Subj: Enron attorney fees

Dear Professor Coffee,

I saw you referred to and quoted in a March 17, 2008 entry in overlawyered.com as being supportive of the Enron attorney fees request and to the effect that you often testify for fee requests.

Do you have any writings in electronic form that you could send to me, or are there any books or articles you have written not in electronic form that you could cite me to, in which you lay out your positions and arguments relative to tort reform and plaintiffs’ lawyers?

For what it is worth, I am squarely in Walter Olson’s camp and have my own blog to show for it. I am interested in finding cogent statements of the case on the other side from Mr. Olson and myself, but have not found much yet. I hope you can help me out.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Robert Shattuck

Yes, Sarbanes is a mess and it horribly expensive for public companies to comply with, but please understand that it was not meant as a way to prevent a corporation from failing.

The recent Bear Sterns collapse indicates that SOX was ineffective. The American Public loves witch trials, but hysteria is a poor basis for law making.

Both Enron and Bear Sterns were runs on the bank caused by factors beyond the control of the respective corporate managers.

I pray that we avoid more SOX type nonsense and take account that lack of regulation of mortgages let “little guys” game the system to enjoy housing beyond their means and “levered” profits from flipping houses.