Overlawyered letters

I have just read your article regarding Sudden Acceleration (Apr. 19) and, though I respect your right to an opinion, I suggest you research before making such a definitive statement. Nowhere in the article does it show the billions of dollars spent lobbying government and covering up evidence on the part of the automakers. Nor does the article show the fraud on behalf of Ford to "win" cases. If you research the Manigault case in Ohio I believe you will begin to see the true story.

Lest we forget the Ford Pinto and Grand Marquis and their exploding gas tanks. Ford has a long history of using its deep pockets to win cases rather than concern themselves with the public interest. It was the Ford Company that wrote in internal documents that it was far cheaper, and better for the bottom line, to pay outside counsel, pay victims, and not recall the Pinto.

Corporations have a distinct advantage when it comes to our legal system. Few lawyers have the financial resources to fight corporations. In our legal system it is the obligation of the agrieved party to prove responsibility. It is the Corporation's responsibility to deliver all documents as requested by the "victim." The corporations are on the "honor system" to make full disclosure. The Corporation's counsel, when fraud is uncovered and proven, has the excuse that he didn't know of the existence of the documents or that they were misplaced. Thus, there is no penalty for fraud, thus there is no reason to make available self-incriminating information.

Though I agree there are many unwarranted cases in the legal process, those who are truly victimized should not be made to suffer consequences. Our society often holds the rich accountable for the ills of the poor and oppose the death penalty before an innocent person is executed. Yet, these same people give Big Business the benefit of the doubt, and vilify the victim. I don't understand.

I hope you will do some research into the matter and post an article from the other point of view. -- Gary Motelson, Staten Island, N.Y.

For more on what the late law professor Gary Schwartz called "The Myth of the Ford Pinto Case" and other questions of automotive design defects, see our notes on automotive litigation from 1999 and this site's auto page generally. -- W.O.