Drug & Device News

A New Jersey judge's denial of a pharmaceuticals company's request for attorney fees was recently reversed by the state's appellate division due to the judge's failure to state a valid reason for denial. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. had asked for attorney fees of $500,000 from the defeated whistleblower claimant. Normally, attorney fees might be warranted if a plaintiff acted in bad faith. Stating that he was “not a fan of fee shifting,” Morris County Superior Court Judge W. Hunt Dumont denied the request. On appeal, the panel in DiMaggio v. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., A-4810-07, found that this explanation was not reason enough to support the denial. In reversing, the appellate panel stated, “We are constrained to reverse and remand because the trial court either failed to consider or simply failed to state its findings with regard to defendant's claim that plaintiff's lawsuit was commenced and continued in bad faith.”