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February 1, 2004
Lawyers top Edwards' list of supporters
By Greg Gordon -- Bee Washington Bureau
Published 2:15 a.m. PST Sunday, February 1, 2004
Second in a series examining the campaign finances of the presidential
candidates.
WASHINGTON -- President Bush and congressional
Republicans vilify trial lawyers as greedy and unscrupulous, but
North Carolina Sen. John Edwards makes no apologies for taking
millions of dollars from the plaintiffs' bar. The Democratic presidential
hopeful made a name and a fortune representing medical malpractice
victims during his own 20-year legal career.
"If our opponents on the other side of the
aisle want to make an issue of (Edwards') line of work, we're
more than happy to engage in that fight," said Edwards' campaign
spokesman, Roger Salazar.
It is an issue likely to stay near the surface.
Of the $14.5 million Edwards raised through Sept. 30, at least
$6.7 million came from lawyers, according to an analysis of campaign
finance reports by Dwight L. Morris and Associates. Most of those
donors are plaintiffs' attorneys who file suits accusing companies
of cheating or injuring people.
In California, Edwards raised $2.2 million in
large donations -- those of at least $200 -- through Sept. 30,
much of it from trial lawyers and entertainment industry figures.
In his home state of North Carolina, he raised $1.4 million in
large donations.
Law firms account for eight of the Edwards campaign's
top 10 sources of money, though Edwards' own contribution of $460,609
was tops through Sept. 30. The nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity
says members of the Dallas firm of Baron & Budd, known for
its asbestos litigation, have given $408,250 to Edwards during
his six-year political career, the most of any law firm.
Fred Baron, a founding partner in the firm and
former Association of Trial Lawyers of America president, serves
as Edwards' national campaign finance co-chairman and was by his
side in New Hampshire during the primary.
Another $362,475 came from members of the Los
Angeles-based firm of Girardi & Keese. Its work with a law
clerk in suing Pacific Gas and Electric Co. for poisoning the
water supply in Hinckley, Calif., provided the story line for
the movie "Erin Brockovich."
Many lawyers' spouses have also donated. And
at least five law firms have provided corporate jets so the freshman
senator could more easily traverse the country for fund-raising
events and campaign stumps under a federal rule allowing a candidate
to pay only the cost of a comparable, first-class ticket.
Edwards reimbursed Baron & Budd $138,000
for extensive use of its company jet through Sept. 30 and also
paid nearly $20,000 to Illinois- based agribusiness giant Archer
Daniels Midland for multiple plane rides, according to an analysis
by PoliticalMoneyLine.com.
"Unfortunately, it's just what you have
to do to get around during campaign season," Salazar said.
Boosted by a $1 million infusion of donations
after his second-place finish in Iowa's caucuses, Edwards faces
what may be a make-it-or- break-it situation in the first Southern
primary in South Carolina this week. If he wins, the flow of money
and federal matching funds could be crucial as he tries to compete
with the better-financed campaign of Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry,
now the front-runner.
Perhaps reflective of Edwards' policy stands,
he drew little support from some major industries while raising
about $20 million in private donations by mid-January. Through
Sept. 30, he collected $500 from pharmaceutical executives, $7,500
from health insurers and $1,000 from nuclear utilities.
Instead, Edwards has unabashedly turned to the
56,000-member Association of Trial Lawyers of America, a political
powerhouse that has accounted for $21.6 million in federal campaign
donations since 1990, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
"The senator is very proud of the work that
he did as an attorney, defending the rights of individuals who
had been wronged by big insurance companies or big corporations
... that have armies of corporate lawyers on their side,"
Salazar said.
Edwards' campaign offers a free copy of his recently
published book, "Four Trials," to any supporter who
donates at least $35. Those donating at least $250 get signed
copies of the tome describing how Edwards won injury awards.
Edwards and Baron have recruited fellow lawyers
to donate or join in dialing for dollars, sometimes leading to
embarrassment.
Edwards' campaign refunded $10,000 to an Arkansas
law firm last summer amid indications that its principal, Tab
Turner, may have promised to illegally reimburse four law clerks
if they each gave the freshman senator $2,000. The Justice Department
is investigating possible election law violations.
Paul Minor, a Biloxi, Miss., lawyer facing a
racketeering indictment alleging he tried to bribe judges, gave
$75,000 in 2002 to a leadership committee Edwards set up. Minor
has not donated to Edwards' presidential campaign, but his wife,
Sylvia, gave the senator $1,000 on Sept. 30.
Salazar said Edwards' campaign refuses donations
from lobbyists and political action committees, but "obviously
can't check every single person for what's in their hearts and
minds."
Edwards' heavy support from plaintiffs' attorneys
comes as Bush and GOP congressional leaders are crusading for
so-called tort reform that would limit noneconomic damages and
reduce multimillion-dollar jury awards in injury suits.
During five years in the Senate, Edwards has
opposed those efforts. Last year, he vociferously fought a Bush-backed
"Patient's Bill of Rights" bill that would have made
it harder for managed care enrollees to file malpractice suits.
But Edwards has not always kowtowed to trial
lawyers' agendas. He recently proposed a "three strikes and
you're out" law that would bar any lawyer who has three suits
dismissed as frivolous from filing another plaintiffs' suit for
a decade.
As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee,
he rarely spoke and was mostly absent during hearings on legislation
that would settle the nation's mass of asbestos injury claims
-- a measure most trial lawyers strongly oppose.
For more information on these issues, please contact Los Angeles
CALA at (626) 824-8927 or maryann@maryannmaloney.com
.
Linda Okun is the Executive Director of Citizens
against Lawsuit Abuse in Los Angeles, a nonprofit, grassroots
public education organization. Write to her c/o CALA at P.O. Box
262 - Glendora, CA 91740, or via email at maryann@maryannmaloney.com.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you would like a CALA
speaker to address your organization or some information for your
organization's newsletter, let us know today.
CALA is a nonprofit, grass roots, public education
organization dedicated to serving as a watchdog over the legal
system and those who would seek to abuse it for undeserved gain.
More than 9,000 citizens and taxpayers are Los Angeles CALA supporters.
