Plaintiffs Lawyers plan "Dream Team" for Vioxx Cases
This article in the Washington Post offers some details on the new strategy for Vioxx cases planned by plaintiffs lawyers.
One of their chief objectives is to attempt to push all future cases into State Courts which are usually viewed as more favorable to plaintiffs.
As the article notes:
"Houston lawyer Mark Lanier and New York attorney Perry Weitz have assembled a legal team of at least 10 law firms and 350 lawyers, Lanier told The Associated Press Monday."
"We've got the best courtroom lawyers, we've got the best mass tort lawyers ... and we've got the best negotiators that America has to offer working together on a dream team that is Merck's biggest nightmare," he said. "We call it kind of the 'Legal Godfathers.' "
The article also mentions that Merck attorneys are also planning their response to this strategy of the plaintiffs.
"We expect to oppose any attempt to splinter, to disrupt the operation of the MDL," Frazier told the analysts, referring to multidistrict litigation in federal court.
Merck outside counsel Ted Mayer said the company also prefers keeping cases in the MDL because that gives Merck consistent rulings on standards for admitting evidence and for expert testimony. He added that Merck has plenty of legal teams to handle simultaneous trials.
Plaintiffs Lawyers plan to counter Merck's strategy by increasing the number and location of lawsuits.
Lanier said Merck expected to fight most Vioxx cases in federal courts in the MDL, but he expects to have 10 legal teams running state trials nearly continuously, tying up Merck resources.
Lanier said his lawyers' group already has about 18,000 potential lawsuits awaiting filing.
One of their chief objectives is to attempt to push all future cases into State Courts which are usually viewed as more favorable to plaintiffs.
As the article notes:
"Houston lawyer Mark Lanier and New York attorney Perry Weitz have assembled a legal team of at least 10 law firms and 350 lawyers, Lanier told The Associated Press Monday."
"We've got the best courtroom lawyers, we've got the best mass tort lawyers ... and we've got the best negotiators that America has to offer working together on a dream team that is Merck's biggest nightmare," he said. "We call it kind of the 'Legal Godfathers.' "
The article also mentions that Merck attorneys are also planning their response to this strategy of the plaintiffs.
"We expect to oppose any attempt to splinter, to disrupt the operation of the MDL," Frazier told the analysts, referring to multidistrict litigation in federal court.
Merck outside counsel Ted Mayer said the company also prefers keeping cases in the MDL because that gives Merck consistent rulings on standards for admitting evidence and for expert testimony. He added that Merck has plenty of legal teams to handle simultaneous trials.
Plaintiffs Lawyers plan to counter Merck's strategy by increasing the number and location of lawsuits.
Lanier said Merck expected to fight most Vioxx cases in federal courts in the MDL, but he expects to have 10 legal teams running state trials nearly continuously, tying up Merck resources.
Lanier said his lawyers' group already has about 18,000 potential lawsuits awaiting filing.
posted by David Stone | 10:01 PM
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