Unsung Heroes

Trial lawyers are the Rodney Dangerfields of professionals . . . they "don't get no respect". While every profession has a few bad apples, trial lawyers seem to have received more than their share of bad press and an undeserved reputation for greed. Ironically, the "greedy" party is typically the trial lawyers' common adversaries; greedy corporations, greedy insurance companies, etc. Trial lawyers play a valuable role in protecting the rights of American families. They champion the cause of those who deserve redress for injury to person or property; they promote the public good through their efforts to secure safer products, a safe workplace, a clean environment and quality health care; they uphold the rule of law and protect the rights of the accused; and they preserve the constitutional right to trial by jury and seek justice for all. They are the UNSUNG HEROES of American society.

Here are a few examples of how trial lawyers make our lives safer and better:

Morgan E. (Chip) Welch: Breaking down bigotry

George Williams of Smackover, Arkansas, was 53 and had worked at the ConAgra poultry plant for 32 years when he was fired for removing the hands of Willie White from his throat during an argument. Both were black; none of the white workers who had had physical altercations had even been disciplined. Only after firing Williams and White did the company institute a rule prohibiting fights.

ConAgra was the place to work in the area, said Williams' lawyer, Morgan E. ("Chip") Welch of Little Rock: It offered good benefits for southern Arkansas, even though the 20% of employees who were white were upper-level supervisors who, along with others, called the place ConAfrica.

Black workers were "mistreated by people who are cartoon characters from the sixties," Morgan said. Whites alluded to Ku Klux Klan "hunting trips," threw objects at blacks, scrawled racial graffiti in the bathroom, and posted offensive statements.

After four days of trial, the jury took only two and a half hours to order ConAgra to pay Williams sizeable damages.

"ConAgra has had multiple complaints" about plant conditions, said associate Lloyd ("Tre") Kitchens, whom Welch credits for much of the case work. "Maybe they'll fix it now."

Morgan says he'll continue to pursue this and similar cases. "It's part of our mission. Lawyers don't build anything," like architects do. "This type of case makes you feel you're doing something worthwhile."

Jeff Foote: Driven to Help

Linda McCathern wasn't expected to survive after the Toyota 4-Runner rolled over, leaving her a quadriplegic, dependent on a ventilator to breathe and 24-hour care.

Her cousin had been driving them home to Portland, Oregon, after a family reunion, and Linda was excited:The U.S. government had finally granted permission for her to visit Libya to see her two older daughters, whom their father had kidnapped nine years earlier.
But now, fighting for her life, she turned to attorney Jeff Foote of Portland. He helped her win a jury verdict that provided the resources needed for her care. Ultimately affirmed by the Oregon Supreme Court, it was the first, and so far only, verdict against Toyota for a 4-Runner rollover.

Foote says, "I had a lot of help from a lot of good lawyers around the country....The nice icing on the cake is that Linda became a great advocate for the civil justice system," helping defeat the referendum that would have allowed the state legislature to set caps on damages. "She debated the president of [a medical malpractice insurance company] and had him for breakfast."

Impressed by her determination, Linda's lawyer offered to help her through the maze of misinformation, regulatory requirements, and Libyan demands that still barred her trip. She not only made the 23-hour voyage — with her nurse, mother, and youngest daughter — but since then "the girls have visited her twice" in Oregon, Foote reports.

Bruce Hudson: Exposing a 'Volume Practice' Doctor

The doctor told 21-year-old Krista Roeper that the rectal bleeding she'd experienced for several weeks was probably caused by a hemorrhoid or a fissure. On 11 visits over the next two years she raised the same problem, but he never conducted a digital rectal exam or a flexible sigmoidoscopy or referred her to a specialist. When she could hardly stand from abdominal pain, the doctor finally did refer her, and she was diagnosed with Stage III colon cancer at 23.

At trial, "the jury was incensed" when the doctor — a sole practitioner who saw 50 to 55 patients a day — admitted he altered Krista's record after learning she had cancer. The panel requested that the doctor not be allowed to practice solo again and that he be required to take a course in medical ethics. But Krista had lost her job and health coverage, and the Roepers, near bankruptcy, settled.

After fighting the disease for another year and a half, she died at home with her husband at her side. "I'm glad the doctor was exposed," said their lawyer, Bruce Hudson of Wilmington, Delaware. "Krista told me, 'I want to make sure he's not allowed to do this to someone else.'"

Brian Nutt: Helping Those Who Need It Most

Alan Cronin had routine surgery for a hernia, yet the outcome was anything but routine. Because of medical negligence, he contracted a staph infection, slipped into a coma, and was given only a 5-10 percent chance of survival. He did come out of the coma, only to find that his arms and legs had been amputated so that gangrene wouldn't kill him.

Because Alan lives in California, he was subject to harsh limits on what a jury could determine was fair compensation for his permanent life-altering injury. But Alan's attorney, Brian Nutt of Pasadena, took the case because he wanted to help however he could.

"Alan didn't have any economic damages because the original injury was work-related and covered by workers' comp — plus he was wise enough to have purchased disability insurance," Brian said. "I'm just sorry this happened in California, where people like Alan are not fairly compensated for egregious injuries under our state's Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) law."

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