With help from Lisa Blatt of Arnold & Porter and Brian Hennigan of Irell & Manella, a licensing spat between two drug companies produced a landmark ruling this week that litigants can’t disqualify jurors on the basis of their sexual orientation. The rationale behind the court’s decision is expected to bolster gay rights within the western United States, if not the entire country.
In a ruling issued on Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated a $3.4 million jury verdict in a pricing dispute between GlaxoSmithKline plc and Abbott Laboratories over an HIV drug. Siding with Hennigan and Blatt, who represent GSK, the court concluded that Abbott’s lawyers improperly struck a self-identified gay juror because they feared he would resent the company for raising HIV drug prices.
