This week, my energies were tied up in election-related events. Next week, life continues, as I travel to Pasadena for the Vioxx conference I mentioned in my earlier post, "Why Isn't Merck Management Cooperating with the Press Regarding Vioxx?"
There seems to be an unusual amount of interest in the Vioxx conference, judging from coverage in the New York Times--
Hundreds of plaintiffs' lawyers who claim that people were injured or killed by the painkiller Vioxx plan to meet next week to lay the groundwork for a nationwide legal assault against the drug's maker, Merck.
The lawyers expect the discussions to begin informally on Tuesday in Pasadena, Calif., in the hallways of a conference on Vioxx litigation that will also be open to defense lawyers. On Thursday, at a meeting in Las Vegas for plaintiffs' lawyers only, those who are suing Merck, or plan to, expect to discuss specific strategies.
I expect the "informal discussions" in Pasadena and Las Vegas to include the wrangling for control of the to-be-consolidated federal cases I described in a previous post: "In exciting back-room conferences, lawyers will scream at each other about the number of individual clients they have and threaten to take drastic action against those who refuse to support their team." I'm not going to be participating in the fight, since I'm in the "trial lawyer" camp, as described in my "cast of characters." I'm enough of an outsider, in fact, that I might be able to provide some interesting details about what's happening without fear of reprisal from other plaintiffs' lawyers. (Although I am a Vioxx attorney--or as the purists might say, a Vioxx lawyer.)
Meanwhile, you can follow the links to the agendas for the conferences next week in Pasadena and Las Vegas. Though I'm only going to be in Pasadena, another member of my group is going to be in Las Vegas.
UPDATE 2/14/04. For all of my collected Vioxx posts, look here. If you are (a) someone who was harmed by Vioxx or (b) a lawyer who wants to refer your Vioxx cases to a highly-competent team of mass-tort lawyers, look here.
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