Welcome to your Monday morning round-up of stories in today’s edition of The Legal Intelligencer. All of the links below will take you directly to today’s stories, or you can head straight over to The Legal’s homepage. (Some stories may require registration or a paid subscription.)
The top story this morning is plaintiffs lawyers who are suing Pfizer over alleged effects of the antidepressant Zoloft objecting to the drugmakers request to consolidate the cases into a federal multidistrict litigation. As reporter Amaris Elliott-Engel writes, the plaintiffs lawyers asked U.S. District Court Chief Judge J. Curtis Joyner of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to deny Pfizer’s motion to stay nearly 50 Zoloft cases until a decision is made by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation if the Zoloft cases should be consolidated.
Below the fold on Page 1, reporter Gina Passarella writes that the firing of Paul Mansfield, the only assistant U.S. attorney to ever be fired from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, was not retaliation by the office, according to an opinion issued by U.S. District Court Judge Legrome D. Davis on Feb. 9. Mansfield had claimed that the firing was retaliation for his filing of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission actions after he was given different assignments following a return from medical leave.
In more Regional News on Page 3, reporter Zack Needles writes that the state Superior Court has reinstated a professional negligence “straddle case” against a Carnegie, Pa.-based firm. A unanimous three-judge panel reversed Allegheny County Common Pleas Court Senior Judge R. Stanton Wettick Jr.’s non pros ruling.
As always, our People in the News section is on Page 2, and the top stories from our sister publications across the country make up the Page 4 National News section.
In a Commentary on Page 5, Jules Epstein writes about the state of eyewitness evidence in 2012. Epstein writes that the state Supreme Court is set to hear a case in which the principal issue is whether the state will permit expert witness testimony in eyewitness cases.
On Page 7 is an Insight on Diversity column in which Michael Reilly writes that it’s important for diversity in the legal profession to truly be discussed among in-house and outside counsel.
If you have questions or comments about any of today's stories, or our coverage as a whole, we invite you to e-mail any of the reporters directly. We hope you'll enjoy today's Legal.
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