By William A. Ruskin Courts impose on corporate entities the burden of demonstrating that communications and documents shared with in-house counsel are protected by the attorney-client privilege. When companies cannot satisfy this burden, courts have... Read More

NEW ORLEANS - (Mealey's) The judge supervising the Vioxx multidistrict litigation on Oct. 19 awarded $315.3 million to the group of attorneys who conducted discovery and other work of benefit to all federal litigants and those participating in the... Read More

BOSTON — (Mealey’s) Pfizer Inc. has agreed to a $325 million class settlement of claims by third-party payers that allege that the off-label promotion of the epilepsy drug Neurontin violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations... Read More

MINNEAPOLIS - (Mealey's) The third Levaquin multidistrict litigation tendon rupture trial ended Jan. 26 with a defense verdict, defendant Johnson & Johnson's third compared to one plaintiff victory ( Clifford Straka v. Johnson & Johnson... Read More

JONESBORO, Ark. - (Mealey's) The fifth bellwether trial in the Prempro multidistrict litigation ended in a defense verdict on Oct. 20 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas after a jury found that Wyeth did not inadequately... Read More

DALLAS — (Mealey’s) Jurors in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on Oct. 23 returned a defense verdict for DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. and parent company Johnson & Johnson in the first Pinnacle hip multidistrict litigation... Read More

MIAMI BEACH - Remember the famous Mexican standoff scene in the movie "Reservoir Dogs" where the gang of crooks turn on each other, hold each other at gunpoint and then shoot each other? Plaintiff attorney Scott Summy of Baron & Budd... Read More

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — (Mealey’s) Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc. will pay $24 million to resolve claims of plaintiffs who allege that they developed gallbladder disease or underwent gallbladder surgery as a result of using Yasmin or... Read More

LOS ANGELES — (Mealey’s) The California federal judge overseeing the Nexium bone injury multidistrict litigation on Oct. 8 entered judgment in favor of manufacturer defendant AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP and related entities and against... Read More

NEW ORLEANS - (Mealey's) The federal judge in Louisiana presiding over the Chinese drywall multidistrict litigation on Jan. 10 preliminarily approved a settlement that would resolve thousands of claims involving defective drywall manufactured by Knauf... Read More

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - (Mealey's) The Alabama Supreme Court issued an order March 2 denying a defense application for rehearing of its June 30 opinion that permits a welder to seek damages for exposure to welding fumes within six years of filing suit... Read More

MINNEAPOLIS -- The second trial in the Levaquin antibiotic multidistrict litigation ended in a defense verdict June 17 when a jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota found that defendant Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc.... Read More

ABBOTT PARK, Ill. - (Mealey's) After an unfavorable assessment by a Food and Drug Administration expert committee regarding cardiovascular risk, Abbott Laboratories on Oct. 8 agreed with an FDA request to withdraw the weight-loss drug Meridia (sibutramine... Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. - (Mealey's) The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 12 denied review of a circuit court ruling that 112 hormone replacement therapy (HRT) plaintiffs did not fraudulently misjoin nondiverse defendants in order to keep their cases in Minnesota... Read More

LAFAYETTE, La. — (Mealey’s) The first federal court Actos bladder cancer trial ended April 7 in a $9 billion verdict against co-defendants Takeda Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. and Eli Lilly & Co. Inc., according to Takeda ( In Re: Actos [Pioglitazone... Read More