Reining In the Kings of Tort

Washington Post ^ | 06/05/08 | David Ignatius

[MrLegalReform]

The huge fees that Weiss and Scruggs were able to pocket stemmed from their technique of gathering very large groups of plaintiffs to sue corporations for damages. Weiss's genius was getting in the door first as lead counsel, using a ready-made stable of clients who, it turned out, were receiving kickbacks in what a federal judge described this week as a "nationwide conspiracy that continued for decades."

Scruggs was also adept at enrolling long lists of plaintiffs -- whose damage claims were so sizable that corporations often settled rather than run the risk of multibillion-dollar payouts and possible bankruptcy. Scruggs's special talent was working with politicians and elected judges in Mississippi and other plaintiff-friendly Southern states. As described by the New Yorker, Scruggs's legal crusades were closer to turkey shoots than normal litigation. The elected judges looked to the plaintiffs' bar for campaign contributions and rewarded it with friendly courtrooms that produced huge settlements.

These mega-cases have turned traditional notions of legal practice upside down. The old system revolved around individual plaintiffs who hired lawyers to seek redress through the courts. Lawyers back then regarded it as unethical to solicit clients, and until 1977 there was a strict ban against attorney advertising. Nowadays, advertising is pervasive, and in class-action cases, it's the lawyers who in effect are hiring clients -- often in a rush to file civil suits against companies that have just admitted guilt in criminal cases. At its worst, the system is close to legalized extortion.

[MrLegalReform]

So when is something going to be DONE about this? It's not like these two guys were the only ones doing anything shady.

[thulldud]

"The way the system developed, it broke down the connection between lawyers and clients," argues Jamie Gorelick, a former deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration. "These practices result in part from changes in the rules governing our profession."

Yeah! Jamie will fix it! Just put up another "wall"!

[stan_sipple]

wheres the midstream media wailing “culture of corruption?”

[Maverick68]

I am less concerned about Corporate Greed than I am about “Big Law” corrupting our justice system. For every decent lawyer out there, 100 could be lined against the wall and.....

[elpadre]

this exactly how John Edwards amassed his fortune.

[HoosierHawk]

So when is something going to be DONE about this?

Not anytime soon. Big Law owns the Democrats.

Scruggs and Weiss.

[az_gila]

So when is something going to be DONE about this?

Not anytime soon. Big Law owns the Democrats

---

Looks like Weiss got 2 1/2 years... a start...

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aGqfpC4ZjoAw&refer=home

[az_gila]

...and Scruggs is under indictment...

http://www.setexasrecord.com/news/204924-luck-runs-out-for-tort-king-scruggs-indicted-for-bribery

[swarthyguy]

The Tobacco Cases made multimillionaires outta the lawyers.

That’s the model for future cases against food, fuel etc. etc.

Bush promised tort reform.

Guess these guys will keep defining the nation.