Are Plaintiffs Attorneys Becoming Targets?

[EV_Ares]

Tresa Baldas of The National Law Journal

Michigan attorney Geoffrey Fieger was recently indicted on campaign finance charges, the fourth high-profile plaintiffs attorney to face federal criminal charges in the past 14 months. The string of charges has caught the ire of the plaintiffs bar, with many well-known trial attorneys alleging that the federal government is targeting them.

On Aug. 21, special prosecutors charged prominent Mississippi trial attorney Richard "Dickie" F. Scruggs with criminal contempt in a Hurricane Katrina insurance dispute. E.A. Renfroe & Co. v. Moran, No. 2:06-cv-01752-WMA (N.D. Ala.).

In May, Las Vegas personal injury lawyer Noel Gage was indicted for allegedly conspiring to take part in a multimillion-dollar scheme to inflate settlements and judgments in personal injury cases. U.S. v. Gage, No. 2:07-cr-039-LDG-CRI (D. Nev.). Gage is fighting the indictment.

In May, the class action plaintiffs law firm Milberg Weiss and two of its attorneys were indicted on charges of orchestrating a scheme to pay off lead plaintiffs in shareholder lawsuits. U.S. v. Lazar, No. 05cr00587 (C.D. Calif.). Three other lawyers have also faced charges in the matter. The firm has denied any wrongdoing, though a former partner, David J. Bershad, pleaded guilty to charges that he conspired in the payment of illegal kickbacks to individual class-action plaintiffs. The probe is ongoing, and charges against other lawyers are anticipated.

"It raises eyebrows, at the least, when you consider the people who are being targeted," said Ted Schmidt, of the plaintiffs firm Kinerk, Beal, Schmidt, Dyer & Sethi in Tuscon, Ariz. "There does seem to be something of a pattern there."

Schmidt said the series of indictments also has plaintiffs lawyers scrutinizing their practices. "Everybody's looking at what they're doing and becoming very circumspect and thinking, 'Gee, could I be the next target for something like this?'"

U.S. Department of Justice spokesman Bryan Sierra adamantly denied claims the government is targeting plaintiffs lawyers. "That is not accurate and falsely represents the department's prosecutions."

(entire article @ following link)

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1189155758851&rss=newswire

[hootinholler]

1. Conversion of Justice to Just Us continues. n/t

[annabanana]

2. Of course they are... They are among the very few that

can cost coporations significant $ on behalf of otherwise powerless people.

[TygrBright]

3. "Becoming?!?" They've BEEN targets for decades...

...ever since the Reagan era. That's what tort "reform" is all about: cutting off the average citizen's access to the courts for redress of grievances against the corporate oligarchy.

That's what's behind all the hyperventilating scare stories about "out of proportion" damage awards and what the costs of the Poor, Picked-On Corporations defending themselves against Frivolous and Malicious Lawsuits do to consumer prices.

Plaintiff's Attorneys are right up there with "Activist Judges" as the villains du jour in the propaganda war on an idependent judiciary.

wearily,
Bright