October 26, 2005

...are waiting to be filed by a team of plaintiffs' attorneys and firms led by Mark Lanier, Lanier claims. They'll seek to file cases in state court to avoid the multi-district litigation procedures of federal court. (Linda A. Johnson, AP, Oct. 24).

Most plaintiffs' attorneys are likely waiting to see how the first couple of New Jersey cases go before deciding where to file their cases. If Judge Higbee's courtroom looks to be a plaintiff-friendly venue, expect to see a tremendous deluge of cases filed in September 2006, since the plaintiffs will argue that a two-year New Jersey statute of limitations does not start to run until Merck withdrew Vioxx from the market.