Friday, July 09, 2004
The Federal Government: The Ultimate Trial Lawyer
The Federal Government Should Get off Tabacco's Back
A lot of rhetoric is flying about how John Edwards is an 'evil' trial lawyer. Hey, even though I'm a lawyer, I too am disturbed by how litiginous a society we've become. In fact, I'm attempting to pull down all the cases in which John Edwards was counsel on so I can see if he was really helping the little guy.
But what drives me crazy, is at the same time the federal government wants to limit my ability to sue a coporation, it's engaged in the same sort of high stakes, big money litigation it so heartedly criticizes. Does it matter that the enemy is tobacco? I say no.
The federal government could, with a stroke of a pen, outlaw tobacco products in this country. If the damage caused by tobacco is as costly as they claim, they probably should. But while subsidizing tobacco growing on one hand, allowing the legal sale of tobacco, then turning around a suing the industry for $200 billion seems a bit wacky to me. Outlaw the stuff, or let people take responsibility for their personal choices.
Economist has the goods:
http://economist.com/agenda/displayStory.cfm?story_id=2896490
A lot of rhetoric is flying about how John Edwards is an 'evil' trial lawyer. Hey, even though I'm a lawyer, I too am disturbed by how litiginous a society we've become. In fact, I'm attempting to pull down all the cases in which John Edwards was counsel on so I can see if he was really helping the little guy.
But what drives me crazy, is at the same time the federal government wants to limit my ability to sue a coporation, it's engaged in the same sort of high stakes, big money litigation it so heartedly criticizes. Does it matter that the enemy is tobacco? I say no.
The federal government could, with a stroke of a pen, outlaw tobacco products in this country. If the damage caused by tobacco is as costly as they claim, they probably should. But while subsidizing tobacco growing on one hand, allowing the legal sale of tobacco, then turning around a suing the industry for $200 billion seems a bit wacky to me. Outlaw the stuff, or let people take responsibility for their personal choices.
Economist has the goods:
http://economist.com/agenda/displayStory.cfm?story_id=2896490
