N.J. Judge Recommends Remand of Hip Implant Cases, Cautions Howmedica Against ‘Purposefully Making Agents Unavailable’

TRENTON, N.J. –– A New Jersey magistrate judge has recommended the remand of hip implant lawsuits asserted against Howmedica Osteonics Corp., concluding that state law is “clear that a corporation is properly served with process via service on its appointed agent.”

In a report and recommendation issued June 15, U.S. Magistrate Judge James B. Clark III of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey additionally cautioned in a footnote that, if the plaintiffs’ allegations are true, the defendant’s alleged conduct of “purposefully making agents unavailable” is “more egregious than the conduct found to be acceptable in the …