Vioxx jurors cashing in as trial advisers
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Sunday, October 23, 2005
BY ED SILVERMAN AND JEFF MAYStar-Ledger Staff
Jurors in the nation's first Vioxx trial knew they would be thrust into the limelight this August when they slapped Merck with a multimillion dollar judgment.
Now, two months later, some of those same jurors are getting star billing of a different sort -- and a nice paycheck -- as paid advisers for trial lawyers lining up against the embattled New Jersey pharmaceutical company.
The practice of paying discharged jurors for their insights, unheard of until recently, shows a growing sophistication and coordination among mass tort lawyers as they pursue big quarry such as Merck. In addition, legal experts say, it could carry risks for the jury process as payments become more commonplace.
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On Nov. 2, four of the 10 jurors who returned a $253 million verdict against Merck in Angleton, Texas, will speak on a teleconference with some of the attorneys involved in the more than 6,000 Vioxx cases in state and federal courts.
The program, sponsored by the legal publishing business Mealey's, promises to give participants "an exclusive, one-time only opportunity to find out what worked and what didn't from actual jurors in the first Vioxx trial."
For their 90 minutes of work, jurors will receive $500.
While these payments trouble some legal ethicists, it's not the first time Vioxx jurors will receive compensation for discussing the case, nor will it be the last.
Three jurors were flown from Texas to New York last month to brief a group of plaintiff lawyers. And Mealey's wants to recruit jury members from the second Vioxx trial, now under way in Atlantic City, for a conference in December, said Randy Dunham, a spokesman for Lexis-Nexis, which owns Mealey's.
Informal questioning of jurors after a verdict is standard practice by attorneys. After the verdict in the Texas case -- won by the widow of Robert Ernst, a 59-year-old Wal-Mart produce manager who died in 2001 while taking Vioxx -- Merck lawyers called jurors at home to discuss how deliberations unfolded, according to two jurors.
In some states, such as New Jersey or Massachusetts, attorneys are not allowed to approach jurors. A session set up by an independent group can get around that prohibition, however, and can come relatively cheaply: Mealey's Vioxx teleconference, for example, only costs $199 a pop.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
BY ED SILVERMAN AND JEFF MAYStar-Ledger Staff
Jurors in the nation's first Vioxx trial knew they would be thrust into the limelight this August when they slapped Merck with a multimillion dollar judgment.
Now, two months later, some of those same jurors are getting star billing of a different sort -- and a nice paycheck -- as paid advisers for trial lawyers lining up against the embattled New Jersey pharmaceutical company.
The practice of paying discharged jurors for their insights, unheard of until recently, shows a growing sophistication and coordination among mass tort lawyers as they pursue big quarry such as Merck. In addition, legal experts say, it could carry risks for the jury process as payments become more commonplace.
Advertisement
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}
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On Nov. 2, four of the 10 jurors who returned a $253 million verdict against Merck in Angleton, Texas, will speak on a teleconference with some of the attorneys involved in the more than 6,000 Vioxx cases in state and federal courts.
The program, sponsored by the legal publishing business Mealey's, promises to give participants "an exclusive, one-time only opportunity to find out what worked and what didn't from actual jurors in the first Vioxx trial."
For their 90 minutes of work, jurors will receive $500.
While these payments trouble some legal ethicists, it's not the first time Vioxx jurors will receive compensation for discussing the case, nor will it be the last.
Three jurors were flown from Texas to New York last month to brief a group of plaintiff lawyers. And Mealey's wants to recruit jury members from the second Vioxx trial, now under way in Atlantic City, for a conference in December, said Randy Dunham, a spokesman for Lexis-Nexis, which owns Mealey's.
Informal questioning of jurors after a verdict is standard practice by attorneys. After the verdict in the Texas case -- won by the widow of Robert Ernst, a 59-year-old Wal-Mart produce manager who died in 2001 while taking Vioxx -- Merck lawyers called jurors at home to discuss how deliberations unfolded, according to two jurors.
In some states, such as New Jersey or Massachusetts, attorneys are not allowed to approach jurors. A session set up by an independent group can get around that prohibition, however, and can come relatively cheaply: Mealey's Vioxx teleconference, for example, only costs $199 a pop.
posted by Chris Placitella at 5:34 AM
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