About one quarter of mesothelioma cases nationwide are filed in Madison County now, and the overwhelming majority of those are set for trial–even though the majority of those cases do not involve plaintiffs who have any connection with Madison County. Former attorney general and federal judge Griffin Bell, who served under Jimmy Carter from 1977-1979, has called for a DOJ investigation into the “stain on our system” behind the curiously plaintiff-friendly courts. Bell identifies some of the egregious practices in Madison County, such as blanket subpoenas of high-ranking corporate executives who know nothing about the individual details of a case, and the setting of multiple cases for trial the same day, with only plaintiffs knowing which case will actually be tried. (Trisha Howard, “Lawyer in big-money suits is scornful of ex-attorney general”, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Apr. 14; Susan Skiles Luke, “Former attorney general calls for asbestos court reform”, AP, Apr. 14; “Asbestos cases quadruple in Madison County, Ill.”, St. Louis Business Journal, Apr. 14; Sanford J. Schmidt, “Lawyers spar over asbestos filings”, Alton Telegraph, Apr. 15; Brian Brueggemann, “Forum participants: Investigate Madison County court system”, Belleville News-Democrat, Apr. 15).
It doesn’t take a conspiracy nut to join Mr. Bell in wondering what is happening in Madison County. As this site documented (Jan. 5), Madison County was recently the site of a $250 million verdict (settled for much less to avoid appeal) against U.S. Steel that went to a jury despite a highly questionable venue determination and a highly questionable (and apparently unprecedented) theory of liability: the plaintiff (from Gary, Indiana, despite his desire to sue in Madison County) acknowledged that Indiana law precluded suit against U.S. Steel if the company were alleged to be entirely responsible for asbestos exposure, but argued successfully that U.S. Steel could be sued if the plaintiffs alleged merely that U.S. Steel was partially responsible.
Madison County plaintiffs’ lawyer blogger Evan Schaeffer comments on Mr. Bell’s talk and on Whittington.
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So I Buried the Lead, But At Least I Got It Right
You read it here first, folks–that is, if you were able to put up with my semi-gonzo presentation. Today we have accounts of yesterday’s seminar at Washington University School of Law, in which former U.S. Attorney General called for a