In an editorial yesterday, the Wall Street Journal hailed the new study by the Manhattan Institute (with which I’m affiliated) dissecting the finances and operating methods of what might be “America’s only recession-proof industry: the plaintiffs’ bar. … [The] estimated $40 billion in revenues our tort warriors took in for 2001 was 50% more than Microsoft or Intel and double that of Coca-Cola.” (Sept. 23, online subscribers only). More coverage: Marguerite Higgins, “Lawsuit industry generates billions”, Washington Times, Sept. 24; UPI/Washington Times, Sept. 24. The study itself, along with updates and lots of other related information, can be found at the eponymous site TrialLawyersInc.com.
Archive for September, 2003
Legal Reform Summit
As mentioned, I spent Monday attending the fourth annual Legal Reform Summit in Washington, D.C., an event co-sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform, the American Tort Reform Association, the Business Roundtable, the Doctors Company of Napa, Calif., and law firms Jenner & Block and Mayer Brown, Rowe & Maw. I gave a short talk on the subject of “who’s next as a target of mass litigation?”, which correspondent Mark Hofmann of Business Insurance magazine wrote up on the magazine’s web journal (“Employers face new wave of lawsuits”, Sept. 22).
I was also surprised and gratified, at the Summit’s awards luncheon, to be named the recipient of its annual “Individual Achievement Award”. The engraved glass award is now sitting on my desk even as I type. Many thanks to all concerned!
Eatery asks for waiver
OK, it’s a PR gimmick. But after Professor Bernstein at the Volokh Conspiracy pointed it out, how could we not mention it? Seattle’s “5 Spot” restaurant offers a new $5.75 decadent dessert, but requires diners to sign a waiver before being served the fattening item. Telling remark: GWU Professor John Banzhaf, the target of the tongue-in-cheek red tape, told the Washington Post he wasn’t fazed by the loss of the McDonald’s suit (see Sep. 4) because “it takes time for legal theories to coalesce in a way that forces major societal change.” (Blaine Harden, Eatery Joins Battle With ‘The Bulge’, Washington Post, Sep. 20; “Seattle and the Bulge”, Seattle Weekly, Sep. 10-16; Sep. 5 press release).
Our editor on the road
Postings (from me, at least) will be sparser than usual this week as I will be spending a lot of time on the road. On Mon. the 22nd, I’ll be addressing the annual Legal Reform Summit at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington. The next day, Tues. the 23rd, I’ll also be in Washington to attend the unveiling of an important new study from the Manhattan Institute entitled Trial Lawyers Inc., which tries to get a handle on the scope, operations and future direction of the industry of suing people, considered as an industry; former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh will give the main presentation. And on Thurs. Sept. 25th, I’ll be a panelist at a daytime discussion of Litigation and the Economy held at Ramapo College of New Jersey.
Update: not quite after our own heart
Last year it was reported (Sept. 27-29, 2002) that Kansas City Royals coach Tom Gamboa, who had been set upon and beaten by a father-son pair of spectators at Chicago’s Comiskey Park, had rebuffed lawyers who had contacted him suggesting he sue the White Sox, and said he didn’t plan legal action: “The fault is with the two people who did it,” he said. “I’m not one who looks to place blame. It’s nobody’s fault but the two idiots who did it.” Now — whoops! — AP is reporting that Gamboa has filed a suit not only against the father who attacked him but also two other defendants: Illinois SportService, a concessionaire that allegedly served the irate fan too much alcohol, and SDI Security Inc., which provides security at the ballpark. Gamboa’s suit seeks in excess of $200,000 in damages. (“Coach sues attacker, others for on-field attack “, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, Sept. 19)
High-speed chase lawsuit
On May 10, in Branford, Connecticut, Sergeant John Finkle attempts to pull over a BMW that is driving erratically; the driver, Thomas Bishop, later charged with DUI, pulls into a motel parking lot, and then speeds back out. Police say they ended the chase because of bad weather, but at some point before or after that Bishop smashed his car into a van at an intersection (allegedly at 75 mph), killing one and maiming another. Naturally, the lawsuit filed by the family of the victim is against the town, the chief of police, and Sgt. Finkle. (Marissa Yaremich, “Family will sue in fatal car chase”, New Haven Register, Sep. 20; Dave Phillips, “Police facing lawsuit from injured crash victim”, Branford Review, Sep. 20). Even if one accepts the questionable premise that it is the pursuer, rather than the pursued, who should be primarily responsible for such a crash, the fact that criminals will be more likely to engage in high-speed chases that endanger people if police have a policy of stopping pursuit seems not to enter into the equation of the lawsuit or the press coverage of the lawsuit.
“KC doctor faces fraud suit in fen-phen cases”
A class action trust fund in the fen-phen cases is suing a cardiologist, accusing her of being paid $3.2 million by lawyers to issue bogus test results to permit clients to collect millions more from drug makers. (Kansas City Business Journal, Sep. 18). “When considering the thousands of echocardiograms that Dr. Crouse interpreted during the period that she worked for the Hariton and Napoli firms, her practice resembled a mass production operation that would have been the envy of Henry Ford,” a district court previously wrote in halting payments from the fund. The settlement trust is seeking treble damages. (Shannon Duffy, The Legal Intelligencer, “RICO Suit Filed in Fen-Phen Dispute,” Sep. 22; see Sept. 27-29, 2002; May 30-Jun. 1, 2003; Aug. 19, 2003). Update Nov. 30: similar suit filed against second cardiologist.
Update: immigration law fraud
In Miami, immigration lawyer Javier Lopera was sentenced to eight years in prison and faces deportation afterward for his role in operating a visa mill which may have provided as many as 3,500 persons with false papers qualifying them to enter the country as religious ministers or business executives. In another major fraud case, “Virginia lawyer Samuel Kooritzky was sentenced in March to 10 years in prison for crimes involving 2,700 applications submitted in 18 months.” (Catherine Wilson, “Probe of immigration lawyer balloons into massive visa fraud case”, AP/Atlanta Journal Constitution, Aug. 29). Last year Harvard Law-educated Robert Porges, who once ran the country’s largest political asylum practice, and his wife pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering, conspiracy and tax fraud and were sentenced to about eight years in prison for their role in filing 6,000 or more false asylum applications as well as false affidavits (see Sept. 22, 2000; Matt Hayes, “Corrupt Lawyers Aid Immigration Woes”, Fox News, Apr. 29, 2002; “Lawyer, wife admit Chinese smuggling scheme”, AP/Court TV, 2002; Elizabeth Amon, “The Snakehead Lawyers”, National Law Journal, Jul. 17, 2002).
Update: something burning in Mississippi
The series of unfortunate occurrences continues in the Magnolia State: “An early morning fire at former Judge John Whitfield’s law office may have destroyed some documents he was preparing to use in his defense of federal fraud and bribery charges, his lawyer said. Authorities said the fire remains under investigation, but a private fire investigator hired by Whitfield concluded it was arson.” (Beth Musgrave, “Whitfield’s office burns”, Biloxi Sun-Herald, Sept. 16; Jerry Mitchell, “Lawyer says house fire an act of intimidation”, Jackson Clarion-Ledger, Sept. 16; WLOX, Sept. 15)(via Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy). For background on the Mississippi judicial investigation, see Jul. 27, Aug. 19 and links from there.
Last month, the same newspaper reported that “Mississippi Supreme Court officials were seen shredding documents as federal prosecutors flooded the high court with subpoenas for judges’ tax forms, records of the cases over which they presided and how cases are assigned”; but a spokeswoman for the court denied that any documents were shredded that were responsive to the subpoenas, and Chief Justice Edwin Pittman called the allegations a “deliberate and false attack being waged against the Supreme Court of Mississippi by people with intimate knowledge of the workings of the court.” Pittman also said “there has been no unusual document shredding at the court and that the court’s computer system is able to retrieve any written communication.” (Beth Musgrave, “Witnesses: documents shredded”, Aug. 21; “Chief Justice: ‘Deliberate attack waged against court'”, Aug. 22; Pittman statement; “Allegations need to be investigated” (editorial), Hattiesburg American, Aug. 23). See also Jerry Mitchell, “FBI questions law clerks on rulings in high court probe”, Jackson Clarion Ledger, Aug. 29.
But there was no rule against it
“Let’s say a 13-year-old girl admits she performed oral sex on a 13-year-old boy, while returning from a field trip on the school bus. In front of classmates who she was trying to impress. What do you do, Mom? Naturally, you go to court to claim suspension is unjust for the lovebirds because the school is ‘not clear in its written policies that oral sex on a bus was unacceptable behavior.’ Where does it say: ‘No oral sex on the bus,” huh?” (Joanne Jacobs, Sept. 16) A Pennsylvania judge dismissed the mother’s lawsuit (Bob Bauder, “Pupil’s expulsion appeal denied”, Beaver County (Pa.) Times, Sept. 3). Kimberly Swygert comments: “Um, mom? Fighting your child’s expulsion on these grounds is not what you should be concentrating on right now.” (Sept. 16)