Greasing The Wheels Of Justice
Posted April 12th, 2008 by Da King
Lawyers give more money to political campaigns than does any other industry. During the 2004 elections, lawyers donated $183.8 million. So far in 2008, they've given $103 million, and we have 7 months to go until the election. Approximately 75% of the lawyer's money goes to Democrats. Lawyers, and specifically trial lawyers, are the Democrats number one special interest group, and have been for years. By comparison, the industry that donates the biggest percentage to Republicans is Oil/Gas. They are 16th on the industry donor list, having given $11.5 million in 2008. 73% of that goes to the GOP. You can find the donor numbers at opensecrets.org. The other big Democratic donor industries are Securities/Investment (like Bear Stearns), TV/Movies/Music (the liberal media), and Education (failing public schools/teacher's unions).
So, what do lawyers get in return for all that money they are throwing at the Democrats ?
Well, the Dems let the Protect America Act expire rather than grant immunity to the telecom companies that aided the government in tracking terrorists following 9/11. The lawyers have billions in lawsuits waiting in the wings there. Even national security took a back seat to the trial lawyers on that issue. That's what the Dems do for the trial lawyers. Dems block tort reform, block medical malpractice reform, block 'loser pays' lawsuit reform, and block damages award caps. Democrats are a trial lawyer's dream come true. Dems allow lawyers to continue to feed at the trough, uninhibited. Dems are money in the bank for trial lawyers. It's no wonder that Obama, Hillary, and John Edwards are all lawyers. No wonder all three of them buy into the ideas of victimology and entitlement. It's in their DNA. Everybody I know thinks our society has become overly litigious (except the litigators living in their mansions. They think it's peachy). Democrats are the reason our society is so sue happy. It's a big part of their agenda.
This leads me to the prestigious law firm of Milberg Weiss LLC (and by 'prestigious', I mean 'crooked as hell'). Milberg Weiss is one of the big tort law firms, and their specialty is class action lawsuits against corporations on behalf of their shareholders. You see, if shareholders don't get the expected return on their stock investment, the landsharks at Milberg Weiss are ready and willing to call that fraud or mismanagement, and sue the corporation. I kid you not. If you are a corporation and your stock price drops, Milberg Weiss will sue you if they can get enough of your stockholders to go along. Another specialty of Milberg Weiss is the so-called 'strike suit', which is a lawsuit that is so expensive to defend that corporations find it easier and less expensive to settle rather than fight. I'm pretty sure they used to call that extortion in the old days, but this is a brave new world.
There was a bigger problem with Milberg Weiss - they gave kickbacks to shareholders who provided primary testimony against the corporations they were suing. In other words, the testimony was bought and paid for, and that IS fraud, big time.
To call Milberg Weiss successful is an understatement. A 2004 Forbes article estimated Milberg Weiss lawsuit winnings at $30 billion. A couple weeks ago, I heard a Wall Street Journal analyst say it was up to $45 billion by 2008. The pattern of corruption at Milberg Weiss was mind boggling. They paid millions in kickbacks.
When the Bush Justice Department indicted several Milberg Weiss attorneys in 2006, after investigations that had been going on since the Clinton administration, Democrats in the US Congress rushed to their defense. The Dems politicized the indictments (surprise, surprise !) by issuing the following accusatory statement against the Bushies, which was signed by four Democrat Congressmen - Charles Rangel, Carolyn McCarthy, Gary Ackerman and Robert Wexler:
“The unprecedented recent indictment of Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman is a very thinly veiled attempt by the Bush Administration to accomplish by bullying and intimidation what it has not been able to do by law - to end class-action lawsuits, one of the few tools remaining to safeguard the American consumer.”
That is typical Dem hyper-partisanship, but Rangel and company had a bit of a problem - Milberg Weiss attorneys were guilty as hell, and now the convictions are coming down. Seymour Lazar, retired, was convicted of paying $2.6 million to "professional plaintiffs" [link], and previously was found guilty of obstruction of justice, filing a false tax return, and making false statements to the court. Mel Weiss pled guilty to conspiring to obstruct justice by hiding secret payments to plaintiffs in securities lawsuits [link]. The prosecutor in the case against Mel Weiss said the firm has been running this scam for 25 years. Bill 'The King Of Torts" Lerach was also convicted in the kickback scheme [link]. Several others are still awaiting trial.
So, what kind of prison time did these felonious mass corrupters of the justice system get ?
You're gonna love this part.
After defrauding and extorting corporations for 25 years, bribing witnesses, giving kickbacks, obstructing justice, lying to the court, and collecting tens of billions in ill-gotten gains from it all….
Seymour Lazar got probation (he's 80 years old). Mel Weiss got 20-33 months, and Bill Lerach got 2 years. You'd get more time than that if you robbed $200 from the local mini mart.
Isn't it great to have friends in high places ?
Btw, Hillary Clinton has received more money from Milberg Weiss than any other member of Congress. Barack Obama received a lesser amount.
April 12th, 2008 at 10:39 am
So you're saying they all got more than Scotter Libby?
April 12th, 2008 at 11:05 am
King, I see that now the Bush haters are using Scooter Libby's pardon as their measuring stick for determining sentences for criminals. I wonder if truth has ever checked to see how much money the wronged people get out of those law suits we call class action suits. After the lawyers get their share, pay their witnesses, etc it seems that there is always very little for the suers. Somehow they manage to hide that from the fools that get into their suits with them.
da truth when I look at the list of Lazar's crimes they seem to be much like what Libby was charged with other than tax evasion and his probation was about as serious as Libby's pardon (oops wrong word there). Surely an 80 year old retired lawyer can't be too limited by a probation sentence.
April 12th, 2008 at 11:08 am
King, it seems to me that you picked a subject to write about that da truth doesn't want to address since he had to bring up the Libby case for comparison. Do you suppose he is one of those trial lawyers trying to shift the topic like so many lefties do when things get too uncomfortable?
truth, I remember you are not one of those people but using their methods make me wonder.
April 12th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
No Roy, the only type of trial work I ever did was criminal defense, but I'm sure that makes me as evil as the trial lawyers you hate. The type of law I do now doesn't involve going to trial, but thanks for lumping me in, since I'm an evil dem I'm just the same anyway, right?
Just answer me one question, Roy: why is it ok for you and king to ignore facts or the indiscretion of your side for the sake of argument but it's not ok for me to point those things out without being accused of changing the subject? Yes, the democratic party is greatly influenced by special interests. What a shock. Not exactly a news flash. I have news for you: so is your party. Now go ahead and call me stupid and call me names and say that I change the subject. Oh wait. Never mind, just say I change the subject, Vince takes care of the name calling for your side.
Either way, I would point out that it's interesting that you guys talk so much about protecting national security but don't see how Scooter put us at much more risk than a group of blowhard trial attorneys.
April 12th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
what used to be an honorable profession(there are many honest ethical lawyers) has often been reduced to the show me the money mentality that is slowly beocming our countries mission statement. Imagine that plumbers controllled all three of the branches and much of the bureacracy. Can you imagine the laws that would be in place concerning plumbing requirements.. Yearly plumbing inspections, total redos before a house could be sold and plumbing fit for a king in all public facilities and on and on The laws are written by lawyers for the lawyers for their benefit. Most new legislation is a new area for them to mine. The amnesty bill that they will get passed one way or the other should be retitled the lawyer full employment act. Look at the number of lawyers we have today. It drawfs other countries. The result is a litigious society in which the lawyer is the one that always wins. I could go on for hours but why bother? Rep/Dem there may be some difference but it is all the same team so to speak
April 12th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
P.S. class action law suits that orignally were a benefit to societybut have become a goldmine for the lowest of the low. My wife and I must receive notice at least twice a month about the newest way I have been damaged and if I join I could recieve $$$$. Hell I could get anything from a free tire balance to a few dollars. These defenders of justice walk away with millions.
April 13th, 2008 at 10:50 am
angry c,
You are right on the money (pun intended). MONEY is what it is all about, and the facts are, the lawyer lobby has major influence on our government. Money and power both corrupt, and when there are billions of dollars at stake, corruption is inevitable. The lawyer lobby is one that I NEVER hear the Dems talking about as a special interest, even though the lawyers are #1.
When do you suppose Charlie Rangel and company will apologize to the Bush administration for the false accusations ??? Do you think that will be like, never ?
April 13th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Roy,
I'm not sure what Libby has to do with any of this either, but I'm not going to waste my time responding to it.
I think the Scopes monkey trial is about equally relevant. Lawyers had something to do with that too.
April 13th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Of course you won't repsond, King, because you know I'm right. I just wish you guys would come out and admit that you believe anything R=good and anything D=evil. At least Vince is able to admit that those are his true feelings.
April 14th, 2008 at 12:11 am
"anything R=good and anything D=evil"
I'm not sure how you have the gall to say that to me if you've been reading what I write for very long, but I suspect you aren't looking for the truth, just an argument, just a way to change the subject. Sorry, but this post isn't about Libby. Libby has nothing to do with it. If you insist on comparing apples and oranges, however, Libby was convicting of making false statements in the Plame witchhunt. The Milberg Weiss attorneys were convicted of making false statements as well, along with bribing witnesses in lawsuits that extorted billions of dollars from corporations, a pattern of corruption that continued for 25 years. Who do you think deserved the longer sentence ?
Now, what's really relevant is that Scope trial…OJ too….and did you know that Democrat Robert Byrd was in the KKK ? You know that I'm right, admit it.
April 15th, 2008 at 10:30 am
Absolutely — the Dim are the party of evil while the Repbublicans are merely the party of stupidity.
Once this principle is grasped, contemporary American politics makes sense.
April 15th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
It appears the system worked here King. The bad guys got caught and were convicted, right?
But that's not your point, is it? You want to make the entire trial lawyer industry seem rotten and corrupt because of one case. How fair is that?
Here's the deal. Unless you want to go back to the wild west methods of settling differences, trial lawyers are not only necessary, they're essential. Including class action suits against carnivorous corporations.
Why in the hell wouldn't trial lawyers support the Democratic Party? The other party wants to eliminate their profession altogether.
But the biggest complaint I have about your post is how you are so selective in your criticism. Is it only defense attorneys who are bad? And what kind of country would we have without trail lawyers?
P.S. Ghost….If the Democrats are evil and the GOP'ers are dumb, what in the world would you call yourself?
April 15th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Those "lawyers" that you are excoriating are the lawyers for corporations. It is common practice for corporations to fund their law firms and pass-through the payments to campaigns. This gets them around the $2300/donor limitation.
That is the basic concept of Bush's Ranger/bundlers, who get to lobby the "president" in exchange for bundling hundreds of thousands of dollars of campaign contributions.
So what the lawyers are buying is not influence for the "lawyer's industry", but influence for Big Oil, the telecoms/media, weapons builders, and the hospital/pharmaceutical industry. Note that all of those have been quite successful in the Bush/republican era.
Tom's college of political knowledge
Hey, while you have http://www.opensecrets.org open, would you please look up First Energy Corporation of Akron?
April 15th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
Rev,
As is your habit, you have distorted the issue using an extremist argument that nobody is advocating. Nowhere did I (or anyone) say that trial lawyers should be eliminated. You have adopted the tactics of the Rangel bunch, who were very much in the wrong in their politicization of this case. The system may have worked here eventually (after it was corrupted for 25 years at a cost of billions), but it wouldn't have worked if Rangel and company had their way. I'd say you have some friends in low places on this.
Why is it that lobbyists are such an evil influence, EXCEPT when they are Democrat lobbyists ?
April 15th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Tom,
If your theory is correct, then you are telling me that corporate america favors Democrats with their campagn donations. I'd say that is NOT true in a generalized sense. The example of big oil alone disproves it. Corporations donate to the political party that will either a) help them be profitable (that usually isn't Democrats), or b) is the party in power at the time (could be one or both at any specific time).
I gave you the reasons trial lawyers donate to Dems, and the Milberg Weiss firm could hardly be called corporate lawyers. That's about as far off base as one can roam.
April 15th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Tom,
What about First Energy ? I didn't get very far with my search. I think opensecrets is down at the moment. I'll try again later.
April 16th, 2008 at 9:48 am
"P.S. Ghost….If the Democrats are evil and the GOP'ers are dumb, what in the world would you call yourself?"
Conservative.
April 17th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Ditto for me, Vince.
With some Libertarian thrown in.