Merck - Vioxx: skinny blonde lawyer blames little old lady for her own heart attack

The blurb from her company's website reads:

Diane P. Sullivan is a trial lawyer who defends mass torts, product liability, and toxic tort cases. She is a member of Dechert's mass torts and products liability practice, which in 2004 was recognized by The American Lawyer as being one of the top three product liability practices in the country for its effectiveness at trial, in difficult jurisdictions, and in different phases of these cases. Chambers USA 2004 cited the group's "wonderful bench strength" and "creative thinking in coming up with new paradigms."

In 2006, Ms. Sullivan was selected among The Best Lawyers in America for mass torts and personal injury, and in 2005, Lawyers Weekly USA named her one of the top ten lawyers of the year. In 2003, the PLC Cross-Border handbook listed her among the top 15 lawyers in the United States for product liability defense litigation. In 2002, she was selected by the National Law Journal as one of the top 40 most successful litigators in the country under the age of 40; Ms. Sullivan was one of 10 litigators to be specially profiled in this report.

Ms. Sullivan is known for her skill in defending pharmaceutical, medical device, and chemical companies, and has a track record of success in jurisdictions that are considered particularly difficult for defendants. She is also considered particularly effective in examining scientific and regulatory witnesses at Daubert and Frye hearings. Verdicts she has obtained for clients have been featured in The American Lawyer and Corporate Counsel Magazine, among others, and have been cited by the National Law Journal in its annual compilation of top defense verdicts. Ms. Sullivan's experience includes serving as one of a group of select national trial counsel in several mass tort litigations, as national and regional counsel for clients in a variety of actions, as court-designated defense liaison counsel, and as a member of national defense steering committees in mass tort litigation.

Most recently, Ms. Sullivan served as lead trial lawyer and earned a major victory on behalf of Merck & Co. in the legal battle over Vioxx. In a case heard in the New Jersey Superior Court before Judge Carol E. Higbee, the second of thousands of suits filed against Merck to proceed to trial nationally, Ms. Sullivan convinced nine jurors to reject the plaintiff's failure to warn and consumer-fraud claims. This defense verdict was featured in The National Law Journal's "Top 10 Defense Wins in 2005" and is "a victory worth noting" according to InsideCounsel, who named it one of the "five verdicts of 2005 that are reshaping corporate defense strategies."

Now read on