Democrats promised a far more aggressive brand of congressional oversight when they replaced the Republicans last November. But other than political theater on the war in Iraq, Alberto Gonzales and global warming, not much in the way of oversight has been seen on Capitol Hill. If the lords of Congress really mean to be responsible watchdogs, they should investigate the gangrenous rot sown in the American judicial system by corrupt class action lawyerslike courtroom firebrand William Lerach.
Lerach and several associates from his former New York law firm Milberg Weiss recently pleaded guilty to assorted felonies stemming from their long-running participation in an $11.8 million kickback scheme uncovered by a federal investigation launched in 1999. Federal prosecutors say the scheme funneled bribes to lead plaintiffs favorable to Milberg Weiss in more than 225 cases and resulted in an estimated $250 million in tainted fees being paid to the firm over a period of nearly three decades. Melvyn Weiss, the firm’s co-founder, goes on trial next year in the case, which also resulted in the government’s first-ever use of anti-racketeering laws to indict a law firm. Two prime issues to be addressed by Congress: How could Milberg Weiss go undetected so long and who should be held accountable?
Unfortunately, there is abundant reason to believe Milberg Weiss is not an isolated example of tort-bar corruption. In Texas, for example, U.S. District Court Judge Janis Graham Jack looked at thousands of fraudulent asbestos and silica diagnoses by doctors participating in asbestos and silica suits and concluded that “it is apparent that truth and justice had very little to do with these diagnoses.” The “lawyers, doctors and screening companies” were “willing participants” in what Judge Jack labeled a “scam.” Thus the model for legions of class action suits: Find a friendly lead plaintiff to represent alleged victims making trumped-up damage claims against a villain with deep pockets, get a sympathetic judge to enforce unreasonable discovery burdens on the defendant, appeal to a jury’s raw emotions, then bank millions in legal fees. If you are really good at it, you’ll get millions in fees while the victims you represented end up with a few dollars, if they are lucky.
The public has a right to know the full dimensions of the civil litigation scandal and what the Bush administration is doing about it, if anything. As the National Association of Manufacturers’ Shop Floor blog noted yesterday, such a hearing would be “a tremendous opportunity for the chairmen of the respective committees. Surely oversight hearings are just around the corner.” Class-action lawyers have given millions of dollars in campaign contributions to Democrats and a few Republicans. If lawmakers do not mount a credible oversight investigation, they will lend credence to the charge that they, like the lead plaintiffs suborned by Milberg Weiss, have been bought and paid for.
