Corp Reform - Not Tort Reform

A Chemical Company With a Good Sense of Humor

I don't know anything about Lyondell Chemical Co. other than what I read in this brief article, so don't take this as an endorsement of them as a whole.  But I do wholeheartedly endorse this particular practice:

The recent meeting that Lyondell Chemical Co. held for its outside litigators was, for the most part, a staid and conventional affair. The Houston-based firm assembled 90 lawyers at the local Four Seasons Hotel to review recent cases and discuss upcoming issues. But the daylong session also featured something that you won't see at any other corporate conference: knighting ceremonies. ...

Each first-time honoree was given a four-foot-long sword -- unsharpened, but still looking like it could inflict serious damage. Four repeat winners received a bronze statue of a knight on horseback. And all were celebrated by Speelman with mock-heroic proclamations describing their deeds.

During the meeting's final ceremony, for example, Speelman called up Michael Nilan and Scott Smith of Minneapolis-based Halleland Lewis Nilan & Johnson. The two had "sojourned across the land," Speelman proclaimed, "guarding against marauding hordes." But then, "Lo! A summons was issued from the faraway country of Wisconsin, where the Enterprise was attacked yet again by its lead paint adversaries." (Lyondell was sued by a Wisconsin resident who claimed injuries from paint...)

Behold the Lawyers of the Round Table

Recognition like this will motivate lawyers in a way that hourly fees can't; money can't buy morale.

Technorati Tags: Lyondell, Knights, Round Table

The Texas Supreme Court is a "safety net" for corporate defendants

I'm sorry I never met Bob Kraft when I lived in Texas.  His blog, P.I.S.S.D., is chock full of humor, sarcasm, and critical examination of the civil justice system.  In other words, he's a man after my own heart.  Today, he wrote about a new article in the Dallas Morning News that points out how pro-business, anti-consumer the Texas Supreme Court is.  Here's an excerpt from the article:

The incident has added fire to a decade-long debate over whether Texas' highest court favors big business in lawsuits.

The perception is bolstered by data showing that the court's rulings increasingly favor defendants in lawsuits – upward of 87 percent of the time, one study said...

"I'd say that right now Texas is on the forefront of the business-friendly legal environment," said Rogge Dunn at Clouse Dunn Khoshbin LLP in Dallas, who handles some workers' compensation cases. "If you're an insurer here or a large company getting sued, you've got the Supreme Court as your safety net."

P.I.S.S.D. -- Personal Injury, Social Security Disability. Dallas Texas Lawyers: Link of the Day - Texas Supreme Court Favors Big Business

Visit P.I.S.S.D. if you want the link to the full article.

Technorati Tags: Texas Supreme Court, anti-consumer, pro-business, Dallas Morning News, P.I.S.S.D., Bob Kraft

Can you imagine the outrage if this were Richard Scruggs?

Law.com reports on a deal that would make the average reformer's blood boil if the recipient of the funds were Richard Scruggs, Willie Gary, or any other famous plaintiff's attorney.

Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft's law firm could earn $52.2 million helping the U.S. Attorney's office in New Jersey monitor a leading maker of knee and hip replacements, according to recent public filings.

Ashcroft's firm is among five legal teams U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie hand-picked to watch the manufacturers, who agreed in September to pay $311 million and hire monitors to settle allegations they paid surgeons to use and promote their devices.

Law.com - Former AG's Law Firm May Collect More Than $52 Million for Monitoring Medical Device Maker

Remember, it's only wrong when plaintiff's firms earn multimillion-dollar fees through personal connections with government officials.

Technorati Tags: John Ashcroft, Richard Scruggs, Medical monitoring, IOKIYAR

The subrogation trap: Another argument against damage caps

The Wall Street Journal has the sickening story of a brain-damaged woman who is losing all of her settlement to none other than Wal-Mart:

JACKSON, Mo. -- A collision with a semi-trailer truck seven years ago left 52-year-old Deborah Shank permanently brain-damaged and in a wheelchair. Her husband, Jim, and three sons found a small source of solace: a $700,000 accident settlement from the trucking company involved. After legal fees and other expenses, the remaining $417,000 was put in a special trust. It was to be used for Mrs. Shank's care.

Instead, all of it is now slated to go to Mrs. Shank's former employer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Two years ago, the retail giant's health plan sued the Shanks for the $470,000 it had spent on her medical care. A federal judge ruled last year in Wal-Mart's favor, backed by an appeals-court decision in August. Now, her family has to rely on Medicaid and Mrs. Shank's social-security payments to keep up her round-the-clock care.

Accident Victims Face Grab for Legal Winnings - WSJ.com

Wal-Mart absolutely has a right of subrogation; I'm not criticizing them for pursuing it.  There are a few problems here.  First, the settlement is way too low for these injuries.  If all of the $417,000 was slated to be used for future medical care, then the settlement didn't include anything for noneconomic damages.  That's a very crappy settlement, unless liability was very questionable.  One way to prevent an injustice like this is for victims to receive a noneconomic damages settlement in excess of their economic damages settlement.  Otherwise, the victim can literally end up with nothing while insurers get it all.

Second, we now have a case of an insurer being reimbursed at the expense of taxpayers.  Again, I have no issue with subrogation, but isn't there something wrong with allowing subrogation to proceed when it means the taxpayers will have to step up?

Forget everything about "runaway juries" and "frivolous lawsuits."  This case epitomizes the real problems with the civil justice system today: Individuals aren't properly compensated, major corporations have all the power, and quite often, taxpayers are called upon to pay for the negligence of others.

Technorati Tags: Subrogation, Wal-Mart, Deborah Shank, WSJ.Com, Wall Street Journal, broken justice system

Crooked defense witness "excoriated" for testifying that plaintiff's lawyer should earn far less than defense lawyer

Ever notice how the "reform" movement and the defense bar is very concerned with how much plaintiff's attorneys earn?  At least one judge has now called them out for paying an "expert" witness to testify that an experienced plaintiff attorney should earn $125 per hour less than a fresh-out-of-law-school defense attorney:

Feldman said Marquess said he should be paid $235, $125 less than a DLA Piper associate....

The defense legal team has spent 7,100 hours on the case and attorneys have billed at rates "ranging from $560 to $595 higher than the rates requested by plaintiff's counsel," Bernstein said in the Kia case.

"The defense bar often accuses the plaintiffs bar of using junk science," Donovan said. "From my perspective, it's the other way around. From my perspective, the defendants are equally responsible for putting up junk science and junk witnesses."

Law.com - Court Explaining $4.1M Fees Award in Kia Class Action Excoriates Defense Witness

The defense strategy is simple: try and make plaintiff work so unrewarding that injured consumers can't find a lawyer to take their cases. 

Technorati Tags: hypocrites, tort reform, attorney fees, DLA Piper, junk science

First it was damage caps - now it's Christmas caps!

Have a quick read (it's very short) of  Overlawyered: Party like it's a Vioxx settlement and perhaps you'll wonder what I did: "Who gives a damn how much Lanier spends on a Christmas party?"   Do we need to place caps on Christmas party expenditures?

This is a standard "reformer" tactic: Attack wealthy trial lawyers just for being wealthy.  Of course, the same "reform" gang bristles when wealthy corporations are attacked for being wealthy.

Technorati Tags: Mark Lanier, Christmas, Overlawyered, parties

The first thing we do... let's thank all the lawyers

I've been meaning to write something like this, but have been a bit busy with law school and an arbitration competition.  This is a nice piece:

Here in America we are trained to look down on our lawyers. We assume that lawyers are just petty ambulance chasers. We think they are eager to bend justice for their clients but only if it also obscenely increases their fortunes. We do not understand how anyone can justify billing rates of $200 or $300 an hour by doing something as dry as reading dusty old law books. Sometimes we grudgingly express appreciation for those lawyers who attempt to provide equal justice to the poor. We do so while sometimes also expressing unhappiness if their justice was purchased with our tax dollars...

Perhaps like me you were stirred by the recent events in Pakistan. I was not surprised that with his grip on power loosening, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf would find it convenient to suspend the constitution and lock up most of his political opponents. Like most of us democrats, I was upset. Yet I was also very moved to see opposition arise almost immediately. Who led the opposition? They were the Pakistan’s lawyers, who marched in the streets by the thousands. By standing up for their democracy, they literally put their lives on the line. In fact, it is likely that at least hundreds of them are now in prison for doing so. So far, it appears that most of Pakistan’s masses have yet to become engaged in the struggle for democracy. The lawyers are proving to be the phalanx for the restoration of the rule of law in Pakistan. It is also clear from footage of their marches that they are passionate believers in the law and in democracy. As they proved some months ago when they stood up to Musharraf in support of their chief justice, they have the courage of their convictions.

The measure of a democracy : Occam's Razor

Hitler hated lawyers, too.

Technorati Tags: Lawyers, Pakistan, Musharraf

Frivolous Defense of the Day

Yes, I'm still alive.  I also have my contracts midterm in 3 hours, so I'm not sure why I picked this as the best time to return to the world of blogging.  That said:

There are many, many reasons I want nothing to do with family law.  One of them is that family lawyers are the lawyers most likely to be shot by disgruntled clients.  Another is that in family law, you often have to come up with the most ridiculous arguments known to man, like this one: 

"The firm argued against subpoenaing Beveridge because of his age and the fact that nearly 14 years have passed since the disputed loan was executed. But that argument didn't get far with Thompson." (Emphasis added.)

Source: Law.com - Allegations of an Affair and a Forgery Ensnare Beveridge & Diamond

"Your honor, my client is in his seventies.  That means he's simply too old to be subpoenaed."

I know AARP is a powerful lobby, but I don't think they've yet managed to exempt seniors from being subject to subpoena. 

Technorati Tags: Law.com, Beveridge and Diamond, frivolous defenses, fraud

Live in Michigan? Don't buy cheap crap from China - here's why.

The law firm of Thompson, O'Neil, & VanderVeen in Traverse City, Michigan posted today about what "reform" has done to Michigan. 

These products bear an additional risk for Michigan residents, since after tort "reform" the seller of the product is not legally responsible for defects or injuries they cause.  Further, the Chinese government doesn't allow its industries to be sued (particularly since most are government-owned).  As a result, when a "Thomas" occurs in Michigan, if it causes catastrophic injuries to someone, no one is responsible and has to stand behind it.

Source: TOV Blog: Product injuries and the Flat Earth

So what happens if a person on public assistance gets hurt by say, poisonous toothpaste from China?  Why, the generous taxpayers of Michigan get to pick up the tab for their treatment.  Even if they bought the toothpaste from a wealthy store like Wal-Mart, Target, etc. 

That the "reformers" talk up the supposed "tort tax" but refuse to acknowledge the costs of "reform" to taxpayers speaks volumes as to their dishonesty.

 

Technorati tags: tort reform, Michigan, Traverse City, product liability, tort tax, Made in China

Bill Daniels on the importance of being a trial lawyer

I saw a post today at Billdanielsblog.com and it included this quote from Alexander Hamilton. 

As Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist No. 83 (one of my favorite quotes):

"The friends and adversaries of (the proposed federal constitution), if they agree in nothing else, concur at least in the value they set upon the trial by jury; or if there is any difference between them it consists in this: the former regard it as a valuable safeguard to liberty; the latter represent it as the very palladium of free government."  (A "palladium," by the way, is "anything believed to provide protection or safety.")

Source: California Insurance, Personal Injury and Wage Hour Law Blog: Why personal injury lawyers help keep our country strong.

The rest of his post is worth reading, too.