Trial Lawyers Doing Public Justice
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20 03 TRI A L LAWY E RS DOING PUBLIC JUSTICE 20 03 O U R M I S S I O N Trial Lawyers for Public Justice is the only national public interest law firm that marshals the skills and resources of trial lawyers to create a more just society. Through creative litigation, public education, and innovative work with the broader public interest community, we: ■ protect people and the environment; ■ hold accountable those who abuse power; ■ challenge governmental, corporate and individual wrongdoing; ■ increase access to the courts; ■ combat threats to our justice system; ■ and inspire lawyers and others to serve the public interest. Founded in 1982, TLPJ utilizes a network of more than 3,000 of the nation's outstanding trial lawyers to pursue precedent-setting and socially significant litigation. TLPJ has a wide-ranging litigation docket in the areas of consumer rights, worker safety, civil rights and liberties, toxic torts, environmental protection, and access to the courts. TLPJ is the principal project of The TLPJ Foundation, a not-for-profit membership organization headquartered in Washington, DC, with a West Coast office in Oakland, California. The TLPJ web site address is www.tlpj.org. TRI A L LAWY E RS DOING PUBLIC JUSTICE T R I A L L A W Y E R S D O I N G P U B L I C J U S T I C E T R I A L L A W Y E R S D O I N G P U B L I C J U S T I C E T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S Introduction . .1 Access to Justice Award. .3 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award Co-Winners. .5 Exposing FBI Misconduct. .5 Dennis Cunningham, J. Tony Serra, Robert Bloom, Ben Rosenfeld, William M. Simpich, William H. Goodman, and Michael E. Deutsch Winning Sweatshop Reforms . .8 Michael Rubin, Albert H. Meyerhoff, Jr., Pamela M. Parker, Keith F. Park, Joyce C.H. Tang, Alan M. Caplan, and L. Thomas Galloway Protecting the Poor’s Access to Health Care . .10 David H. Dunaway Holding HMOs Accountable . .11 J. Don Gordon, George Parker Young, and Nikki Grote Morton Fighting for Emotional Distress Damages . .13 Ford Greene, Charles B. O’Reilly, Daniel A. Leipold, and Craig J. Stein Defending Due Process Rights . .15 LJ Leatherman, Gary D. White, Jr., Kiehl Rathbun, and Jerry R. Palmer Battling Big Tobacco . .17 Text in this publication may be Stephen M. Tillery, George A. Zelcs, Stephen A. Swedlow, Michael J. reprinted without charge or special Brickman, Gerson H. Smoger, Donald M. Flack, Lisa R. Kernan, Jerry permission if the reprint credits The Hudson Evans, Kimberly S. Keevers, Gregory A. Lofstead, James C. TLPJ Foundation, explains the Trial Bradley, Nina Hunter Fields, and Stephen A. Sheller Lawyer of the Year Award, and informs readers how to contact us for more Holding Insurers Accountable. .19 information. Please send us a copy D. Frank Winkles and Claude H. Tison, Jr. of any reprinted information. © The TLPJ Foundation 2003 Nominations Sought for 2004 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award. .21 All Rights Reserved Printed on Recycled Paper Join in the Fight for Justice . .23 T R I A L L A W Y E R S D O I N G P U B L I C J U S T I C E T R I A L L A W Y E R S D O I N G P U B L I C J U S T I C E I N T R O D U C T I O N Trial lawyers have a special commitment to justice. Their advocacy skills breathe life into the rights of individuals and groups that have suffered injustice and harmful abuses. Every year, trial lawyers provide millions of people with the means to obtain justice. In the majority of these cases, the client is an individual who has been damaged in some way — physically, mentally, emotionally, or monetarily — by the wrongful conduct of a business or corporation. These David-and-Goliath battles for legal justice usually pit the enormous financial resources of the bureaucratic or business defendant against the meager resources of the injured plaintiff. Ironically, plaintiffs’ attorneys are not generally paid unless they win. However, many trial lawyers take great risk and overcome incredible odds to advance the common law, to make new law, and to win justice for their clients and for the common good of the public. We honor such lawyers with this publication. Despite trial lawyers’dedication to fighting for public justice, some cases are so novel or demanding that, even though they involve the public good, they are unlikely to be pursued by private practitioners or other public interest organizations. Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (TLPJ), a national public interest law firm with offices in Washington, D.C., and Oakland, California, handles such cases. TLPJ, founded in 1982, chooses cases on its wide-ranging docket for their impact on the public good. TLPJ uses creative litigation to protect people and the environment, hold accountable those who abuse power, challenge and remedy wrongdoing, guard access to the courts, combat threats to our judicial system, and inspire lawyers and others to serve the public interest. A volunteer network of more than 3,000 of the best trial lawyers in the United States and abroad supports the work of this firm. TLPJ litigates most of its cases by calling on these members. Unfortunately, much of the public is unaware of how the work of trial lawyers successfully corrects injustices and creates economic incentives that protect the public health, safety, and welfare. That is why The TLPJ Foundation exists. The TLPJ Foundation is the nonprofit, charitable membership 1 T R I A L L A W Y E R S D O I N G P U B L I C J U S T I C E T R I A L L A W Y E R S D O I N G P U B L I C J U S T I C E organization that supports Trial Lawyers for Public Justice. For more 2003 A C C E S S T O J U S T I C E A W A R D information on how to join and support the Foundation’s work, please see the membership form at the back of this publication. SPRIETSMA V. MERCURY MARINE One goal of The TLPJ Foundation is to inform the public about court cases Leslie A. Brueckner & Michael J. Quirk decided each year that illustrate the principles of public justice. To that end, The TLPJ Foundation presents two awards — the Access to Justice Award and the Trial Lawyer of the Year Awa r d . This new award is presented to two TLPJ staff attorneys who won a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court The Access to Justice Award is a new award being presented to two decision securing access to justice for injury victims TLPJ staff attorneys who won a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court decision nationwide. securing access to justice for injury victims nationwide. This case is a major victory for TLPJ and demonstrates excellence in achieving the purposes of TLPJ Staff Attorney Leslie A. Brueckner brilliantly TLPJ’s mission. Recipients show how trial lawyers, working together can and successfully served as Counsel of Record for win cases of national significance. the plaintiffs before the U.S. Supreme Court in Leslie A. Brueckner Sprietsma v. Mercury Marine, winning a unanimous The Trial Lawyer of the Year Award is presented to the trial attorney or December 2002 decision rejecting the defendant’s attorneys who have made the greatest contribution to the public interest efforts to expand federal preemption of injury victims’claims and affirming within the past year by trying or settling a precedent-setting case. Finalists tort victims’ right to seek recovery for their injuries. TLPJ Staff Attorney and recipients exemplify how trial lawyers use their skills and determination Michael J. Quirk, co-counsel, assisted with the brief- to create a more just society. ing and preparation for oral argument. This publication describes the extraordinary work and achievements of the The Supreme Court held in Sprietsma that the winners of the 2003 Access to Justice Award, and the winners and finalists Federal Boat Safety Act of 1971 (FBSA) and a 1990 for the 2003 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award. It highlights the outstanding decision by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) not to work of attorneys on eight cases. These cases illustrate the public benefits require propeller guards on recreational motor boat of trial lawyers and the civil justice system in helping to prevent injuries and engines does not bar injury victims from suing boat wrongdoing, to achieve fair compensation for injured people, and to hold engine manufacturers under state law for failing to wrongdoers accountable. The accomplishments of these outstanding trial install propeller guards on their boats. The Court Michael J. Quirk lawyers are a testament to the values espoused by Trial Lawyers for Public rejected the boat manufacturer’s preemption defense, holding that a lawsuit Justice and The TLPJ Foundation. seeking damages for injuries caused by an unguarded boat propeller does We hope the cases described in this publication will illustrate the precious not conflict with any federal purposes. rights protected by our judicial system, and the need to sustain the princi- The case originated from the tragic death of Jeanne Sprietsma, who was ples of justice and fairness it embodies. fatally struck by the propeller of an outboard engine when she fell from a recreational motor boat.