KENTUCKY
Lexington Herald-Leader
By Beth Musgrave
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER
A judge at the center of a controversial $200 million diet drug settlement has resigned rather than face disciplinary action for profiting from the settlement and increasing fees and expenses for lawyers and a friend involved in the case.
Joseph "Jay" Bamberger resigned from his position as senior status judge Friday, according to the Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission, which released a public reprimand of Bamberger yesterday.
Bamberger's actions, mostly involving a settlement over the diet drug fen-phen, "shocked the conscience of the Commission," the reprimand said. ...
This is not the first time Bamberger's connection to Modlin has been questioned. Each time the relationship came under scrutiny, Bamberger stepped down from the case before an investigation could be completed.
In 2003 lawyers for the Diocese of Covington asked that Bamberger be removed from a high-profile priest sexual abuse case because of his relationship with Modlin, who was a consultant for Chesley, who represented the victims. Bamberger retired before the state Supreme Court issued a decision in the matter.