[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 102 (Wednesday, September 6, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S8100]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           RETIRED U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE ROBERT R. MERHIGE, JR.

 Mr. ROBB. Mr. President, I'd like to take a moment to pay 
special recognition to a good friend of mine and a distinguished former 
jurist, Robert R. Merhige, Jr. of Richmond, Virginia. Now in private 
practice after serving as a U.S. District Judge, Bob was recognized a 
few months ago in an article in The National Law Journal as the driving 
force behind the resolution of the Dalkon Shield Claimants Trust. The 
article details Judge Merhige's efforts to resolve over 400,000 claims, 
and it's clear that he accomplished this difficult task by working 
towards a fair result with skill and intellect. He kept his eye on the 
ball until the job was concluded. I ask that the article be printed in 
the Record.

             [From the National Law Journal, May 15, 2000]

  $3 Billion Later, Dalkon Trust Closes Shop: Mass Tort Clearinghouse 
            Seen by Some as the Best-Run Outfit of Its Kind

                            (By Alan Cooper)

       Richmond, VA.--The numbers are impressive, even by mass 
     tort standards.
       More than 400,000 claims reviewed. Nearly $3 billion 
     distributed. Administrative costs just 9%, including lawyer 
     fees.
       Even more impressive, the job is done.
       The Dalkon Shield Claimants Trust closed on April 30 with a 
     claim to being the best-managed mass tort plan so far.
       Retired U.S. District Judge Robert R. Merhige, Jr., now of 
     counsel at Hunton & Williams, gets much of the credit for 
     what many view as the success of the trust, as well as the 
     blame for what others see as its shortcomings.
       The trust emerged from the 1985 bankruptcy petition of A.H. 
     Robins Co., which sold 3.6 million intrauterine birth devices 
     called the Dalkon Shield between 1971 and 1974. Robins took 
     it off the market under government pressure.
       Robins and its products liability insurer, Aetna Casualty & 
     Surety Co., were overwhelmed by allegations that women had 
     suffered perforated uteruses and pelvic inflammatory disease 
     that left them sterile. More than 326,000 women filed claims 
     in response to a worldwide ad campaign.
       Judge Merhige's 1987 estimate that the liability wouldn't 
     top $2.475 billion set off a bidding war, won by American 
     Home Products Corp. It acquired Robins by providing about 
     $2.3 billion for claimants, to be paid by the trust, and $700 
     million-plus in stock to Robins shareholders.
       Claimants' payments were based on amounts Robins paid to 
     settle cases before the bankruptcy and based on their medical 
     records. With interest, they totaled nearly $3 billion.
       Robert E. Manchester, of Burlington, Vt., who represented 
     3,500-plus claimants, said of Judge Merhige, ``He shaped the 
     solution by tapping into people who were willing to be 
     constructive.''
       ``There was a significant number of people who felt they 
     were treated badly by the process''--mostly atypical 
     claimants --plaintiffs' lawyer Stephen W. Bricker, of 
     Richmond said.
       James F. Szaller, of Cleveland's Brown & Szaller, said that 
     Judge Merhige ``sometimes took unusual courses, but he did 
     get it done. The result for the vast majority of people was 
     good.''

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