Bill Lerach's five-page essay in the July PORTFOLIO is sure getting reaction. In it, this current jailbird essentially argues, hey no one was harmed by his kickback schemes to plaintiffs. He just stops short of claiming that what the heck, it was all in good fun and for a good cause - shareholders.
Among those pushing back is Manhattan Institute's Walter Olson. PORTFOLIO invited Olson to submit a deconstruction of Lerach's contentions. And that Olson did. Like Martin Luther nailing his expose of Catholicism to the church door, Olson blows Lerach out of the illusion that no one was harmed. Among the harms caused, says Olson, were:
- Unfairly and illegally business was denied to other competiting attornies
- Plaintiffs received lower recoveries than in cases without kickbacks [documented by research]
- Higher attorney fees [documented by research]
- Undercutting public confidence in a system which made Lerach personally rich.
Olson also notes that in his essay Lerach showed no remorse. That's where Olson and I disagree. I view expressions of remorse, real or feigned, as irrelevant. I bet many of those shareholders in Lerach's class-action suits would agree with me. All that counts is a plan to make amends in a concrete way, e.g. providing more money to those shareholders. Feelings of remorse won't help those shareholders fill up their tanks with gas.
Olson's comments on tort reform are published regularly in his two blogs Overlawyered.com and Pointoflaw.com.
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