Missouri 22nd Judicial Circuit Court Judge Michael Noble granted the plaintiff’s motion for a new trial on Thursday, citing the “widespread misconduct of defendants Abbott Laboratories Inc. and Mead Johnson.
A Missouri judge tossed the only defense verdict in the litigation over cow’s milk-based infant formula, citing “widespread misconduct” on the part of the defendants.
Thursday’s ruling, by 22nd Judicial Circuit Court Judge Michael Noble, in St. Louis, granted a new trial in a case that ended with an Oct. 31 defense verdict. He cited numerous instances of attorney misconduct, many of which resulted in sanctions against Abbott Laboratories Inc.’s lead defense counsel James Hurst, of Kirkland & Ellis, during last year’s trial.
