For The Defense, December 2011 - DRI Today

The “Miranda Warning” of Genetic Mapping—
This Information Can Be Used Against You
DRI InTeRnATIonAl
Managing Cross-Border Litigation and Class Actions
Speakers John L. Meltzer of Hogan Lovells LLP (from left),
Timothy Pinos of Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP, and Gordon
McKee of Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP, provide helpful tips
and suggestions for navigating international litigation in
this Thursday session presented by DRI International. The
panel discussed the need to coordinate efforts, strategies,
and resources in an environment where international
clients are increasingly faced with copy-cat actions arising
from litigation that originated in the United States. Complex
privacy issues, parallel regulatory proceedings, and the
production of documents and information that originated
in countries other than the United States but are sought by
plaintiffs in U.S.-based litigation were also discussed.
DRug AnD MeDICAl DevICe
The Legal and the Practical—Updates
on Issues Related
to Preemption and
Sales Representatives
as Witnesses in
Pharmaceutical Cases
Joseph D. Cohen of Porter Hedges LLP
talks to attendees of Thursday afternoon’s
Drug and Medical Device Committee
business meeting and CLE about recent
grants of certiorari by the U.S. Supreme
Court to consider preemption issues
concerning generic manufacturers.
The state of the law in this area and the potential ramifications for all
manufacturers were discussed, as well as practical issues related to the role
of sales representatives in pharmaceutical litigation and how to address
plaintiffs’ attempts to portray these individuals and their jobs unfairly.
John M. Conley of Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson
PA speaks during a panel discussion that included
(from left) Bernard Taylor, Sr., of Alston & Bird LLP
(moderator); Misha Angrist, Assistant Professor,
Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy, Duke
University; and Gary E. Marchant, Lincoln Professor
of Emerging Technologies, Law and Ethics,
Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Arizona
State University. During this Friday afternoon CLE
presented by the Toxic Torts and Environmental
Law Committee, these leading experts offered
their insights on the potential application of the
genetic revolution and explored the myriad of legal
implications and issues that promise to follow.
eleCTRonIC DIsCoveRy
Backstopping E-Discovery—Drafting
Effective Records Management Policies
Phillip J. Duffy
of Gibbons PC
(seated) and John
J. Jablonski of
Goldberg Segalla
LLP present the
CLE portion of
the Electronic
Discovery
Committee’s
Thursday
afternoon
meeting. During
the program the
two underscored the importance of good records management, the benefits
of having a defensible policy, and some of the key provisions that go into a
well crafted records-management policy.
For The Defense ■ December 2011 ■ 21