ThePopTort

Puncture and the Importance of Trial Lawyer Stories

  There is a very interesting film screening right now at New York City’s Tribeca Film Festival, called Puncture.  Without giving too much away beyond the published synopsis (although it’s based on a true story), the film involves a real David v. Goliath Texas anti-trust case involving the maker of a patented life-saving safety syringe, which was blocked from entering the market by another syringe maker and very powerful hospital buying groups.  Ultimately, Texas attorney Mark Lanier was brought into the case to help and you can read more about it here and here.

Aside from the fact that Lanier plays himself in the film (and did a pretty good acting job!), what’s interesting to us is that the case was originally brought by a small personal injury firm because of the passionate concern of one particular attorney, Mike Weiss (played by Chris Evans, pictured here).  It began when he and his former law partner, Paul Danziger, learned about a young nurse who later dies of AIDS after being accidentally punctured by an infected syringe, and whose life would have been saved if safety syringes had been used in her hospital. The movie focuses on Weiss’ personal struggles and I won’t give away the end.  But the film, which was actually co-written by Danziger, is an example of the kinds of stories that trial attorneys come across if not every day, then at least at some point in their career.  Why do we not hear about more of these cases?

Perhaps not every case is movie-worthy, but we know there are thousands and thousands of lawsuits out there involving attorneys striving for justice on behalf of ordinary citizens.  If you know about one, please let us know and we’ll try to let others know, as well.

(And speaking of film, HBO has announced that the documentary Hot Coffee will premiere on June 27.  More on that later!)

The Foreclosure Blues (with Some Purple Tint)

We were a bit taken aback by the news that Prince, now on tour and in the midst of 21-dates in LA, happens also to be “singing the same tune as millions of American homeowners: The Foreclosure Blues.”  Apparently, the 20 acres that he owns in Minnesota, where his home once stood, has been scheduled for auction to satisfy his mortage, althought the Star-Tribune reports “Prince contended Thursday afternoon that the ‘payment has been made’ for the full amount and was sent to the Bank of New York Mellon Trust Co. ‘about four or five days ago.’”  

So the big question is, will the bank even care?  Clearly for most Americans, they could care less.

For example, JPMorgan Chase just settled for $56 million a class action brought by 6,000 active-duty miliatary families, “who were overcharged on their mortgages.  [The bank also] cut interest rates on soldiers’ home loans and return homes that were wrongfully foreclosed upon.”

There is also an investigation by all 50 state Attorneys General of foreclosure scandals like “robo-signing,” where banks hired people to forge official names on documents so they could take away people’s homes without verifying any facts.  Iowa AG Tom Miller, who is in the midst of crafting a major settlement with the banks, has gotten into a bit of a campaign finance mess due to donations to him from “out-of-state lawyers who make a living representing big banks” but Miller objects strongly to the implication of a conflict.  At least he's trying to hold the banks accountable, so much so that “Oklahoma’s attorney general said he is prepared to break ranks” with the settlement that Miller and the Justice Department are crafting.  He doesn't like banks being forced “to pay at least $20 billion in fines and use the money to reduce the principal on mortgages of ‘underwater’ borrowers, who owe more on their loans than their homes are worth.  ‘I have asked my attorneys to prepare me for an option that does not require that,' he says."  Hope his constituents remember that.

And then there’s the heartwarming story of South Carolina’s Keith Gamble.  As the Richmond Post-Dispatch reports, what started as a hobby “is now a risky, exciting, full-time job: buying properties at the monthly foreclosure sale and flipping them."  He says, "Some people's bad fortune is other people's opportunity.  I know that sounds callous.” 

Honestly, when it comes to the foreclosure business, who isn’t?

The Land of Milk And Mess Ups

Dallas-based national dairy processor Dean Foods was forcing farmers in Vermont and other northeastern states to work with them.  Now they are going to pay - $30 million, that is - to settle a class-action suit for this violation of federal antitrust laws.  (The deal awaits court approval.)  Also today, Dean “announced plans to issue $400 million in new debt to pay down old debt and named a new chief accounting officer.”

Take note, dairy farms. Just cause you’re “getting squeezed by big-box stores and supermarket chains looking for price concessions” so that your stock “is off 53 percent this year, making it the worst performer in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index” does not mean you get to violate the law.

And by the way, that also includes producing raw milk with E. Coli.

In Minnesota,

State Agriculture Department investigators Tuesday seized hundreds of gallons raw milk and other food produced by a Gibbon dairy farm that has kept churning out product despite a state order to stop.  Raw milk produced by Mike Hartmann's farm was fingered by the state for eight cases of E. coli O157:H7 in May, and seven instances in July and August of other stomach bugs that cause diarrhea and abdonimal pain.…

Seized were 'hundreds of gallons of raw milk', along with cream, yogurt, cheese and meat. … Raw milk isn't pasteurized -- treated with heat to kill pathogens -- and public health authorities widely decry it as dangerous. But some natural food advocates see it as a healthful tonic of sorts, superior in taste and nutrients.

Hhmm … nah.