« Ind. Law - More on bill resulting from dispute over Kokomo mayor's email list | Main | Ind. Courts - Supreme Court library reopens! »

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Courts - kentucky Judge Resigns Amid Accusations He Profited From Fen-Phen Case

The AP is reporting:

A northern Kentucky judge has resigned rather than face removal for allegedly profiting from a $200 million settlement involving the diet drug fen-phen, a state judicial panel said Monday.

Judge Joseph F. Bamberger was publicly reprimanded Monday by the state's Judicial Conduct Commission, which said his actions "shock the conscience."

Bamberger, who resigned Friday, was a senior status special judge, a retired jurist who could be assigned to certain cases.

In a letter of reprimand, the commission said the judge gave attorneys, including one of his personal friends, somewhere between $86 million and $104 million from the 2001 settlement.

In addition, Bamberger allowed more than $20 million from the settlement to be put into a charitable fund, and then he became a paid director of the fund, receiving $5,000 a month plus a $350 monthly expense allowance.

That left the 431 plaintiffs involved in the settlement to split about $74 million. More than 300 of the plaintiffs have sued three lawyers in the case.

Here is a detailed report from WCPO, Cincinnati.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 28, 2006 09:21 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts