Two words:
"John Edwards".
Two words:Two more: Arlen Specter"John Edwards".
In 2000, Scientific-Atlanta and Motorola agreed to sell cable boxes to Charter Communications, which was creative in booking these deals and had to restate its financial results. Scientific-Atlanta and Motorola had done nothing more than enter into contracts with its customer, Charter, on terms requested by that customer, and had accounted for the deals properly. Nonetheless, the Stoneridge investment firm sued the two suppliers, alleging a “scheme” against Charter investors. -WSJJohn Stossel's TakeThey lost only because Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that a company couldn't be held liable for damages just because it worked with a company that committed fraud. Now, the opportunistic Arlen Specter, whose son is a prominent personal injury/medical malpractice lawyer, and other senators want to pass a law to specifically allow that. The WSJ reported on that this week, and suggests that another bill may be worse:
Mr. Specter has also introduced a bill to let attorneys claim an up-front tax deduction on expenses they incur while building contingency fee cases. Amazing but true: Mr. Specter wants to give a tax cut to sustain the likes of Mel Weiss or Dickie Scruggs in the yachts to which they have become accustomed while they await jackpot jury verdicts. Even Democrats are too embarrassed by this giveaway (estimated cost: $1.6 billion) to pass it as a stand-alone bill, so tort lobbyist Linda Lipsen recently said “we have to tuck it into something” else, such as another “tax vehicle.”
I hope the media will notice. When I started consumer reporting, I believed the plaintiffs’ lawyers suits benefited consumers. After watching them work, I came to understand how destructive these suits are. They crush innovation. They kill free speech. They bully. I write about it in my myth book.