Lawyers Who Should Be Horse-Whipped

By Paul

You may think that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, that slippery, perjurious Bushie, is the slimiest lawyer in America. But you are wrong. I'm going to tell you about some lawyers who make W's yes-man, toady and mouthpiece seem as wise and honorable as King Solomon.

Now, before I get in trouble with my brethren at the bar (and I don't mean the Hog's Breath Saloon in Key West), let me proudly proclaim that I am a lawyer. I practiced trial law for 17 years in Miami, always trying my best to adhere to the ethical standards. Admittedly, I had difficulty with the rule that states: “A lawyer should demonstrate respect for the legal system and for those who serve it, including judges, other lawyers, and public officials.”

But that aside, I never lied to a judge, a client, or opposing counsel. I came close to punching out one of my own law partners, but that's a different story.

Most lawyers and judges I know are ethical and honest. I'm pretty sure my fellow Florida lawyer and wordsmith Jim Grippando would agree. Jim is a super lawyer with the highest moral standards. And let's not forget the other lawyers-turned-novelists, most of whom had stellar legal careers, and in some cases, still perform pro bono work or teach law, or both. I'm thinking of veterans Scott Turow, Philip Margolin, Lisa Scottoline, Michele Martinez, Linda Fairstein, David Baldacci, Steve Martini, Barbara Parker, Twist Phelan, Lia Matera, Dylan Schaffer, Richard North Patterson, Jeremiah Healy, John Grisham, as well as newcomers John Hart, Kermit Roosevelt, and Jeb Rudenfeld, among many others. (The grandaddy of us all was Erle Stanley Gardner, who represented impoverished dockworkers in the courts of Ventura County while grinding out his Perry Mason tales in the early years).

But when I see the story involving the Kentucky lawyers who stole tens of millions of dollars from their own poor and sick clients, well, I think it's time to junk the Eighth Amendment and bring out the old horse whip.

The New York Times reported over the weekend on the most rotten, corrupt case of ethical misconduct I’ve ever seen – and folks, I covered the courts as a reporter for The Miami Herald around the time the Magna Carta was signed.

You may remember the diet drug "fen-phen" which not only took off weight but also caused heart damage. Several Kentucky lawyers represented 440 sick, dying, or deceased plaintiffs, including W.L. Carter, pictured in the rocking chair, and recovered a total of $200 million in a settlement from the drug's manufacturer. Not satisfied with receiving 30% of that enormous sum, as their contracts called for, lawyers Shirley A. Cunningham, Jr., Melbourne Mills, Jr. (below) and William J. Gallion apparently took advantage of their unsophisticated clients and tricked them into new, coercive deals. The lawyers latched onto another $35 million plus siphoned $20 million of their clients' money into a questionable "charitable fund" with some of the dough going to the judge who approved their excessive fees. Grand jury indictments are expected shortly.



While prison seems likely, I wonder if the courts have the ability to recover the stolen money, some of which was used to buy expensive race horses. (I am reminded of William Faulkner's line: "Once the horse moved man's physical body and his household goods and his articles of commerce from one place to another. Nowadays all it moves is a part or the whole of his bank account, either through betting on it or trying to keep owning or feeding it.")

It may take more than a process server to get results in this tawdry case. Paperwork and legal niceties can only do so much. So here's my suggestion. Send around a persuasive collector. If you watch "The Sopranos," you know Paulie Walnuts. Have Paulie shake some dollars loose, then let the felonious barristers get their Pillsbury doughboy butts passed around in a maximum security prison. *********************************************************************
FIRST PARAGRAPH QUIZ

Name the book and author. First prize, the next boatload of contraband seized by Special Agent James O. Born.

The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning. Then the soul-erosion produced by high gambling -- a compost of greed and fear and nervous tension -- becomes unbearable and the senses awake and revolt from it.
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SEX AND THE WORKING MOM

My daughter Wendy Sachs, author of the acclaimed non-fiction book, "How She Really Does It: Secrets of Success from Stay-at-Work Moms," has written a new article I highly recommend. It's called "Sleep, Sex & Chardonnay," and the gist is that working mothers don't have enough time for any of those items. Check it out at Wendy's blog.
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MY FAVORITE QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Okay, it's not from this week. It's from December 1955 in A.J. Liebling's "The University of Eighth Avenue," published in Sports Illustrated.

"I never married," the Professor says. "I always live a la carte."
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FANS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS

Writers collect great anecdotes from their book tours. Lee Goldberg seemed to get a whole week's worth of quotes from an appearance at the library in Anaheim last week. Lee's collected the nutty exchanges on his Sunday blog. Here's one:

A man approached me carrying a half-a-dozen of my books. "So you wrote all these books?"

"Yes, sir."

"Did you come up with the plots, too?"

"Yes, I did."

"Wow," he said. "I wonder how many other writers do that."
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A FIRST PARAGRAPH THAT HOOKED ME

I missed Tawni O'Dell's "Back Roads" when it was published to slam-bang reviews half a dozen years ago. Jay Paterno, quarterback coach at Penn State and a voracious reader, has been recommending it to me for some time. (Likewise, I have been recommending the Statue of Liberty play to Jay for some time). Anyway, I finally picked up the book and was immediately hooked.

All those times me and Skip tried to kill his little brother Donny, were just for fun. I keep telling the deputies this, and they keep picking up their Styrofoam cups of coffee and walking away only to return a few seconds later and heave their fat butt cheeks onto the metal-topped table in front of me and flash me sad, weary stares that would be almost tender if they weren't filled with so much hatred.

Odell's new book, "Sister Mine," was just published to outstanding reviews.
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OBITUARY FROM THE WORLD OF JOURNALISM

A friend of mine died last week in Florida. Roy Terrell, a Marine fighter pilot in World War II and an early managing editor of Sports Illustrated, lost a long battle with cancer at age 83. Here's a juicy line from his S.I. story, "This Is Cricket!" published in 1961:

Mohammed remained at bat for 16 hours and 39 minutes and scored 337 runs. By the time he was retired, the better part of four days had elapsed. So had most of the spectators.
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AND IN NEWS FROM THE WAR IN IRAQ

While Jenna Bush has still not enlisted in the Army or traveled to Iraq...
Staff Sergeant Travis Strong has.


Paul