Judge Addresses Discovery Issues at First Vioxx Mass Tort Status Conference

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - In an effort to 'move cases and move them quickly,' Atlantic County Superior Court Judge Carol E. Higbee ordered that a discovery deadline of July 9, 2004, be scheduled for cases proceeding through New Jersey's recently created mass tort docket for Vioxx-related injury cases. Although this is Judge Higbee's first time presiding over mass tort proceedings, she announced at the first status conference meeting held July 18 in the Atlantic County courthouse that she has already set goals for the litigation.

In anticipation of nearly 100 new filings, the goals of the proceedings, …