In this video podcast Attorney Jan Schlichtmann sits down with Attorney Angel Reyes and his associate Attorney Jim Orr to discuss the recent Duragesic Patch verdict they returned. This area of product/mass tort litigation is of particular interest to trial lawyers and consumers who are interested in the FDA recent recall of even more of these potentially dangerous medicated patches. A great video to watch if you are a consumer or a trial lawyer.

 

 Last week on Civil Action Radio guest host, Attorney Roberta Ashkin of the Ashkin Law Office, was joined by the trial lawyer team that won the nationally publicized verdict in the first Federal Fentanyl Patch case. Roberta is a frequent guest and commentator on The Legal Broadcast Network and her commentary on legal issues and areas of interest to trial lawyers can be found exclusively on LBN channels and podcasts.

The 25 minute podcast featured Attorney Jim Orr of Dallas, TX and a partner in Heygood, Orr, Reyes & Bartolomei, and Attorney Ike Gulas of Birmingham, AL and a partner in the firm of Gulas & Stuckey. This podcast is a bit longer then our typical 15 minute editions but this case has been reported in virtually every major national publication and legal magazine and this interview with two key members of the trial team will give you an inside glimpse into the facts and issues that brought this verdict in for the plaintiffs.
 

 Jim Orr focuses his practice on complex business litigation and personal injury matters and over the course of his career he has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in a variety of civil litigation matters and has tried over 60 cases to verdict. He is AV rated by Martindale Hubbell and has been voted several times by his peers one of the “Super Lawyers” in the State of Texas. Also representing the client for Heygood, Orr, Reyes and Bartolomei in this case were Attorney Angel Reyes and Charles Miller as part of the trial team and you can find their bio’s and more information about the firm by clicking the link above.

 

 

 Ike Gulas has built an impressive reputation in mass tort litigation and class action suits brought against the pharmaceutical manufacturers of Rezulin, Fen-Phen, Serzone and Baycol. His firm is known through out the south as one of the premier mass tort trial firms and this verdict in a difficult federal case will only further cement that reputation.  

The podcast discusses the $5.5 million wrongful death verdict against two subsidiaries, Janssen Pharmaceutical Products, LP and ALAZ Corp, of pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson in the nations first federal court trial involving the patch form of the narcotic painkiller fentanyl, also known and sold under the name “Duragesic patch”.  In this particular case the plaintiffs were the estate of the late Adam Hendelson who died on December 17, 2003 as a result of the leakage of the patch which put fatal levels of fentanyl into his system, killing him at home.

This is a significant verdict and fascinating case that will be of interest to trial lawyers nationally and settlement professionals who have clients that work in pharmaceutical litigation.

You can listen to the entire podcast by clicking here. 

In the resumption of the weekly radio podcasts of Civil Action Radio Attorney Jan Schlichtmann and co-host Mark Wahlstrom bring you a podcast on the issue of pre-emption and a recent announcement from the Texas State Court that has consolidated the Vioxx cases there.

You can read an excellent summary provided by the Houston Chronicle by clicking here.

Jan takes up the issue of preemption, as it relates to these cases and the ruling by Judge Randy Wilson, and his opinion that these preemption cases, based this time on an FDA regulation written in 2004, creates the ability to toss the 888 vioxx cases pending in his court.

Listen to the podcast by clicking here, or you can just click on the Itunes icon down on our left line that looks like this happy little purple peg figure, to listen to this edition of Civil Action Radio. 

 

Civil Action Center Attorney Jan Schlichtmann was recently one of the featured speakers at the Mass Torts Made Perfect Conference in Las Vegas, NV. On each of the days Jan spoke on two topics of interest to trial lawyers and legal observers, with day one being about the exciting new use of 468b settlement trusts to pull together potential claimants on mass tort cases. It’s use has already been featured in the Danversport Explosion case and The Massachussets Public Shade Tree trust. In this video, available by just clicking on the TV box below, you can listen as Jan outlines his vision for using this approach in larger scale mass torts such as the existing Vioxx cases, but also in environmental claims and the looming anemia drug cases such as Procrit, Aranesp and Epogen.

 

In the second video podcast, shot on day two of the conference, Jan gives a stirring talk and a reminder to trial lawyers why the fight for justice is so crucial, and what surrendering the battle field to the tort reformers will lead too. If you have felt hopeless lately about the tort reform misinformation campaign, wonder why it is you got into the practice of law, or are a law student wondering what the road ahead is like, you need to watch this video of the REAL Civil Action Attorney, Jan Schlichtmann. This is a timeless talk that you can download or email to others.