Leadership Team
California’s litigation industry is dominated by leading plaintiffs'
attorneys and their allies, who could be deemed "division presidents&"
of Trial Lawyers, Inc. In addition to Brian Panish, the Golden State's
legal leadership includes:
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Bill Lerach
President, Securities Class Actions
Lerach is the terror of California's
high-tech industry, and he and his firms have used "squeegee
boy" tactics to take corporations for five verdicts or settlements
topping $1 billion.[138]
REUTERS/CORBIS SAN
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Elizabeth Cabraser
President, Product Class Actions
Cabraser has been involved in over
250 class action lawsuits that brought in billions of dollars,
including dubious suits over diet drugs and breast implants.[139]
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE/LACY ATKINS
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Brad Seligman
President, Employment Class Actions
Civil rights attorney Seligman
is leading the largest employment class action case in history
in his effort to use litigation to regulate the retail giant
Wal-Mart.[140]
CHRIS STEWART/SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE/CORBIS
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Michael Piuze
President, Tobacco
Piuze has shattered records for
individual jury verdicts against tobacco companies, though
his multi-billion-dollar awards were later reduced on appeal.[141]
REUTERS/CORBIS
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Thomas Girardi
President, Toxic Torts
Among the over $1 billion in toxic
tort "recoveries" for Girardi's firm is the big win against
Pacific Gas & Electric portrayed (falsely) in the movie Erin
Brockovich.[142]
AP/REED SAXON
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Thomas E. Miller
President, Construction Defects
Having literally written the book
on construction-defects litigation, Miller has bullied builders
into 75 verdicts and settlements worth over $1 million each.[143]
SEVEN LOCKS PRESS
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Phil Angelides
Co-President, Government Relations
As an ex officio member of California's
mammoth public pension funds, the state treasurer has been
a vocal advocate for Trial Lawyers, Inc.[144]
AP/THE FRESNO BEE/DARRELL WONG
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Bill Lockyer
Co-President, Government Relations
California's attorney general won
election and reelection with the help of $1.4 million and
$1.2 million, respectively, from Trial Lawyers, Inc.[145]
DEANNE FITZMAURICE/SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE/CORBIS
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138. Judge Compares Milberg Weiss Case to the Squeegee Man,
supra at Lerach's firms' website, under "Prominent Cases," at http://www.lerachlaw.com
(last visited Mar. 7, 2005) (listing In re NASDAQ Market-Makers
Antitrust Litig., MDL 1023 (S.D.N.Y.) ($1.027 billion); In re
American Continental Corp./Lincoln Savings & Loan Sec. Litig., MDL
834 (D. Ariz.) ($1 billion); Cordova v. Liggett Group, Inc., et
al., No. 651824 (Cal. Super. Ct., San Diego County), and People
v. Philip Morris, Inc., et al., No. 980864 (Cal. Super. Ct., San
Francisco County) ($26 billion); In re Exxon Valdez, No.
A89 095 Civ. (D. Alaska), and In re Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Litig.,
3 AN 89 2533 (Alaska Super. Ct., 3d Jud. Dist.) ($5 billion); In
re: The Prudential Insurance Company of America Sales Practices
Litigation, 962 F. Supp. 450 (D. N.J. 1997) ($1.2 billion)).
139. See In re Diet Drugs (Phentermine / Fenfluramine / Dexfenfluramine)
Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 1203 (E.D. Pa. Feb. 5,
1998) (ordering Elizabeth J. Cabraser lead counsel); Top 100 Lawyers,
CALIF. DAILY J., Sept. 30, 2002, at http://www.lieffcabraser.net/ejc_top_100.htm
(last visited Mar. 7, 2005); Dow Chemical's Hatch?, RECORDER,
July 9, 1998, available at http://www.lieffcabraser.com/news1998.htm
(last visited Mar. 7, 2005).
140. See 222 F.R.D. at 142.
141. See Bullock, supra note 132; Boeken, supra
note 133.
142. See http://www.girardikeese.com/
(last visited Mar. 7, 2005) ("We have successfully recovered over
$1 billion against the largest companies in the world . . . .");
Kathleen Sharp, "Erin Brockovich": The Real Story, SALON.COM,
Apr. 14, 2001, at http://archive.salon.com/ent/feature/2000/04/14/sharp/index.html
(last visited Mar. 7, 2005).
143. See The Miller Law Firm, Thomas E. Miller Senior Partner,
at http://www.constructiondefects.com/fi_profiles.asp
(last visited Mar. 7, 2005) ("Since 1981, Miller has exclusively
represented homeowners associations in construction defects and
land subsidence claims. A pioneer in his field, he has recovered
over $350 million for his association clients including 75 settlements
and verdicts over $1 million.").
144. See Press Release, supra note 116; Donahue, supra
note 116; California State Treasurer's Office, supra
note 116.
145. California Statewide Races 97-98, supra note 23; Political
Spending 2002, supra note 23.
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