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Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Merck: What Now
Slate offers an interesting look at the decisions facing the various Vioxx litigants in the wake of the August 19 whopper of a judgment (discussed by us previously).
Over the coming months, Merck and the lawyers representing Vioxx plaintiffs will have a series of crossing-the-Rubicon decisions to make in this litigation: Each side will have to choose between expensive piecemeal litigation, expensive class-action litigation, expensive settlement, or expensive bankruptcy. And they'll make those choices with precious little information, while their costs spiral upward. So here's a little backgrounder on the calculus behind Merck's and Vioxx plaintiffs' fight-or-flight decision-making.
The article is useful as a window into the Merck litigation, but the points it makes--particularly about various strategic decisions that must be made with incomplete information--can be generalized to all types of civil (and to a lesser degree, criminal) litigation. It should be used in introductory procedure courses as an illustration of the choices lawyers and litigants must make and the factors that go into making those choices.
Posted by Hillel Levin on August 31, 2005 at 12:10 PM in Hillel Levin | Permalink
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» What next for Merck? from PointOfLaw Forum
Richmond attorney/lawprof Cullen Seltzer surveys the options for the drug firm and its opponents after the Vioxx verdict (via Prawfsblawg).... [Read More]
Tracked on Sep 1, 2005 11:24:10 AM
» What next for Merck? from PointOfLaw Forum
Richmond attorney/lawprof Cullen Seltzer surveys the options for the drug firm and its opponents after the Vioxx verdict (via Prawfsblawg). More: plaintiff's lawyer Dwight Meredith argues that the "Texas case had a number of disadvantages for Merck tha... [Read More]
Tracked on Sep 2, 2005 12:26:33 AM
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