A New Jersey jury awarded a plaintiff $20 million in the latest Vioxx litigation on Monday. The jury found that the drug, distributed by Merck, caused the plaintiff's heart attack and that had the plaintiff's doctor known of the risks associated with Vioxx he would not have prescribed it to the plaintiff. During the first phase of the trial, the jury found that Merck had not adequately warned doctors and consumers about the increased risk of heart attack associated with the drug.

Last week, a New Jersey Superior Court upheld a separate jury verdict that found Merck adequately warned physicians of the risks associated with Vioxx. Merck faces more than 27,000 lawsuits from people who say they were harmed by the once $2.5 billion-a-year drug before it was pulled from the market in September of 2004. Merck has set aside $1 billion to fight every Vioxx court challenge. In November 2006, a federal judge declined to certify a national class action suit, ruling that it made more sense to try the cases in their respective states of origin.

SIMON H. BLOOM has left Powell Goldstein, where he was a partner, to launch his own shop, the Bloom Law Firm. Bloom is bringing along a Powell Goldstein associate, Stephanie E. Dyer, to his firm, which is in the Equitable Building at 100 Peachtree St.

Bloom said his firm focuses on real estate disputes. He represents owners, developers, builders, contractors and brokers. “Our shop will be able to take a piece of dirt from entitlement through any aspect of development of the property and litigation,” he said.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to go out on my own and offer my services to a wider market,” said Bloom, 35, of his decision to open his own firm. He had practiced at Powell Goldstein since 1997. He explained that big firm rates were pricing him out of what he sees as a “huge middle market.”

He said that at Powell Goldstein he billed clients $385 an hour, adding that his rate there was about to increase to $405 an hour. “Only the Fortune 1000 could afford my rates—and there are only so many of those clients to go around that have real estate issues,” he said.

His new rate is $295. “If you want a Powell Goldstein-quality trial lawyer, you’re not going to get a better deal,” he said.

“It used to be that you went to the biggest firms if you had an important case. Now you have other options. … There are specialists in smaller firms who can do just as good a job without the overhead and higher rates.”

Bloom said he brings “a healthy percentage” of his clients to his new firm, but declined to name them.

On April 24, Cravath will be honored by the Innocence Project at its inaugural benefit, "A Celebration of Freedom & Justice", at Gotham Hall in New York City.

The Innocence Project is a national litigation and public policy organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent further injustice. Cravath will be honored for its support of the organization, including its work as the Innocence Project's corporate counsel and its assistance in establishing the Exoneree Emergency Fund.

The event's other honorees include Janet Reno, former Attorney General of the United States; Showtime Networks and Matthew C. Blank, its Chairman and CEO; and Calvin C. Johnson, Jr., exonoree and author of Exit to Freedom.

http://www.cravath.com

Ahter Kutadgu, head of corporate communications for Turk Telekom, told the Anatolia news agency his company had been notified of a court decision to lift the ban.

Kutadgu did not elaborate on the court's reasoning.

"As soon as the court decision lifting the ban reached us, we immediately opened YouTube," he said.

The Istanbul court that ordered the site blocked on Wednesday had said it would lift the ban as soon as it ascertained that videos insulting Turkey's founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, were removed.

The ban had been condemned by the press freedom group Reporters Without Borders and drew attention to Turkey's shaky record on permitting free expression.

It is illegal in Turkey to insult Ataturk, a revered figure whose image graces every denomination of currency and whose portrait hangs in nearly all government offices.

Several prominent Turkish journalists and writers have been tried for allegedly insulting Ataturk or for the crime of insulting "Turkishness."

By a 3-2 vote, the court issued a ruling (.pdf) that supports the opinion that the long-debated Second Amendment protects the rights of individuals, rather than a group or militia, to own firearms.

The provisions of D.C.'s gun control law struck down by the court banned the carrying of handguns inside private homes and required that all privately-owned, licensed firearms be kept locked or disassembled.

Writing in the court's majority opinion (.pdf), Senior Judge Laurence Silberman wrote, "There are too many instances of 'bear arms' indicating private use to conclude that the drafters intended only a military sense." Silberman's ruling was considered a challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court to review its landmark 1939 decision in United States v. Miller, which held that the Second Amendment bestowed gun ownership rights on a militia, rather than on individual citizens.

Gun Rights Back to Supreme Court?
In a Legal Times article by Tony Mauro, Cato Institute's Roger Pilon is quoted as stating, "The issue has been teed up by Judge Silberman in such a way that no honest court can avoid dealing with it head-on," referring to D.C.'s probable appeal of the decision. "He has cut through all the fog surrounding the Second Amendment."

It's ruling in United States v. Miller, stands today as the only definitive decision ever rendered by the Supreme Court on true meaning and legal effect of the Second Amendment, which states, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." In tying gun ownership rights to a state militias, United States v. Miller, established the government's right to limit, through gun control laws, what types of firearms the public can legally "keep and bear."

Stephen Ball, Chief Executive Officer of Mourant du Feu & Jeune, said,

“This is a very significant development for the offshore legal world. New York is a vital feeder market for the Cayman Islands, and we’re very excited to be the first Cayman law firm to open an office there.

It will be a key element in the business development strategy for our enlarged Cayman practice, following the merger with Quin & Hampson announced on 19 February.”

Senior associate Simon Felton is relocating from Mourant’s London office in April. He will be Mourant’s first foreign legal consultant in New York and will not be practicing New York law. He will be based at the firm’s existing Manhattan office, which has grown to a team of 35 people since opening in March 2005. It provides third party fund administration and tax compliance services to some of the highest profile private equity funds in North America.

The firm has ambitious plans to grow the new office along the lines of its hugely successful four- partner London office, one of the largest offshore practices in the City.

Mourant is a specialist professional services group serving top international corporations, financial institutions, fund managers and high net worth individuals. It currently operates from offices in Jersey, Guernsey, London, Luxembourg, Cayman, New York, San Francisco and Dubai.

Mourant’s three divisions are Mourant du Feu & Jeune, one of the world’s leading offshore law firms, it specialises in providing offshore legal advice to the International finance and funds markets. Following its intended merger with Quin & Hampson, it will have 34 partners and a total of some 110 lawyers.

There is also Mourant International Finance Administration, a leading international provider of fund and corporate administration services, with over $100 billion in fund assets under its administration.

Mourant Private Wealth, provides lawyer-led independent wealth structuring for clients. It enables high net worth individuals and families to protect the wealth and welfare of present and future generations.

Throughout the years, the organisation has won numerous awards including a 2005 award for Offshore Law Firm of the Year (The Lawyer) and 2006 Jersey Law Firm of the Year (Who’s Who Legal).

www.mourant.com