All The Fosmax® ONJ Lawyers Get "Taken To The Woodshed" By New Jersey Appellate Panel! ON THE RECORD! Ouch!

This is DEEPLY embarrassing for Merck's counsel -- and the plaintiffs' counsel, as well. But mostly for Merck's lawyers. They drove the settlement. Here is the full PDF -- this is a rare, rare judicial bird. [Counsel for Merck included Hughes Hubbard & Reed, L.L.P., Fox Rothschild, L.L.P., and Paul F. Strain of Venable, L.L.P.]

It has apparently been more than a decade since the last time one of these public scoldings has been issued on the record in New Jersey, for this sort of a fact pattern. It is doubtless true that incarcerated peoples' right to freedom may have been delayed by the inconsiderate actions of the involved lawyers -- and that appeals regarding the safety and welfare of children may well have been delayed, hereby as well. Yikes. From the online version of North Jersey.com -- do go read it all:

. . . .“We have decided not to file our opinion on the merits and now write to dismiss the appeal with the emphatic reminder that counsel must advise this court in a far more timely manner of a settlement or serious settlement discussions so that scarce judicial resources are not needlessly wasted,” the court wrote in its first paragraph. . . .

“In the last Court Term more than 6,200 appeals and 8,400 motions were filed. Some of the appellants are incarcerated and a favorable result could result in their freedom. In other cases the welfare of children is at stake. For attorneys in a civil case in an appeal with a voluminous record to neglect to notify us of a settlement for four months is unconscionable,” the three judge appellate court opinion said. . . .

Ouch. That will leave a distinct mark! [An earlier version incorrectly suggested this was in the federal courts. It was not. It was in New Jersey state court.]