERISA, Settlements, MSAs and MMSEA) 
• American Rail Labor Attorneys (Medicare Compliance) 
• Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys 51st Annual Convention
• American Association of Justice – Teleseminar (MSAs)
• Kentucky Academy of Hospital Attorneys 
• Indiana Trial Lawyers Association-Lien Resolution: The Ultimate Update on Conditional Payments) 
• Wisconsin Association for Justice (Elephants in the Room; MSAs, MMSEA and the Great July 1st Debate) 
• LA State Bar Ass’n 9th Annual Class Action/Mass Tort Symposium (Federal and State Involvement in Complex Litigation) 
• New York State Bar Association (Handling Tough Issues in a Plaintiff’s Personal Injury Case) 
• Pennsylvania Association for Justice Liens & Subrogation (Preparing for Absolute Medicare Compliance) 
• HB Litigation Conference Emerging Trends in Asbestos (Compliance Requirements: Asbestos Settlements) 
• Consumer Attorneys of California Annual Tahoe Ski Seminar (Preparing for Medicare Compliance) 
• State Bar of Georgia Complex Personal Injury Litigation (MMSEA and the Myths of the MSP Act) 
• USA&M Midwest, Inc. “The Best Practice Series Seminar” (Understanding and Dealing with Medicare Set Aside Issues) 
• Second Judicial District of the New York State Supreme Court (Preparing for Judicial responses to Medicare Compliance) 
• RAND Institute for Justice, Policy Symposium 
• American Association for Justice, San Francisco, (Medicare Set Aside Trusts-Post Settlement Issues) 
• New York Judicial Conference Asbestos Litigation, Albany, NY (Substantive & Procedural Issues) 
• HB Litigation Conference, Los Angeles, CA (December ‘10) (Asbestos Litigation West Coast Crash Course) 

EXPERT WITNESS EXPERIENCE

Sacs, et al. v. R.J.Reynolds Tobacco Company, et al, Docket No. 15-25339-CA-25 (Miami Dade County, Florida 2017).

Nicholson v. SmithKline Beecham d/b/a GlaxoSmithKline, Cause No. 52,404 (256th D. Ct., Hardin County, Tex. 2013).

Gutierrez v. AstraZeneca LP, et al., Cause No. 45,259 (23rd D. Ct., Wharton County, Tex. 2011).

Corbett, et al. v. SmithKline Beacham d/b/a GlaxoSmithKline, Cause No. 09-CV-2246 (212th D. Ct., Galveston County, Tex. 2010).

PUBLICATIONS

The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005: How It May Affect Your Clients' Settlements, Ohio Trial and Verdict Reporter (Aug. 2007).

Murphy v. United States, Round Three Emotional Distress Awards Lose Their Independence from Taxation, Prairie Barrister (Fall 2007).
 
What MSAs, MMSEA Mean For Your Practice, CBA Report (Sep. 2009). 

Act Two Reporting Obligations for Settling Insurers where Medicare is a Secondary Payer: The Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007, North Carolina Bar Association, Prognosis (October 2009).
 
MSAs and the MMSEA: What it Really Means for Your Practice, Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys the Prairie Barrister