Greedy Trial Lawyer
The Pope Was Not Available So "Judge" Martin Issued The Vioxx Vindication
Category: Seeing Clearly Now
The Wall Street Journal is blogging over the issue of how to address former judges. Should the world still call them Your Honor or Judge? Or, should we get back to the customary Mr.?
In the article on the WSJ Law Blog, however, the specific former judge and his proper title is far from a matter of courtesy. Merck carefully selected The Honorable John S. Martin, Jr., to supposedly issue his report concerning the handling of Vioxx by Merck. The very fact that the name of the former judge is the top line in the title of the report reveals the importance Merck and the Debevoise & Plimpton LLP law firm place on the prestige of the former judgeship. If Merck had been able to land the Pope as the front man for this corporate ploy, the title would have been: The Report of HIS HOLINESS, POPE BENEDICT XVI...
Should We Call Former Judges "Judge"?
Here was the title page of the 179-page outside investigative report ordered by Merck's board that largely exonerated the drug maker's handling of Vioxx:Report of The Honorable John S. Martin, Jr.
to the Special Committee
of the Board of Directors of Merck & Co., Inc.
Concerning the Conduct of Senior Management in the
Development and Marketing of VioxxAlso on the cover page, on the bottom right-hand corner: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. That's because The Honorable John S. Martin, Jr., is a former federal judge who stepped down from the bench in 2003 to practice law at Debevoise. In its opening page the report states, "Judge Martin and a team of lawyers and paralegals from Debevoise spent over 53,000 hours conducting an investigation over a period of approximately 20 months."
Now we know it's common practice to continue to refer to judges as "judge" long after they leave the bench.
...is it unbecoming for Merck and its lawyers to trade off the fact that John Martin once wore a robe?
Is it unbecoming for Judge Martin to allow his judgeship to be cheapened by this PR effort?
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.greedytriallawyer.com/admin/mt-tb.cgi/331