Judy Buckles, one of the “founders” of the Astroturf group Victims and Families United (Feb. 20, 2004, Sep. 13, 2004) has suddenly discovered that the prominent plaintiffs’ firms of Madison County may not have plaintiffs’ best interests at heart, and is suing prominent asbestos firm SimmonsCooper for allegedly shortchanging her in its representation of her and her late husband. That she’s represented by the Lakin Law Firm suggests interesting machinations afoot in the county. (Steve Gonzalez, “Victims’ advocate sues asbestos attorneys for gypping her”, Madison County Record, Jul. 13; “Pawn Shop”, Madison County Record, Jul. 16).
Posts Tagged ‘ethics’
Federal prosecutors
Neuborne vs. critics
NYU lawprof Burt Neuborne responds to critics (including Hofstra’s Monroe Freedman) who say he’s asking for excessive fees in Holocaust litigation (Lattman updated thread; see Jun. 30).
“Do you know who I am?”
According to an editorial report in London’s Telegraph earlier this year, an Italian court has ruled that it is not inappropriate for a lawyers’ association to discipline one of its members for uttering in the course of a social interaction that classic phrase of intimidation, “Do you know who I am?” (“We know who you are” (editorial), Daily Telegraph, Jan. 15). If adopted in this country, such a disciplinary rule might tend to crimp the style of famed tort high-roller Stanley Chesley, to judge by an generally puffy recent Cincinnati Enquirer profile (Chuck Martin, “Champion for little guy”, May 28). (These seeming puff pieces so often turn out to embarrass inadvertently.) More on Chesley: Mar. 6, 2006; Aug. 24, 2005; Jan. 11, 2004; Aug. 7-8, 2001; Aug. 16-17, 2000; Jun. 1, 2000; Apr. 12, 2000; Mar. 30, 2000; Dec. 23-26, 1999.
“An unseemly rate to be asking”
Am I a “hitman”?
I was so characterized by one Rep. Gary Ackerman (Jun. 13) because my testimony before a congressional subcommittee today about problems in securities class actions dared to mention Milberg Weiss. Decide for yourself.
“…And there’s a thousand more in this state that do it”
One crooked Pennsylvania lawyer disbarred and, by his own account at least, 1,000 more to go:
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ordered the disbarment of a Philadelphia attorney who served time in prison after pleading guilty to charges he defrauded a slew of insurers on behalf of personal injury plaintiffs who in reality had not needed medical attention.
During a disciplinary hearing Michael Radbill suggested that the practice of representing clients who are “not really injured” is endemic across the state, according to the report from the Supreme Court’s Disciplinary Board.
He also indicated that over the course of a 30-year career, 80 percent of his practice had been centered on the representation of uninjured personal injury clients. …
The federal investigation also produced evidence that Radbill had employed people to recruit personal injury clients, help stage slip-and-falls for his clients and oversee his clients’ treatment by medical providers willing to falsify records and insurance claims, according to the report….
According to the report, Radbill said at a disciplinary hearing that “I got into personal injury cases and … when I was a young lawyer, [people told me], ‘You’re going to get accident cases of people that aren’t really hurt, you say they’re hurt and you send them to the doctor.’
“That’s not right, OK?” Radbill continued, according to the report. “And I did it for 30 years and there’s a thousand more here in this state that do it, and I told [the investigators] that, and they said, ‘Yeah, but you got caught,’ [for] which I served my time, I didn’t make excuses, so that’s true.”
(Asher Hawkins, “Representation of Uninjured Clients Brings Disbarment for Pa. Lawyer”, The Legal Intelligencer, Jun. 23).
Hometown justice, Las Vegas style
L.A. Times runs with the first part of a three-part series investigating the court system in Las Vegas, Nevada, where the quality of justice obtained seems to have a lot to do with whether lawyers have forked over campaign donations to the judge who hears their cases, where judges can do all sorts of things with their campaign funds that they’d be barred from doing in other states, and where undisclosed conflicts are rife. Names lots of names, too (Michael J. Goodman and William C. Rempel, , “In Las Vegas, They’re Playing With a Stacked Judicial Deck”, Jun. 8). More: Part II is here and Part III is here.
David Giacalone on hiatus
First lawyer indicted in Miss. fen-phen probe
“A Jackson attorney has been indicted on charges accusing him of helping individuals submit false settlement claims for the diet drug Fen-Phen, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. Robert Arledge, who was employed by Richard Schwartz and Associates during the time the indictment covers, is the first attorney charged in the ongoing federal investigation.” The false submissions generated more than $8 million in settlements in attorneys’ fees, prosecutors say. (Jimmie E. Gates, “Jackson lawyer indictment in Fen-Phen probe”, Jackson Clarion-Ledger, May 26; “Vicksburg attorney indicted in scam”, May 27). For more on the Mississippi fen-phen scandal, see Feb. 8 and many earlier links.