'Grave Matter of Serious Consequences': Why a Missouri Judge Sanctioned a Top Kirkland & Ellis Attorney
"I was acting in absolute good faith" Kirkland & Ellis partner Jim Hurst told 22nd Judicial Circuit Judge Michael Noble hours before the court entered an Oct. 24 sanctions order in an infant formula trial, according to a transcript. "I was nowhere near intentionally violating your orders."
November 14, 2024 at 05:01 PM
10 minute read
What You Need to Know
- 'I think he needs to go back to Chicago,' St. Louis plaintiffs' attorney Timothy Cronin told the judge about Hurst.
- The sanctions ordered followed weeks of an unusually cantankerous trial, with numerous sidebars and objections and at least four mistrial motions by Abbott.
- Two prior juries, in Illinois and Missouri, had come back with verdicts of $60 million against Mead Johnson and $495 million against Abbott.
Defense attorney Jim Hurst was in the middle of questioning an expert witness when plaintiffs’ lawyer Timothy Cronin called for a sidebar—one of many during a high-profile trial in St. Louis over infant formula.
This time, however, he asked the judge to impose sanctions against Hurst, a Kirkland & Ellis partner in the Am Law 1 firm's Chicago office, who represented defendant Abbott Laboratories Inc.
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