Personal Injury Lawyers Exert Largest Influence in Michigan's Race for Governor, M-LAW Study Reveals

Business Wire, Oct 7, 2002

Business, Government & Legal/Law Editors

SOUTHFIELD, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 7, 2002

Total contributions to candidate Jennifer Granholm by personal injury

lawyers exceed amount she has received from all special interests

A study of political contributions to Michigan's gubernatorial candidates released today reveals that Jennifer Granholm has accepted more money from the state's personal injury lawyers than from all Michigan special interests combined according to Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch, M-LAW.

Michigan's personal injury lawyers, including well-known names like Sam Bernstein, Larry Korn and Lee Steinberg, have contributed a total of $426,280 to Granholm's campaign. This is more than the $394,209 she has received from the PACs of all other Michigan special interest groups backing her. Personal injury lawyers have given just $2,900 to Granholm's opponent, Dick Posthumus.

"The high cost of lawsuit abuse to consumers convinced us it was time to undertake this project," said M-LAW president, Robert B. Dorigo Jones. "Recent television ads have shown that a sizable `Lawsuit Abuse Tax' is being added to consumer goods like groceries, clothing and automobiles because of excessive lawsuits. The personal injury lawyers are the main beneficiaries of this hidden tax through the legal fees they collect. We believe that the consumers who are paying this tax deserve to know how much these lawyers are spending to influence the campaign for Michigan's highest public office."

"M-LAW's extensive research reveals that, thanks to the Lawsuit Abuse Tax, the personal injury lawyers alone have been able to throw more money into the Granholm campaign than the combination of the Teamsters, the Michigan Education Association and all of the 116 other special interest groups who are on record in Michigan as having contributed to Granholm," said Dorigo Jones. "This is startling."

"The enormous amount of money personal injury lawyers have contributed to the Granholm campaign raises questions about what kind of influence they might have in judicial appointments in the future. Would a Governor Granholm dial `1-800-CALL-SAM' to get advice on judicial appointments? If so, that would not bode well for those believe there are already too many lawsuits, or for the consumers who pay for them."

M-LAW has analyzed every political contribution listed in the public campaign finance reports filed by Granholm and Posthumus, more than 30,000 individual records. M-LAW then matched those records with a list of lawyers often referred to as "contingency fee lawyers" or "plaintiff's attorneys" compiled from trial lawyer directories and other sources.

"This study took nearly six months to complete. Had the Granholm campaign chose to file its state-mandated reports electronically as many candidates do, this job could have been completed in six days. By reporting contributors on hard-to-analyze paper, the Attorney General's campaign made it difficult for the public to know who is contributing to her campaign," commented Dorigo Jones.

"M-LAW has been working for years to educate the public about the high cost of needless litigation on consumers, job providers and communities, but an important study released earlier this year added even more weight to our argument," said Dorigo Jones. "This spring, the prestigious White House Council of Economic Advisors released a study entitled, "Who Pays for Tort Liability Claims? An Economic Analysis of the U.S. Tort Liability System."

In the study, the White House quantified the additional costs that are being built into the prices of consumer items because of litigation. It refers to these added costs as a "tort litigation tax." "This was a study of the cost of excessive litigation, so we refer to this tax as the Lawsuit Abuse Tax," said Dorigo Jones. "According to the White House, the average family of four pays an extra $1,894 in goods and services each year because of this tax."

A full list of personal injury lawyers who have contributed to the Granholm and Posthumus campaigns is available on the Internet at www.mlaw.org.

M-LAW, a non-profit organization based in Southfield, is working to increase public awareness about the high cost of frivolous lawsuits and promoting changes that will save consumers money and protect the rights of legitimate victims.