Kansas City, Mo. ? A Texas attorney experienced in high-profile cases will mediate between two drug makers and cancer patients suing them over pharmacist Robert Courtney’s drug dilution scheme.

Susan S. Soussan has mediated thousands of lawsuits in the past two decades, including a $480 million settlement from Exxon Corp.’s insurers, led by Lloyd’s of London, to pay for the cleanup of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.

Soussan, who practices in Houston, was selected after Senior Jackson County Circuit Judge Lee Wells on Wednesday asked the parties to submit the lawsuits to mediation.

Soussan confirmed Friday that she had been asked to mediate, but she declined to discuss the cases. Soussan said she would meet with the parties on Monday.

Wells has postponed until Tuesday a hearing on summary judgment motions filed by defendants Eli Lilly and Co. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. The drug makers want the lawsuits thrown out.

In a separate criminal proceeding, Courtney pleaded guilty in February to 20 counts of tampering with chemotherapy drugs that he prepared at his Kansas City pharmacy to fill doctors’ prescriptions. He is scheduled to be sentenced in December and faces up to 30 years in prison.

Hundreds of civil lawsuits have also been filed against Courtney and the two pharmaceutical manufacturers by cancer patients and their families.

The lawsuits allege that the drug companies knew or should have known that Courtney was diluting their drugs but did nothing to stop him.