SunHerald.com - Sun Herald News #15337.1

You hear republicans talking about "tort reform" all of the time.  This is the reality of what it boils down to.  If you are a corporation, come to MS and you will be safe from any and all law suits against people you have wronged or committed crimes against.  We will cover your ass so come on down!  Everyone else in Mississippi?  Tough tits.  You can go suck eggs.  Even if you have been wronged you have no business going to court here. 

Even as Dick Scruggs and his son get their just desserts for outrageous behavior, here is something to be aware of.A letter by Alex Alston, one of Mississippi's best regarded attorneys. This is the other side of the coin from that condemned for the likes of Scruggs and Paul Minor.Note the outrageous hypocrisy of the Chamber of Commerce claiming MS is among the worst states in the nation for civil justice. Consider the actual record.http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080629/OPINION/806290311/1046Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Jim Smith, speaking recently to various business groups, stated emphatically that the court strives to be fair and impartial to large corporations and insurance companies. That is commendable.But what about the victims of corporate fraud and negligence? Can this Supreme Court be fair to them? Apparently not.If you are a victim of personal injury, malpractice or corporate fraud, you have almost no chance of having a jury verdict in your favor affirmed by the state Supreme Court.In the past, the Supreme Court rarely overturned a jury verdict, especially if it was based on a dispute over a factual issue. That day is gone. During the past 4 1/2 years, according to my research, an astonishing 88 percent of all jury verdicts in favor of the wronged victims have been reversed by the state Supreme Court.But what about the jury trials won by defendants, in which the victim takes an appeal to correct an error? Here, again, the numbers are staggering.Over the same 4 1/2-year-period, a plaintiff's success rate in reversing a jury verdict for the defendant is an astonishing zero.The defendant corporation, hospital, or insurance company prevailed in 100 percent of these cases. It is difficult to imagine victims of negligence and fraud losing 100 percent of the time, but that is the way it is in the state Supreme Court in a plaintiff's appeal.The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and insurance companies should be ecstatic over this state of affairs. Think of the money it saves the insurance companies not to pay a claim, knowing they are safe with the state Supreme Court.But the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a lobbying arm of Big Business which pours millions into judicial campaigns, is still not satisfied. In a recent 37-page report, entitled Lawsuit Climate 2008, the Chamber ranks Mississippi as the 48th worst legal climate in the nation.Therefore, one can expect the Chamber and its powerful allies to pour millions more into the judicial campaigns of our Supreme Court justices coming up for election in November to close any chance of victory for a poor maimed victim who has successfully worked his way through the judicial system to the Supreme Court. It is only then that these powerful entities will have a complete victory over anyone bold enough to think he has a claim for negligence or fraud.How can it be that during the last 4 1/2 years powerful corporations, hospitals, and insurance companies have prevailed in the state Supreme Court in nearly every case? Can an injured plaintiff ever be right?Perhaps it is because we elect our Supreme Court justices. In the 2002 election, insurance companies, large corporations, and doctors poured millions of dollars into the campaign coffers of most of the justices. One of the new judges that year alone received over a million dollars from these sources.Can anyone truly doubt that judges will, either consciously or unconsciously, favor those who have contributed substantially to their campaigns.In the upcoming election, large corporations, which statistically are more likely to be named as defendants, will not forget those justices who ruled in their favor against an injured or defrauded plaintiff, and no doubt substantial contributions will flow to these faithful.* * * * *Our court must be more than a rubber stamp for the rich and powerful.Shouldn't we expect that and more?Jackson attorney Alex A. Alston Jr. has litigated hundreds of cases, primarily for defendant corporations, over the past 44 years, including scores of cases argued before the Mississippi Supreme Court, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and other circuits, and the U.S. Supreme Court. He has served as president of the Mississippi Bar and has taught and written extensively on issues of trial advocacy. He is the co-author of an upcoming book, Immune to Prosecution: The Long Road to Justice in Mississippi.

SunHerald.com - Sun Herald News #15337.1