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DEL.ICIO.USGeorgia politics and the case of the dropped — and missing — drawers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On Monday, a certain court decision in Washington set tuning forks in Georgia humming.
No, no, not from the U.S. Supreme Court. Not McCain-Feingold. This is about the lost pair of pants. And the effect the missing trousers could have on state politics in ‘08.
By now you know that the fellow in D.C., who sued his dry cleaner for $54 million after the business misplaced the lower half of his $1,000 Hickey Freeman suit, got his head handed to him by a judge.
After paying court costs and such, the plaintiff will probably lose his shirt as well.
It was a small and quirky case, more than 600 miles distant from Atlanta. But minutes after the judge lowered the hammer, we received the first press release.
From the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association.
“The suit itself was ludicrous. As an attorney for 30 years, I am aware of the dangers that this type of sensationalism can generate,” said Joe Watkins, president of the GTLA. “Now that the decision has been reached, the general public can bask in what is just another example of the civil justice system accurately and fairly working for us all.”
On Tuesday, Athens attorney Jay Cook, who just left the presidency of the State Bar of Georgia, joined in: “There are preposterous cases. But they almost always get resolved the right way. Not perfectly, but over time they get to be resolved the right way. The law is meant to be fair, not fast.”
Why was the local reassurance even necessary? Because chances are the lost pants are about to be tailored into a symbol.
In Washington, the dry cleaning business owned by the Chung family, a trio of South Korean immigrants, has become a cause celebre for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other critics of civil suits. A fund-raiser for the Chungs is scheduled for July 24.
The lost-pants case is “the epitome of a frivolous lawsuit,” says the recording on the Chamber’s web site. Just as that too-hot cup of coffee from McDonald’s once was — though cranky lawyers still like to point out that the beverage caused third-degree burns in the lap of the elderly plaintiff.
If business types are successful, if the lost pants do become the next embodiment of lawyerly excess, Georgia is one of the first spots both legs might be hoisted on a flagpole.
Not now, but in ‘08. That’s when Robert Benham — the first and longest-serving African-American on the Georgia Supreme Court — comes up for re-election.
Replacement of sitting high-court judges in various states is a critical part of the tort-reform strategy pushed by pro-business groups in Washington.
Last year, the U.S. Chamber and the American Justice Partnership sent $2.3 million to Georgia in an unsuccessful effort to oust incumbent Justice Carol Hunstein.
They’re expected to do much the same thing next year for Benham.
All sides recognize the role the lost pants could play in a TV-driven campaign. People don’t understand law. But they know from trousers.
Hence yesterday’s quick condemnation of the plaintiff (a lawyer and administrative law judge) from the GTLA.
In a broader sense, this is also why you’ve seen those TV spots sponsored by the State Bar, extolling the role of lawyers and judges in society.
Benham, by the by, looks to be adopting the same bipartisan strategy that helped preserve Hunstein. He’s hired the outfit that produced those brutal TV ads that Hunstein used against her opponent, Mike Wiggins.
We’re told that he’s got former Gov. Roy Barnes, a Democrat, and former attorney general Mike Bowers, a Republican, lined up for a joint fund-raiser.
The justice is taking some strategic advice from Bobby Kahn, the former Democratic party chairman who ran Benham’s first campaign for the office back in 1984. But Benham’s looking for Republican advice, too, we hear.
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By Kia
June 27, 2007 4:58 PM | Link to this
Thank you for your insightful commentary! There has been a lot of discussion on this subject on tortdeform.com as well. Best Regards
By Kia
June 27, 2007 4:59 PM | Link to this
Thank you for your insightful commentary! There has been a lot of discussion on this subject on tortdeform.com as well if you’d like to weigh in there. Best Regards