How to Select a Divorce LawyerWritten by Scott Morgan
Selecting a divorce lawyer to handle your family law case is a very important decision. The following are a few important criteria to help in finding right divorce lawyer.Experience and Focus Any divorce lawyer you consider should have substantial experience in handling divorce cases in your location. An experienced divorce lawyer will know tendencies of various judges in your jurisdiction and should be able to use this knowledge to your advantage. Additionally, that lawyer should practice primarily in field of divorce law. Often people will hire a lawyer who practices primarily in some other area, thinking that any lawyer will do. However, divorce law is a very specialized field that requires particular skills and experience in order to have a likelihood of reaching a successful conclusion. Past Client Testimonials Perhaps best way to decide which divorce lawyer to use for your divorce case is to find out what former clients have to say about that lawyer. While divorce is never an enjoyable process, some divorce lawyers have more success at satisfying their clients than others. If you do not know someone who has been a client of that particular divorce lawyer, you should consider asking lawyer for a list of clients that you can contact who can describe their experience with lawyer. While client confidentiality is important, any good experienced divorce lawyer should have at least a few former clients who are willing to vouch for him or her. Accessible When a client becomes dissatisfied with a divorce lawyer, one of most common complaints is that they were unable to communicate with lawyer. It is very important that your divorce lawyer be accessible and prompt in responding to your phone calls, emails, and requests for meetings. While you can ask divorce lawyer about their office policy, this is another area where you can best evaluate divorce lawyer by hearing what former clients have to say. If a former client of lawyer tells you that they found it very difficult to contact attorney, or that lawyer either did not return calls or respond to emails or would take several days to do so, you should definitely avoid that lawyer. Divorce is an unpleasant and frustrating process under best of circumstances. If you are unable to reach your divorce attorney, or at least someone on his or her staff, frustration level can increase exponentially.
| | Timeline of Merck's failure to act on removing Vioxx from the marketWritten by Michael Monheit, Esquire, Monheit Law, PC
Based on an article by THE NEW YORK TIMES, by Alex Berenson, Gardiner Harris, Barry Meier and Andrew Pollack, "In May 2000, executives at Merck, pharmaceutical giant under siege for its handling of multibillion-dollar drug Vioxx, made a fateful decision." The article shows following timeline of Merck failures to recall Vioxx: 1998: Vioxx put on market amid controversy over safety of Cox-2 drugs. January 1999: A study of 8,100 rheumatoid arthritis patients begun in January 1999. February 2001: FDA members expressed concerns about heart risks of Vioxx and doctors on FDA panel argued that drug's possible harm to heart was a real problem. FDA panel felt that more studies should be done. March 2000: Clinical trial suggested heart risk concerns. In study, called Vigor, patients were treated with either Vioxx or naproxen, an older pain reliever. While Vioxx reduced risk of internal bleeding, it also appeared to raise incidence of heart problems. Five times as many patients taking Vioxx had heart attacks as those taking naproxen. March 2000: Company executives were told about preliminary results from Vigor trials that showed increased cardiovascular risk and were "open to possibility that Vioxx was at fault." April 2000: Merck plays down heart risk findings, with no basis that has ever been defined by Merck as to why it ignored findings. Spring 2000: Merck researchers reviewed safety data from a study of Vioxx and was unable to find that Vioxx posed a risk. "But Merck never ran a clinical trial seeking to scientifically establish heart-protecting properties of naproxen or to quantify how powerful an effect might be. In recent interviews, company officials said they did not believe there was a reason to conduct such tests because critical issue was not proving naproxen's benefits but determining if Vioxx posed a risk." May 2000: Merck marketing executives considered whether to directly test Vioxx for heart risk. May 2000: Marck's policy-making group met to discuss ways to defend Vioxx against competing drug makers' accusations that it posed cardiac risks. A cardiovascular risk study was considered. May 2000: Merck's marketing executives opposed further cardiac study. June 2000: Merck executives rejected pursuing a study focused on Vioxx's cardiovascular risks. Study would require as many as 50,000 patients. Merck worried that this study would hurt its marketing. Marketing of Vioxx was primary concern for Merck. Many scientists (from academic community, not from Merck) repeatedly asked Merck to perform studies of cardiovascular risks from Vioxx. For following years, Merck took position that "Vioxx was safe unless proved otherwise." During this time, "researchers fiercely debated how question should be pursued, and some even now question whether drug needed to be withdrawn."
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