Miscellaneous

Fen-Phen Phun: Judge Is Poster Boy for Mass Tort Education

By Anne Skove, Esq.

Anyone following the federal trial of the fen-phen lawyers has read that Circuit Judge Bamberger admits to being "embarrassed" that he relied on Stan "The Man" Chesley for advice during the settlement process.

Judge Bamberger and others like you...be embarrassed no more! There are squillions of resources at your fingertips, provided you (or your clerks) can a) dial a phone, b) page through a book, and c) look things up online.

Help is on the way! The Federal Judicial Center (or FJC, to those of us in the know) publishes the hefty Manual for Complex Litigation (or MCL, if you want to sound above-the-beltway). Last we checked they were up to the fourth edition. The MCL walks you through the entire process, from Early Identification and Control (10.11) to Jury Questionnaire (40.7), plus points between such as Prediscovery Disclosure (11.13), Juror Note Taking (12.421), even an Order Creating a Web Site (40.3)! When the case is finished and you never want to see another one like it, you can use the MCL as a doorstop, child's booster seat, or couch support (much classier than bricks). To access the lightweight (in poundage, not substance) version, check the FJC publications catalog. Besides publishing the MCL, FJC offers numerous reports, resources, and assistance for federal judges.

There's more than just keno in Reno! The National Judicial College, located in the ugliest town in the country, offers a ton of courses, including Managing Complex Litigation. Trouble with mass torts is that judges never think they'll see one until it's too late. At that point, there's no time to take a class!

The NCSC's mass tort initiatives were aimed at judges in that particular situation. A judge suddenly facing a class action or other mass tort could contact Amy McDowell at the National Center for State Courts. She'll hook you up with the best and brightest of your peers through the Mass Tort Judges' Network, send you resources from the NCSC Library, walk you through the massive Mass Tort Clearinghouse, and talk you through the pain.

The ABA's Litigation and Environmental sections are also a huge help as far as networking, background information, and conference sessions go.

Is it OK to use an expert or get information from the lawyers in the case? Certainly. The MCL covers the use of all types of experts and how to work with the lawyers. This has been done successfully and ethically many times in many ways, as most federal judges who have educated themselves about a given topic will agree.

But there's a fine line between utilizing and relying. Who's the judge? You are! Yes, even when the brilliant most hated/fabulously beloved (depending on where you stand) Chesley is sitting next to you in the conference room. Best o' luck.

See Judge: I Relied on Chesley, Jim Hannah, The Enquirer (May 22, 2008), and Witnesses Detail Fen-Phen Settlement, Jim Warren, Herald-Leader (May 23, 2008).

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on May 24, 2008 (boomark / email).