The lawyer and the expert witness who last winter caused a huge controversy by providing The New York Times with sealed documents are negotiating with the big drugmaker in hopes of avoiding sanctions. Those documents revealed that Lilly downplayed or hid harmful side effects and improperly promoted the antipsychotic to doctors.

David Egilman, an associate professor at Brown University who was an expert witness for the plaintiffs, and Jim Gottstein, a lawyer who runs a non-profit that opposes forced ‘psychiatric drugging,’ worked with a Times reporter, who subsequently published several articles. A federal judge, however, ruledthey conspired to steal the documents, which they were ordered to return, and harmed Lilly in the process.

The issue, which brought into relief drug safety, public health and First Amendment rights, attracted enormous attention from big pharma, plaintiffs’ lawyers, free-speech advocates and consumer groups over the societal benefit of disseminating the materials. But the ruling by US District Court Judge Jack Weinstein opened the door for Lilly to pursue sanctions against Egilman and Gottstein. However, the pair began talks with Lilly in the spring and recently received extensions for another few weeks. No word, though, on how the talks are progressing.

Hat tip to Torts Prof Blog.