"Thomas" Verdict for Defense - Richard O. Faulk Comments

In response to the jury verdict today in favor of the defense in "Thomas," attorney Richard O. Faulk comments on the record.  Richard is Chair of Litigation at Texas-based Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP.

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Richard O. Faulk on the record on "Thomas" verdict for defense:

"For the second time this year, the lead paint juggernaut has run aground in Wisconsin.  Once again, a jury has rejected hyperbolic arguments and strained expert testimony and returned a verdict that vindicates common sense.  This result was reached through careful application of rational fact-finding - enabled by a judicial instruction based on existing law, not unfounded theories.

"The contrast with Rhode Island is remarkable.  One need only recall that the first Rhode Island trial ended in a hung jury - and that the second jury only returned a plaintiff's verdict after receiving instructions inconsistent not only with Rhode Island law, but also the principles of virtually every other common law court in America.

"The lesson is clear.  The lead paint initiative passed by the plaintiffs' bar faces serious and, indeed, practically insurmountable odds.  To be blunt, they lack principled legal arguments, and as a result, juries refuse to render unprincipled verdicts.  Without adventurous judges who are willing to turn the law of public nuisance upside down, and who essentially instruct juries to find for plaintiffs, juries will continue to affirm the common sense principles advanced by defendants.

"After six months of stinging defeats in trial and appellate courts throughout the nation, perhaps the ripples from the Rhode Island splash have been contained.  Although struggles remain, most notably in California, the momentum now lies with defendants.

"And because those defendants have adhered to principles instead of the convenient economics of settlement, it appears that lead paint litigation is not a viable mass tort.  Indeed, as courts and juries repeatedly have found, it isn't a tort at all."

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Richard O. Faulk's publications on lead paint as well as climate change issues can be retrieved on the firm's website under "attorney bios."