The Zyprexa Chronicles: Lawyers To Get Less, Checks Almost In The Mail

After the usual delays attendant to class-action lawsuits, US District Court Jack Weinstein has lowered fees that lawyers will get from the 10,000 lawsuits settled in 2005 for about $700 million. The suits were against Eli Lilly and related to injuries suffered by patients taking Zyprexa. Since then, Lilly has settled another $500 million in claims, become the subject of two Congressional investigations, faces lawsuits by seven states with potentially more in the offing, and has also faced much bad publicity due to court documents in the 2005 case, which were later leaked to the New York Times.

The judge pegged lawyers contingency fees at anywhere from 30 percent to 37.5 percent of a patient's award, depending on the complexity of the particular case. No word on how much the lead plaintiff attorneys will see from the case.

Checks are expected to be mailed to patients who were part of the class action around June.

One annoying piece of Judge Weinstein's ruling:

"By the time all the claims are paid, attorneys' fees easily could top $100 million. Weinstein acknowledged his ruling will result in "substantial" fees being paid to "only a handful" of law firms that represent the bulk of the claimants."

I'd really like to see what level of legal work and due diligence it took to wind up with $100 million in legal fees. (Via the fabulous Ed Silverman at Pharmalot.)