Overlawyered: Chronicling The High Cost Of Our Legal System

Scarborough unfair

Did you know that MSNBC talk host and former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough is an attorney with Pensacola, Fla.’s Levin Papantonio, one of the nation’s premier mass tort firms, which has its fingers in everything from asbestos, breast implants and prescription drugs to aviation accidents to tobacco to Wall Street to environmentalist assaults on factory farming? Or that Scarborough continues on the firm’s payroll despite his on-air fame? We didn’t. Now Scarborough has gotten in a bit of trouble by inviting name partner Mike Papantonio to come on the show and attack “a wood-preserving company called Osmose, saying it makes a dangerous product used in playground equipment and has ‘figured out how to poison our children and make a profit in the meantime.'” — all without mentioning that Papantonio is his law partner and that his/their firm happens to be suing Osmose. (Howard Kurtz, “MSNBC Host Gets Bitten by His ‘Rat of the Week'”, Washington Post, Sept. 13; Doug Haller, “Joe-TV”, Pensacola News Journal, Sept. 14). Radley Balko and Arthur Silber comment. (Update Jan. 3: Scarborough ceases taking stipends from law firm).

How dangerous is “pressure-treated” (chemically preserved) wood, anyway? Once you get past the scare-headlines about arsenic on the playground, the National Law Journal noted in March that trial lawyers suing makers of the wood have enjoyed very limited success, one reason being that there is no particular illness that predictably results from routine exposure to chromated copper arsenate (CCA). Take care not to inhale gusts of sawdust or fumes from burning wood, and it seems you’re unlikely to have anything to worry about (David Hechler, “The Poisoned Wood Mystery”, National Law Journal, Mar. 20)

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A streetcar named excessive, cont’d

Ernie the Attorney has more (Sept. 14) about that trial in New Orleans two weeks ago (see Aug. 29) in which attorney Johnnie Cochran won a startlingly high verdict of $51.4 million for the family of an 11-year-old girl injured when she fell out the window of a streetcar five years ago. We and others raised our eyebrows at the verdict’s aftermath, in which the jury posed for celebratory photos with not only attorney Cochran but also the judge who presided over the case, C. Hunter King. And now, reports EtA, “Judge C. Hunter King appeared before the State Supreme Court this past week to plead for a limited suspension of one year (as opposed to permanent removal from the bench). His prior transgression was that he made his staff work on his campaign, and then when a complaint was lodged against him he lied and said he hadn’t forced his staff to do campaign work. …. This transgression came to light (including the part about lying) back in May, but Judge King was still allowed to continue to sit on the bench to hear select cases, including the one that Johnny Cochran tried.” Update Oct. 25: Judge King removed from bench.

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Update: easing the way for Mexican-American reparations

The California legislature, probably the nation’s busiest when it comes to stoking the fires of reparations litigation, has now passed and sent to Gov. Gray Davis a bill reopening the statute of limitations so as to allow state residents of Mexican descent to sue over forced deportations of their ancestors (or in a few long-lived cases themselves) during the 1930s. The intended targets of such litigation (see Jul. 28) include local governments and business groups that are said to have collaborated in the deportation campaigns. The legislature has already employed the tactic of reopening statutes of limitation in order to promote “claims for Holocaust victims insurance claims, Armenian Genocide victims, World War II slave labor and braceros”. (“Bill gives 1930s deportees until 2007 to seek damages”, San Francisco Chronicle, Sept. 12).

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Texans narrowly pass Prop. 12

By a 51 to 49 percent margin, Texas voters have approved Proposition 12, thus restoring to the legislature the power to set limits on damages in civil lawsuits, which a 1988 Texas Supreme Court opinion had arrogated to the courts alone. See our earlier coverage at Sept. 4, Sept. 6). Proponents of the measure were modestly outspent ($6 million vs. $7 million) by trial lawyers who opposed it. “Lawyers [also] enlisted a wide range of consumer, anti-crime, senior citizen and environmental groups to tap into their membership bases” — to no avail. (Janet Elliott, “Texans pass Prop. 12 in statewide election”, Houston Chronicle, Sept. 14).

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Update: Nike settles speech case

Shoemaker Nike Inc. has settled a California activist’s lawsuit over its allegedly wrongful speech by agreeing to make a $1.5 million payment to a workplace monitoring organization (see Jul. 9 and links from there). (Bob Egelko, “Nike settles suit for $1.5 million”, San Francisco Chronicle, Sept. 13). “Any other company under attack from activists of any stripe — and there are so many of them — will have to think twice now about its efforts to tell its side of the story, at least in California.” (“Free speech loses a round” (editorial), The Oregonian, Sept. 13).

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AAA settles murdered-motorist suit

The AAA auto club has reached a settlement on confidential terms of the lawsuit by the survivors of Melissa Gosule, attempting to hold it liable for her murder by a stranger who gave her a ride after a AAA tow truck driver took too long to get her on her way (see Sept. 8). (John Ellement, “Family settles suit against AAA, driver”, Boston Globe, Sept. 11).

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“N.C. Jury Clears HP in Printer Lawsuit”

In the first trial of 34 state class actions brought against Hewlett-Packard for selling printers with “economy cartridges” that did not have a full reservoir of ink, a jury took two and a half hours to clear the company against a plaintiffs’ attorney seeking $11.5 million for alleged misrepresentations. (AP, Sep. 12). Lead plaintiff Staples Hughes “acknowledged he didn’t think about the cartridges or how much ink was in them until a co-worker told him her father, attorney Adam Stein, was looking for a plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against Hewlett Packard. After talking with Stein, Hughes said he agreed to be that plaintiff. ‘I didn’t know I had a grievance until I really discussed the situation with Mr. Stein,’ said Hughes, who is, himself, an attorney, with the state’s appellate defender office.” Since bringing the suit, Hughes has bought another HP printer. (Beth Velliquette, “Suit: Firm filled ink cartridges halfway,” The Herald-Sun, Sep. 5).

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“Suits on Silica Being Compared to Asbestos Cases”

Plaintiffs’ lawyers are trying to turn silica into the next asbestos; though government statistics indicate reduced health problems from the critical industrial sand used to make glass, fiberglass, paints, and ceramics, claims are skyrocketing. Insurers are accusing lawyers of bringing claims of silicosis on behalf of people who have already recovered for alleged asbestosis for the same symptoms. (Jonathan Glater, New York Times, Sep. 5). Using a prominent search engine to find silicosis on the web has a strong chance of leading one to one Texas personal injury law firm or another.

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“Slip ‘N Slide makers sue ‘Dickie Roberts'”

By reader acclaim: “The makers of the Slip ‘N Slide filed a lawsuit Monday over a scene in the hit movie ‘Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star’ that shows actor David Spade skidding to a painful halt on the summertime water toy. … In the movie, Spade jumps belly first on the yellow plastic sheet without first inflating it with air and water,” contrary to guidelines. “He then coats the slide with oil and crashes into a fence. … The company is concerned that the scene might prompt adults to imitate Spade’s action, which could lead to injury and lawsuits.” (CNN, Sep. 8; Ed Finn, “Can Wham-O Sue Over Dickie Roberts?”, Slate, Sept. 10).

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