…summarized with links on Point Of Law this morning.
Posts Tagged ‘politics’
On Edwards
It’s Edwards
Senator Kerry has selected former trial lawyer Senator John Edwards as his running mate. Jim Copland covers on PointOfLaw. Overlawyered has had extensive coverage of Edwards’s career and fund-raising (Feb. 26; Feb. 3; Feb. 2; Jan. 26; Jan. 23; Jan. 20; Sep. 16; pre-July 2003; and links therein). The Chamber of Commerce is so distressed by the selection that the Wall Street Journal reports that it may abandon its traditional stance of neutrality to campaign against the Kerry-Edwards ticket. (Alan Murray, “Business Elite Vows To Take On Kerry If He Taps Edwards”, Wall Street Journal, Jul. 6) (via Kaus). Murray suggests that Edwards could allay fears that he’s in the pockets of the plaintiffs’ bar by joining the bipartisan support for class action reform (see Mar. 16 and links therein). To do so, however, Edwards would have to flip-flop his previous opposition to the Class Action Fairness Act; he consistently voted against reforms in committee. (Senate Report 108-123).
Avoiding a Florida-type controversy this November
The American Enterprise Institute held a conference on this subject yesterday:
“For better or worse, the battle over the 2000 Florida election still remains with us. Billions of dollars are being spent by states to change their voting-machine systems in order to correct the perceived problems experienced in Florida. Yet much debate still exists over exactly what went wrong in Florida and whether the changes in voting machines will solve the problems or ensure an even worse disaster this November. The conference will feature experts in charge of instituting the new voting machines, academics that have studied these issues, and those responsible for the media recounts.”
Copies of the papers presented and a video of the event are available online, here.
Quote of the day
John O’Quinn for Texas governor?
The Houston-based mass tort specialist, who has long played a prominent role in these columns for his exploits in asbestos, tobacco, silicone implants and most recently fen-phen (Apr. 28, Feb. 26 and many more), is now being talked of by activists as a potential Democratic candidate for governor of the Lone Star State. (W. Gardner Selby, “Democrats appear to be in no rush to challenge Perry for governorship”, San Antonio Express-News, Jun. 15). One factor helpful to him: last fall (see GregsOpinion.com, Oct. 25) Texas Democrats elected as their chairman San Marcos attorney Charles Soechting, who happens to practice at none other than the law firm of O’Quinn, Laminack & Pirtle.
Baron to co-chair Kerry’s “Victory ’04”
Almost enough to make you want to vote for Bush: Dallas mass tort operator Fred Baron, poster boy for legal ethics and co-finance chairman of John Edwards’ presidential campaign (see Feb. 19), has been named co-chairman of Kerry Victory ’04, a joint effort by the Democratic National Committee and the campaign of presumptive nominee Kerry. “Baron says his contacts with contributors who can write big checks which, no doubt, include high-profile Texas plaintiffs lawyers were, in part, responsible for him getting the new post.” (“Texas Lawyer With Edwards Ties Joins Kerry Team”, Texas Lawyer/New York Lawyer, Jun. 2). More: detailed article on how Kerry, whose “voting record shows strong support for the plaintiffs bar”, has inherited the support of John Edwards’ trial-lawyer-based fund-raising machine (Lily Henning, “Edwards’ Army Recruited for Kerry Cash Push”, Legal Times, Jun. 18). Includes quotes from Washington mass tort attorney John Coale (“Kerry has just about a perfect record on issues that interest lawyers and trial lawyers,”) and our friend Lester Brickman. What if Kerry names Edwards as his v.p. pick? “If he’s on the ticket, you can reasonably predict that the amount of giving from trial lawyers will double or triple,” Brickman says. “They will unzip their wallets like they never had before. This would be unprecedented.” Yet more: the AP is on the story (Sharon Theimer, “Trial lawyers boost Kerry’s campaign effort”, AP/Houston Chronicle, Jun. 20)
Karma ran over his dogma: Sheldon Silver sued
The New York assembly speaker, who’s done more than anyone in Albany to keep the right to sue on a continually expanding course, now faces a lawsuit charging him with tolerating an atmosphere of sexual harassment, following extremely ugly allegations of sexual assault against his chief counsel, Michael Boxley. (New York Post coverage: “Silver’s slippery slope” (editorial), Jun. 13; Frederic U. Dicker, “Victim to sue Silver”, Jun. 9; Frederic U. Dicker and Kenneth Lovett, “Silver ‘rape’ blame”, Jun. 10; Frederic U. Dicker, “Pretzel popper Silver dissed my rape claim”, Jun. 14. More on Silver: May 1, 2000; May 11-13, 2001; Dec. 13-15, 2002; Jun. 9, 2003. In other news, powerful Republican State Senator Guy Velella of the Bronx, whose law firm’s successful injury suits against New York City were mentioned in this space May 1, 2000, has fallen in a corruption scandal (“Guy Velella Pleads Guilty”, AP/WCBS, May 17).
Update Feb. 5, 2006: suit against Silver’s office settles for $500K, most of it taxpayer funds.
Mississippi passes tort reform
Following hard-fought political battles, the Mississippi legislature has passed and sent to Gov. Haley Barbour for his signature a wide-ranging bill limiting liability lawsuits. It includes a $500,000 limit on pain-and-suffering awards in medical malpractice cases, and $1 million in other cases; punitive damage caps; venue reform; joint and several liability limitation; relief of premises owners from liability to contractors’ employees for hazards known to the contractor; and product liability relief for “innocent sellers”. In recent years Mississippi has sometimes been charged with having a legal system more tilted against civil defendants than that of any other state; the new law is likely to help ameliorate that image. (Julie Finley, “Doctors praise tort bill passage”, Natchez Democrat, Jun. 3; overview of H.B. 13 at Mississippi Economic Council site; “Barbour touts tort reforms in D.C., N.Y.”, Jackson Clarion-Ledger, Jun. 10; American Tort Reform Association press release, Jun. 4). For a few highlights from our coverage of the Magnolia State, see May 15, Apr. 30, Dec. 12, Nov. 16, Nov. 12, Oct. 3, Aug. 19, Jul. 1, and Jun. 29, among many others.
Update: “Ten Commandments” slate
In Alabama’s GOP primary Tuesday, where a slate of religious-right judicial candidates backed by former chief justice Roy Moore was financially supported by the state’s leading plaintiff’s lawyers (see Jun. 1), Moore loyalist Tom Parker succeeded in knocking off business-favored incumbent Jean Brown by a narrow margin; a second “Ten Commandments” candidate lost outright, while a third trailed badly in voting but may have succeeded in forcing a runoff. (William C. Singleton III, “Roy Moore’s clout swings high court race”, Birmingham Post-Herald, Jun. 2). Mike DeBow of Southern Appeal (Jun. 2) has more, and notes that the Democrat who will be facing off against Mooreite Parker in November, Robert Smith of Mobile, is — unusually for a Democratic candidate in that state, it would seem — a defense- rather than a plaintiff’s-side litigator and indeed a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel.