re: Fifth Circuit has Harsh Words for Mark Lanier

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Seems any halfway decent defense attorney would have made sure to establish this for the jury on cross of those experts at trial.

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The opinion says the defense lawyers didn't find out about the payment until after the trial because Lanier had represented that the experts were not paid/retained.

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The experts, Bernard and Matthew Morrey, are highly regarded father and son orthopedic surgeons from Texas. Lanier first met with Bernard, the father, in 2015, to see if he’d be willing to appear at the 2016 trial. Dr. Morrey said he would not accept compensation if he decided to testify. Lanier asked about contributing to a favorite charity. After the meeting – but weeks before the trial – Lanier wrote a $10,000 check to Bernard Morrey’s alma mater, St. Rita’s Catholic School in Fort Worth.

The son, Matt Morrey, actually treated two of the plaintiffs in the bellwether trial but also testified more broadly about the riskiness of the DePuy product. He was not paid to testify before the trial but after the trial ended, both Morreys received checks: $30,000 to Matt and $35,000 to Bernard.

The payments, along with the $10,000 check to St. Rita’s, only came to light during trial preparations for the next hip implant bellwether, when plaintiffs’ lawyers designated the Morreys as paid experts.

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Reuters article

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The opinion says the defense lawyers didn't find out about the payment until after the trial because Lanier had represented that the experts were not paid/retained.

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Were they deposed? Did they perjure themselves when asked about that in their depos?

How the frick do you defend a $500 million case and not flesh out something so basic in discovery?

Went to middle school and high school with Mark Lanier's daughter. He was always a prick. Used to come preach to us about how to be a good Christian and stay faithful all the while he was on his 3rd wife. Guy used religion as a cover.

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Because the “donation” was much later.

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So, a high level medical expert in a $500 million case testifies in his depo that he's just doing this gratis out of the goodness of his heart, and the defense attorney just says 'okay, cool' and moves onto the next question?

ETA, Was the depo gratis too?

I agree with you, just explaining why it was not potentially discovered in depo, that’s all.

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Damn. I was in 19th JDC when a Judge asked a plaintiff's lawyer to have one of his expert witnesses come back in the court room after they had rested and before the Defense began. The lawyer said the witness had already left and the Judge asked the lawyer to pass along a message. The Judge said "tell him I better never see him in my court room again." The Judge then delivered a Directed Verdict and chewed the ever living shite out of the Plaintiff's lawyers arse. It was almost uncomfortable. The crux of it all was that they had a Pre-Trial Conference six weeks earlier in which the Judge had pointed out several fatal flaws in the Plaintiff's case and advised the attorney to remedy them prior to trial. Guy apparently showed up and laid out the exact same case they had discussed at the Pre-Trial. Judge was livid.

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Let me guess, Judge Mor-vant.