Day on Torts
Vioxx vs Patients – Round 2. Venue: NJ
The trial is underway, and the defense has already violated the Judge’s order not to attack the plaintiffs’ lawyers. They spent alot of time attacking Mark Lanier in round one, and it worked so well there I guess they thought they should try it again.
This has become a tactic of some defense lawyers in recent history. Seizing on the dislike of lawyers, some defense lawyers wrap themselves up in the corporate (or doctor) flag and try the lawyers rather than (or in addition to) trying the case. It happened to me in a trial in December.
The Judge in New Jersey ordered the defense not to do it. They are doing it anyway, maybe hoping to get that continuance (via a mistrial) that the Judge would not give them.
If the defense does not obey the Judge’s order in the future, the Judge should heavily sanction the disobeying lawyers, including ordering them out of out the courtroom for the duration of the trial and holding a contempt hearing after the trial. There is no excuse for this type of conduct absent admissible evidence that the lawyer has engaged in bad conduct relevant to the issues in the case.